Fw: Public Citizen Press Release - Radioactive materials recycling

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From: " Little " <slittle@...>

Sent: Thursday, March 14, 2002 5:23 PM

Subject: Public Citizen Press Release - Radioactive materials recycling

Did Anyone Lose a Cesium Rod?

Disaster Narrowly Averted in Taiwan Incident

Meanwhile, U.S. Government Intentionally Releasing

Radioactive Materials Into Market

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A recent incident in Taiwan, in which a 62-pound rod of

cesium was pulled from a pile of scrap metal prior to being melted in a

steel works furnace, is yet another sign that nuclear materials and waste

are being handled improperly and that nuclear regulatory agencies are not

safeguarding the public, Public Citizen said today.

Further, the incident should be noted by U.S. government agencies charged

with regulating nuclear waste, because they are now attempting to introduce

additional radiation sources into consumer products and the environment by

permitting radioactive waste to be recycled, Public Citizen said.

Wednesday's Taipei Times reported that the cesium rod, which was highly

radioactive, was discovered mixed with non-radioactive metal scraps on a

truck at a steel foundry that operates a melting furnace. Taiwan officials

said they didn't know where the rod came from.

Had the rod been melted in the foundry's furnace, there would have been an

extremely hazardous radioactive emission, creating an immediate health

hazard and seriously polluting the environment. The cesium rod emitted more

than 270 times the radiation per hour than recommended by the International

Commission on Radiation Protection.

Similar incidents in the United States have not always had such a fortunate

ending. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reported that at

least 26 accidental meltings of radioactive material have occurred in the

United States since 1983. This number accounts for more than half of the 49

accidental meltings worldwide that the International Atomic Energy Agency

(IAEA) had tallied as of 1998.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is notified of approximately

200 lost or stolen radioactive sources each year. While some radioactive

materials are found in or near scrap yards, metal foundries, factories or

recycling facilities, others are handled unknowingly by non-nuclear workers

or even sold in stores. In the United States in the past six months:

· A foreign shipment of iridium, delivered from overseas by standard

couriers and with no detection by the U.S. Customs Service, arrived in New

Orleans by truck before it was determined that the package was leaking high

doses of radiation.

· Radioactive tools were stolen from a Utah nuclear waste facility and sold

to at least one local pawn shop. The pawn shop was unaware that the tools

were radioactive and subsequently sold the tools to a third party. Some of

the tools are still missing.

· The U.S. Army detected cesium-137 and cobalt-60 throughout a wooded area

within the city limits of Anniston, Ala., a short distance from a community

center.

· An industrial radioactive device used to measure soil density was found on

the steps of a pawn shop in Prichard, Ala.

" The government should heed the warnings provided by these incidents and the

Taiwan episode, " said Ritter, policy analyst with Public Citizen's

Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. " This ought to make them

change their minds about the very bad idea of putting radioactive materials

on the common market. "

These incidents include only accidents and thefts, however. Authorities are

simultaneously sanctioning the intentional releases of radioactive wastes

from nuclear facilities operated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and

its contractors, or licensed by the NRC. This is done on a case-by-case

basis. The wastes are released without restriction and can be dumped in a

municipal landfill, incinerated, sold or donated " as is, " or even recycled

into a plethora of everyday consumer products and industrial materials.

Now, the DOE and NRC are pushing nuclear industry-friendly policies to

standardize and increase the release and " recycling " of radioactive wastes.

" These agencies are truly captured by the nuclear industry, and the industry

is trying to greenwash their latest scheme with terms like 'recycling' and

'beneficial reuse,' " said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's

Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. " If the 'recycling' practice

doesn't lead to major savings or profits for those who make the mess, it's

still a handy way for them to evade liability for their waste. But the

American public doesn't want to come in contact with nuclear waste. They

don't want their kids to ride bicycles made of nuclear waste. We need to

ban this practice once and for all. "

Ritter noted that people would never opt to buy products made from

" recycled " radioactive waste.

" If you were in a store, and could choose between the non-contaminated

frying pan or the one with the label that said " slightly radioactive, " which

one would you pick? If the nuclear industry had to tell us which products

their nuclear reactor and weapon waste goes into, we know the practice would

stop immediately. Unfortunately, labels aren't required. "

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Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.citizen.org.

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