Govt. Ends Radioactive Metal Sales

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Govt. Ends Radioactive Metal Sales

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Energy Department took steps Thursday to ensure 
that radioactive metals are no longer recycled into braces, zippers, 
toys and other consumer products, ordering a halt to sales of 
thousands of tons of scrap metal left at nuclear weapons facilities. 

Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said sales will not resume until 
weapons site managers can assure that the metals are free from any 
detectable radioactive contamination. He said that by year's end, he 
wanted a new standard to evaluate the material. 

Supporters of the recycling program contend the levels of 
contamination are too low to pose a health and safety threat. Critics 
of such sales have argued that metals with any trace of contamination 
should not go into general commerce. 

The Energy Department cannot say how much contaminated scrap metal 
already has been sold, although some estimates are ``in the low tens 
of thousands of tons'' over the years, according one government 
source, speaking on condition of anonymity. Records on such sales are 
incomplete, the official said. 

``They don't know. They don't have an inventory on how much has gone 
out,'' agreed Richard Miller, an official of the paper Allied-
Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers Union, which represents 
atomic plant workers. After the metal has gone into commerce, it is 
melted with other like metals and is not tracked, he said. 

Richardson's decision to suspend further sales came six months after 
the department canceled plans to sell 6,000 tons of nickel from a 
defunct uranium enrichment plant near Oak Ridge, Tenn., because of 
concern the contaminated metal would go freely into civilian 
commerce. 

Thursday's announcement stops the expected sale to private buyers of 
about 15,000 tons of metal including steel, aluminum, copper, and 
nickel used in machinery, furniture and remnants of torn down 
buildings at closed weapons production facilities. 

Over the long term, the department has planned to sell about 30,000 
tons of metals annually over 20 years as part of the decommissioning 
of many of the facilities that made up the Cold War-era nuclear 
weapons production complex. 

It was not immediately clear Thursday how much of that metal 
eventually will be sold for recycling when the new standard is 
established. 

Richardson said the department was studying the possibility of 
recycling much of the contaminated steel for reuse within the weapons 
complex for such things as storage crates for other contaminated 
material. 

He said he was halting the sales ``to ensure American consumers that 
scrap metal released from Energy Department facilities for recycling 
contains no detectable contamination from departmental activities.'' 

``The suspension will remain in effect until our sites can confirm 
that they meet this new more rigorous standard,'' he said in a 
statement. 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission for some time has been trying to 
develop a new minimum allowable contamination level for recycled 
material. It is not known when that standard will be issued. 

Richardson's action drew mixed reaction from Capitol Hill. 

Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., said it was ``a nonsensical decision'' that 
he said ignored scientific evidence that the level or radiation found 
in the metals to be recycled do not pose a health or environmental 
problem. 

He accused Richardson of trying to ``pander ... to key 
constituencies'' - a reference to the steelworkers union and many 
environmentalists who have opposed the recycling. 

Wamp, whose district includes the Oak Ridge facility, said the 
program's suspension will cost hundreds of jobs at Oak Ridge and in 
recycling businesses in Tennessee. 

But Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., who was preparing to pursue 
legislation to suspend the recycling program, said Richardson's move 
was ``a responsible step to protect the health and safety of American 
citizens.'' 

Rep. Ron Klink, D-Pa., who also had criticized the recycling program, 
said the movement of contaminated metals threatened steelworkers as 
well as the public. 

``Recycled scrap metals can end up in everything from cars to food 
containers,'' Klink said. ``Consumers have the right to know that 
when they use a skillet to make hamburgers or a kettle to boil pasta 
that these utensils will be free of radioactive contamination.'' 

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
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