“You may soon need to fear household products you have the most contact with this is the legacy of an industry gone mad.” –Richard Clapp, Associate Professor, Boston University School of Public Health
Radioactive waste from the nuclear power industry and nuclear weapons contractors is being released into the general materials recycling stream and used to make everyday household items, building materials, and more. Standards are being developed which stand to dramatically increase the amount of radioactive material recycled into the marketplace. The U.S. Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency, the European Commission and other nuclear nations governments and industries all have a role in radioactive “recycling.”
The materials being “recycled” range from contaminated metals, concrete and plastic to asphalt and fill dirt. Once these materials enter the general recycling stream they are no longer traceable to their sources. In the absence of sophisticated, expensive detection capabilities and equipment, consumers will have no way of knowing which items may be contaminated; producers and workers will also be unaware if the materials they are working with are contaminated.
The potential impact on public health is enormous because there is no safe level of exposure to ionizing radiation. Low-level radiation damages tissues, cells, DNA and other vital molecules, causing programmed cell death (apoptosis), genetic mutations, cancers, leukemia, birth defects, and reproductive, immune and endocrine system disorders. Studies show that long-term exposure to low levels of ionizing radiation can be more dangerous than short-term exposures to high levels. The practice of releasing and reusing radioactively contaminated materials into general commerce will result in random poisoning.
Congressional interest in the practice has focused on setting standards to legitimize and facilitate the release of contaminated materials, rather than preventing radioactive release and “recycling.” Government agencies are busy voluntarily codifying reuse of radiation-contaminated material and setting “acceptable” levels of radioactivity. This may be good for public relations, but it does not help public safety. Safe levels of ionizing radiation simply do not exist.
In 1992, Congress revoked similar policies that attempted to declare that certain levels of potential radiation exposure were “below regulatory concern.” Current government efforts are dressing up the rejected “below regulatory concern” concept by applying the environmentally friendly sounding term “recycling.”
Radioactive “Recycling” Update – from the Nuclear Monitor, Vol. 16 No. 1
DOT sneaks in codification of “BRC” or radioactive “release and recycling” levels, denying importance
The US Department of Transportation published on February 1, 2001, its final rule on international radioactive transport, which exempts quantities and concentrations of hundreds of radionuclides from DOT regulatory control. The upshot is that DOT will no longer regulate international shipments into, out of or through the U.S. (if any leg of the journey is via waterway), if the shipper claims that the radioactive materials are less concentrated or in amounts less than those listed in the new rule. The exempt concentrations are the same as those that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) wants to use to “clear” or “release” radioactive wastes and materials into general commerce and recycling. Existing uniform international nuclear transport regulations that require labeling and regulation of radioactive materials are being changed around the world (with the US leading the way), to allow deregulated radioactive waste to move through commerce unimpeded and without public knowledge. The new regulations introduce the concept of exempt amounts of radioactivity per consignment and increase exempt concentrations for most of the hundreds of radionuclides. In a few months the US DOT and US NRC plan to adopt the same or similar regulations for all domestic nuclear materials transportation and for international air transport. Internationally, the IAEA, through its affiliation with the United Nations and its transport organizations (International Maritime Organization and International Civil Aeronautics Organization), is working to get all UN member nations to adopt the standard (referred to as TS-R-1 or ST-1), which will open the doors between nations for international commerce in contaminated materials and consumer goods. If the exemption tables in the IAEA recommendations are adopted internationally, preventing the spread of contaminated household items and raw materials will be more difficult than it is now.
DOE still releasing contaminated materials but keeps moratorium on metals; begins EIS scoping
Although the Department of Energy (DOE) quietly continues to release and recycle some radioactive materials into general commerce, there has been a temporary halt, since 2000, on the release of potentially contaminated radioactive metal. An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is reportedly being developed by DOEs Environmental Management Office to review some aspects of the DOE radioactive “release” and “recycling” policy. The scope of the EIS has not been announced yet. The DOEs internal orders allow radioactive materials, including metals, to be released into regular garbage or recycled into commerce without public knowledge and/or meaningful record-keeping. Draft proposed changes to those orders would further codify the release of radioactive materials. DOE has a “Center for Excellence” in radioactive recycling based in and funded through the DOE at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which has been facilitating the recycling into unrestricted commerce of “slightly contaminated” radioactive materials from throughout the DOE complex.
NRC hires National Academy of Sciences to provide “credibility” for radioactive materials release
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has hired the National Academy of Sciences to provide credibility and recommendations on streamlining the release of radioactive materials from regulatory control. The NRC currently allows radioactively contaminated materials to be released, reused, recycled, or otherwise treated as if they were not radioactive through provisions in licenses and case-by-case evaluations. States, like Tennessee, have given over a dozen permits to companies to “process” and release radioactive materials into regular commerce. So, as with DOE sites, commercial nuclear licensees can do either or both: 1) directly release some contaminated materials to commerce, recycling or unlicensed landfills; 2) send radioactive materials to processors to treat and then release into the marketplace. The NAS contract essentially has the NRC provide and summarize all documents and meet wice monthly to help NAS staff to put out the report. Since the public and environmental groups generally boycotted the NRCs skewed process to set legal contamination levels, the National Academy of Sciences may need to hear directly from those parties over the next few months. Diane D”Arrigo, February 2001
Contacts:
Hon. Norman Mineta, Secretary of Transportation
US Dept of Transportation, 400 Seventh St. SW, Washington, DC 20590
Hon. Spencer Abraham, Secretary of Energy, US Dept of Energy,
1000 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC, 20585 The.Secretary@hq.doe.gov
Bruce Alberts, President, National Academy of Sciences,
2101 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington., DC, 20418 BAlberts@nas.edu
the public is invited to submit comments to NAS at the following url —http://www4.nas.edu/webcr.nsf/ProjectScopeDisplay/BEES-J-00-02-A?OpenDocument
For more information contact Diane DArrigo, Nuclear Waste Project Director,
Nuclear Information & Resource Service 301-270-6477 (x16)