IP: Dept of Energy: "A little radiation is OK"

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Sender: rberger () imap ultradevices com
> Date: Mon, 03 Sep 2001 17:27:00 -0700
> From: "Robert J. Berger" <rberger () ultradevices com>
>
>
> Another pointer to insanity in Washington. Now the DOE wants to recycle
> "low level" radioactive waste into metals used for consumer products!!
> Instead of trying to reduce the production and find a real solution to
> nuclear waste (if there is one) they just want to spread it around and
> expose everyone to an increased radiation floor.
>
>
> Nuclear Waste Recyclers Target Consumer Products
> Updated: Mon, Sep 03 6:38 PM EDT
> By Allyce Bess
> http://news.excite.com/news/r/010903/18/science-bizradioactive-dc
>
> NEW YORK (Reuters) - Orthodontists could soon be giving their patients
> more than they bargained for with their brand new braces: a mouthful
> of radioactive waste.
>
> Under a Department of Energy plan, braces aren't the only product
> which could contain radioactive waste. Zippers, lawn chairs, hip
> replacements and countless other consumer products could include trace
> amounts of waste taken from nuclear reactors or weapons complexes and
> recycled into scrap metal.
>
> The Department of Energy (DOE) sees the recycling as a way to clean up
> waste at decommissioned nuclear plants and weapons facilities, but
> environmental groups call the idea ridiculous.
>
> "It's hard to imagine a nuclear enterprise more tone deaf to public
> concerns or a more cockamamie scheme than taking radioactive waste and
> disposing of it in consumer products," said Dan Hirsch, president of
> nuclear watchdog group Committee to Bridge the Gap.
>
> The energy department will spend the next 12 months to 18 months
> studying the environmental and health risks of the plan, having held
> 12 public hearings in six cities this summer, said DOE spokesman Joe
> Davis,
>
> Critics say recycling radioactive waste, even at low levels, is
> reckless. But energy officials say that the government needs to look
> at all options for getting rid of the growing pile of hazardous
> wastes. Proponents of the plan say that by spreading small, non-lethal
> amounts into recycled scrap, the need for large waste dumps could be
> avoided.
>
> CONCERN IS HEALTHY
>
> A moratorium was placed on radioactive recycling last year by former
> Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson after environmental groups
> protested the possible sale of 6,000 metric tons of contaminated
> nickel from the energy department's Oakridge nuclear facility in
> Tennessee to scrap metal dealers.
>
> But under the Bush administration, the program is being revisited and
> the energy department is considering lifting the moratorium. But
> before that, it is required by law to conduct a thorough study on the
> safety risks of recycling radioactive waste.
>
> The proposal does not specify any uses for scrap metal containing the
> radioactive waste, but metal industry executives say the material
> would go into the supply of scrap metal and could be used to make
> anything.
>
> Even the study has proven problematic. The DOE recently dropped
> Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) -- which it initially
> chose to conduct the study and prepared a report -- because of its
> business partnership with British Nuclear Fuels Limited, the company
> that last year was going to contract with the government to help sell
> the waste from the Oakridge facility.
>
> Hirsch of the Committee to Bridge the Gap said it was an enormous
> potential conflict of interest. SAIC's report "is quite dangerous in
> terms of arguing how much radioactivity would be acceptable for use in
> consumer products."
>
> The energy department has not said who was hired to complete the
> study, but some are arguing that the level of radiation in any
> recycled materials would be too low to actually pose a health risk.
>
> The Nuclear Energy Institute, a trade association representing some
> 260 companies in the nuclear power industry, has lobbied in favor of
> radioactive recycling and says the public may be overly concerned.
>
> "Concern is healthy," said Felix Killar, director of material licenses
> for the institute. "But people need to understand the facts. This
> isn't truly radioactive waste. It's no more radioactive than any other
> material recycled in to consumer products."
>
> Killar continues: "There isn't a place on Earth that is totally free
> of radioactivity."
>
> A LITTLE RADIATION IS OK
>
> John Wittenborn, attorney for the Metal Industries Recycling Coalition
> (MIRC), comprised of a variety of metal industry trade groups, says
> their polls indicate the public doesn't buy the idea that nuclear
> waste can be safely recycled into everyday products.
>
> "We've spent a lot of time and effort to build the perception that
> products made from recycled materials are safe and good and that
> recycling itself is something that society should be in favor of,"
> said Wittenborn, whose group strongly opposes recycling of radioactive
> waste into scrap metal.
>
> Beyond the public image problem the industry would face in using the
> recycled waste, companies are concerned about the potential
> contamination of their mills and workers.
>
> Wittenborn says it can cost from $5 million to $15 million to shut
> down, inspect by hand and then clean a steel mill that has registered
> radioactivity above a background level.
>
> Recently, Wittenborn attended an energy department public hearing on
> the issue in Crystal City, Virginia where he presented his polling
> data and the metal industry's case.
>
> In fact, those who have attended the hearings say most of the comments
> have opposed lifting the moratorium on radioactive recycling.
>
> "The observer might ask 'Why does the DOE continue to propose to do
> this if no one is willing to come forward and testify on behalf of
> it?"' said Dan Guttman, executive director of President Clinton's
> Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments,
>
> "This is being cast as a question of convincing the hysterical public
> that a little radiation is OK."
>
> --
> Robert J. Berger
> UltraDevices, Inc.
> 257 Castro Street, Suite 223 Mt. View CA. 94041
> Voice: 408-882-4755 Fax: 408-490-2868
> Email: rberger () ultradevices com  http://www.ultradevices.com



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