Re: Steel and Metal Consumers Radioactivity Protection Act

["J. J. Rozental" <joseroze@netvision.net.il>]

The IAEA-TECDOC 855 - Clearance levels for radionuclides in solid materials,
January 1996, Table I, page 11, contains Derived Unconditional Clearance
Levels for selected radionuclides. The more restrictive are:

Na-22, Na-24, Mn-54, Co-60, Zn-65, Nb-94, Ag-110m, Sb-124, Cs-134, Cs-137,
Eu-152, Pb-210, Ra-226, Ra-228, Th-228, Th-230, Th-232, U-234, U-235, U-238,
Np-237, Pu-239, Pu-240, Am-241, Cm-244
The  Ranges of activity concentration Bq/g is between  0.1 to <1.0. The
representative single value  of the Clearance Level in this ccategory is 0.3
Bq/g, that's mean 250 less than the USA concept for non radioactive material
74 Bq/g

In this condition Table I provides a high degree of assurance that the
individual dose criterion of 10 uSv/a will not exceeded.

Jose Julio Rozental
joseroze@netvision.net.il
Israel



----- Original Message -----
From: Susan Gawarecki <loc@icx.net>
To: Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
Sent: Friday, July 14, 2000 4:54 PM
Subject: Steel and Metal Consumers Radioactivity Protection Act


> I would be interested in any professional opinions on the following
> proposed legislation.  You may reply to me directly.
>
> Regards,
> Susan Gawarecki
> loc@icx.net
>
> Steel and Metal Consumers Radioactivity Protection Act (Introduced in
> the House)
>
> HR 4566 IH
> 106th CONGRESS
> 2d Session
> H. R. 4566
>
> To set standards for radioactive contamination content in both the
> domestic and international metals industry, to prohibit the release of
> radioactively contaminated scrap metal by the Department of Energy and
> nuclear fuel production, utilization, and fabrication facilities, and to
> require all nations exporting metals into the United States to certify
> and document the amount of radioactive contamination of any scrap metals
> being exported into the United States.
>
> IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
> May 25, 2000
>
> Mr. KLINK (for himself, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. BALDACCI, Mr.
> COYNE, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. MASCARA, Mr. DOYLE, and Mr. BRADY of
> Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
> Committee on Commerce
>
> A BILL
>
> To set standards for radioactive contamination content in both the
> domestic and international metals industry, to prohibit the release of
> radioactively contaminated scrap metal by the Department of Energy and
> nuclear fuel production, utilization, and fabrication facilities, and to
> require all nations exporting metals into the United States to certify
> and document the amount of radioactive contamination of any scrap metals
> being exported into the United States.
>
> Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
> States of America in Congress assembled,
>
> SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
>
> This Act may be cited as the `Steel and Metal Consumers Radioactivity
> Protection Act'.
>
> SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
>
> The Congress finds as follows:
>
> (1) The metals industry in the United States is a $100,000,000,000 plus
> industry and employs millions of Americans.
>
> (2) Because of their unique features, most metals can be recycled over
> and over again which conserves the world's natural resources and
> contributes to a healthy environment.
>
> (3) Metal is an essential component of millions of industrial, business,
> and consumer products. The presence of radioactive contamination in
> steel scrap and other metals resulting from the production, utilization,
> and fabrication of nuclear fuel by the Department of Energy and other
> facilities poses a risk to public safety, threatens the metals recycling
> stream, and can cause millions of dollars worth of damage to facilities
> that unknowingly process contaminated metals .
>
> (4) The metals industry in the United States desires to keep radioactive
> contamination resulting from the production, utilization, and
> fabrication of nuclear fuel by the Department of Energy and other
> facilities out of its facilities and products.
>
> (5) Currently there are no approved standards for the unrestricted
> release of metals containing radioactive contamination in the United
> States. The American public has rejected all previous attempts by the
> Nuclear Regulatory Commission to set a standard for such releases. It is
> expected that American consumers will reject products that contain
> unknown amounts of radioactive contamination from the Department of
> Energy and nuclear fuel production, utilization, and fabrication
> facilities. All such releases are now done only with the specific
> approval of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or its agreement States.
>
> (6) However, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission currently is deliberating
> whether there is a need for a rulemaking to set a specified level of
> radioactive material in scrap and other metal that will be allowed in
> metals for unrestricted use.
>
> (7) At present, there is a lack of accountability and a lack of
> standards regarding radioactive content in metals imported into the
> United States. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has no authority to
> regulate these metals at the time of their importation.
>
> SEC. 3. DUTIES OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.
>
> (a) NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION-
> (1) STANDARD-
> (A) ESTABLISHMENT- Not later than 24 months after the date of enactment
> of this Act, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall establish, through
> a rulemaking under chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code (relating to
> administrative procedures), a standard that controls the free release
> of radioactively contaminated scrap metal from the Department of Energy
> or nuclear fuel cycle facilities in order to protect the health and
> safety of the American consumer.
>
> (B) LIMITATION- Until such standard is established, the Nuclear
> Regulatory Commission and agreement States shall not take any action to
> facilitate, implement, promulgate, or issue a rule or guidance or take
> any other administrative action that would allow the free release into
> commerce of radioactively contaminated scrap metal.
>
> (2) RELEASE OF RADIOACTIVELY CONTAMINATED EQUIPMENT, DEVICES,
> COMMODITIES, AND OTHER MATERIALS- Effective upon the date of enactment
> of this Act, all radioactively contaminated equipment, devices,
> commodities, and other materials approved for general release to persons
> exempt from licensing by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or any of its
> agreement States will be released only under the provisions of the
> Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and its implementing regulations governing the
> release of byproduct and source material (as defined in section 11 of
> such Act (42 U.S.C. 2014)). The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is
> prohibited from establishing separate and differing release regulations
> and standards for equipment, devices, commodities, and other materials
> which are contaminated during the nuclear fuel production, utilization,
> and fabrication process from those regulations and standards established
> for equipment, devices, commodities, and other materials into which
> byproduct and source material have been deliberately inserted for their
> beneficial use.
>
> (b) DEPARTMENTS OF DEFENSE AND ENERGY; ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY;
> OTHER AGENCIES- The Departments of Defense and Energy, the Environmental
> Protection Agency, and all other agencies that have oversight or control
> over the release of radioactively contaminated metals shall adopt
> standards that are no less stringent than the standards established by
> the Nuclear Regulatory Commission under subsection (a). Until such
> standards are established, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of
> Defense, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and
> the heads of all other agencies that have oversight or control over the
> release of radioactively contaminated metals shall not take any action
> to facilitate, promote, or allow the release into commerce of
> radioactively contaminated scrap metal.
>
> (c) UNITED STATES CUSTOMS SERVICE- The United States Customs Service
> shall, within 12 months after establishment of the standard under
> subsection (a), monitor and enforce these standards at the borders of
> the United States.
>
> (d) SECRETARY OF STATE- After the standard is established under
> subsection (a), the Secretary of State shall work with international
> standard-writing bodies to adopt standards consistent with the standard
> established under subsection (a).
>
> (e) INTERIM CERTIFICATIONS- Before the standard established under
> subsection (a) takes effect, all scrap metal imported into the United
> States must be accompanied by documentation--
>
> (1) stating the amount of radioactive contamination as certified by the
> government of the exporting country; and
>
> (2) validating that the metal does not contain any byproduct, source, or
> any special nuclear material.
>
> Such information shall be readily available as part of the documentation
> and must accompany the shipment of these products. This requirement will
> go into effect 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act and the
> Secretary of Commerce is directed to promulgate a final rule
> implementing this requirement by that date.
>
> SEC. 4. CIVIL PENALTY FOR FALSE DOCUMENTATION.
>
> Any person who knowingly falsifies any documentation required under
> section 3(e) or required under any standard in effect under section 3
> shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $250,000 for each
> violation.
>
> SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.
>
> The Secretary of Commerce shall not later than one year after the date
> of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter submit a report to the
> Congress which--
>
> (1) lists the number of violations of the standards in effect under
> section 3 and the volume of tons of radioactively contaminated metals
> involved in each violation reported on; and
>
> (2) for each violation, lists the number of tons of radioactively
> contaminated metals involved in each violation reported on, the country
> of origin of such metals , and the type of metal involved.
>
> SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.
>
> As used in this Act:
>
> (1) AGREEMENT STATE- The term `agreement State' means a State that--
>
> (A) has entered into an agreement with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
> under section 274 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2021); and
>
> (B) has authority to regulate the disposal of low-level waste under such
> agreement.
>
> (2) NUCLEAR FUEL PRODUCTION, UTILIZATION, AND FABRICATION FACILITY- The
> term `nuclear fuel production, utilization, and fabrication facility'
> means--
>
> (A) any nuclear reactor, including those designed or used primarily for
> the formation of plutonium or uranium-233;
>
> (B) any facility, equipment, or device designed or used for the
> separation of the isotopes of plutonium, except laboratory scale
> facilities designed or used for experimental or analytical purposes
> only; or
>
> (C) any facility, equipment, or device designed or used for processing
> irradiated materials containing special nuclear material or byproduct
> material, except--
>
> (i) laboratory scale facilities designed or used for experimental or
> analytical purposes; and
>
> (ii) facilities in which processing is conducted pursuant to a license
> issued under parts 30 and 70 of title 10 of the Code of Federal
> Regulations or the equivalent regulations of an agreement State for the
> receipt, possession, use, and transfer of irradiated special nuclear
> material, which license authorizes the processing of the irradiated
> materials on a batch basis for the separation of selected fission
> products and limits the process batch to not more than 100 grams of
> uranium enriched in the isotope 235 and not more than 15 grams of any
> other special nuclear material.
>
> (3) RADIOACTIVELY CONTAMINATED- The term `radioactively contaminated'
> means any material containing residual levels of radiological
> contamination involving any source material, by-product material, or
> special nuclear material as defined in section 11 of the Atomic Energy
> Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2014) or any waste derived therefrom.
>
> (4) SCRAP METAL- The term `scrap metal' means ferrous or non-ferrous
> metal equipment, vehicles, tools, and other metal items (including metal
> pieces, parts, and bits) that are no longer being used for their
> original purpose and are destined to be processed as feedstock to
> produce new metal materials and products.
> --
> ==================================================
> Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director
> Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee, Inc.
> 136 S Illinois Ave, Ste 208, Oak Ridge, TN 37830
> Phone (865) 483-1333; Fax (865) 482-6572; E-mail loc@icx.net
> ==================================================
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