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Re: ABCNEWS.com: Hundreds of Radioactive Devices Missing
The NRC page no longer exists, however the fact is the following
information:
Jose Julio Rozental
joseroze@netvision.net.il
Israel
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TRANSFER OF TRITIUM EXIT SIGNS IN UNION NJ
Date: 12 Sep 1997
From: Public Affairs OPALIST@nrc.gov
------------------- PR197121.TXT follows --------------------
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Office of Public Affairs, Region I
475 Allendale Road King of Prussia, PA 19401
Phone: 610/337-5330 Fax: 610/337-5241
Internet: dps@nrc.gov or nas@nrc.gov
I-97-121 September 12, 1997
Contact: Diane Screnci FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Neil A. Sheehan
NRC CITES FIRM FOR VIOLATION INVOLVING TRANSFER OF "EXIT" SIGNS
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has cited a New
York company for a violation of agency requirements involving the
transfer and disposal of "EXIT" signs containing radioactive
material in New Jersey. No fine has been proposed against the
New York City-based Pneumo Abex Corporation.
In May, a 16-year-old boy removed three signs holding
tritium from a Union, N.J., demolition site, took them to his
home and opened one of them, exposing himself and his family's
residence to the radioactive gas. No one suffered any adverse
health effects as a result of the incident.
However, following a predecisional enforcement conference
on July 10 with Pneumo Abex and two other companies that at
various times owned the property and therefore the signs, NRC
staff determined that Pneumo Abex had violated agency
requirements.
"This violation represents a significant NRC concern
because it ultimately contributed to the failure to appropriately
dispose of the signs, and the resultant contamination of members
of the public," NRC Region I Administrator Hubert J. Miller wrote
in a letter to Pneumo Abex.
The signs, which are illuminated without electricity, were
purchased by Pneumo Abex in 1983 for use in the building. An NRC
inspection found that when Pneumo Abex sold the property to the
Selrite Millworks Corporation of Union, N.J., in 1987, it failed
to provide Selrite with a copy of the agency regulations that
apply to the possession of such devices. In addition, Pneumo
Abex failed to notify the NRC of the transfer of the signs.
Consequently, when Selrite sold the facility to Carco
Construction Company of Randolph, N.J., last February, Selrite
did not provide Carco with a copy of NRC guidelines regarding the
signs or inform the agency of the transfer. Afterward, Carco did
not remove the devices for proper disposal when the building at
the site was being demolished.
On May 10, the teen-age boy in question took the signs
from the demolition site and brought them home. While eating a
snack in his basement bedroom, he dismantled one of the signs,
breaking several tubes containing tritium. He contacted local
emergency response personnel after seeing a radioactive materials
label. Emergency personnel contacted the State of New Jersey
Department of Environmental Protection, which notified the NRC.
Estimates by the New Jersey DEP indicate the boy received
a radioactive dose of about 70 millirems, less than the
equivalent of one year of exposure to natural background
radiation, which for the average American is about 300 millirems.
Surveys of the boy's bedroom showed moderate contamination, while
only trace amounts were found elsewhere in the house. A
contractor hired by the DEP removed the contamination from the
home.
The NRC did not fine Pneumo Abex because under the
statute of limitations, too much time had elapsed since the
violation. The NRC also noted the corrective actions taken by
the company, including the fact that Pneumo Abex has agreed to
take responsibility for disposal of the signs and to perform an
extensive review to determine if any other properties owned by
Pneumo Abex, either formerly or currently, might contain the same
type of signs.
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----- Original Message -----
From: Franz Schoenhofer <franz.schoenhofer@CHELLO.AT>
To: Gerald Nicholls <GNICHOLL@dep.state.nj.us>; <emarshall@fnal.gov>;
<radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu>; <Jack_Earley@RL.GOV>
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2002 4:07 AM
Subject: Re: ABCNEWS.com: Hundreds of Radioactive Devices Missing
-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Gerald Nicholls <GNICHOLL@dep.state.nj.us>
An: emarshall@fnal.gov <emarshall@fnal.gov>; radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu
<radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu>; Jack_Earley@RL.GOV <Jack_Earley@RL.GOV>
Datum: Mittwoch, 17. April 2002 19:13
Betreff: RE: ABCNEWS.com: Hundreds of Radioactive Devices Missing
>The boy did not steal the signs. He was walking past a demolition site
near his home and found 3 tritium exit signs in the debris. He took them
home, reportedly to illuminate posters on the walls of his basement level
bedroom. After partially disassembling the signs and apparently breaking
one or more of the tubes, he contacted local officials because he was
concerned about the radiation symbols he found on the signs. Analysis of
his urine showed a TEDE of about 80 mrem. It probably would not have been
nearly this high if he hadn't been in a basement level room (relatively low
ventilation) and hadn't been snacking while working on the signs.
>
>About $100,000 in clean up, disposal and temporary relocation costs for the
family were paid by the state's Spill Fund.
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I have some problems to understand this story. What is the basis for the 80
mrem (within what time)? Tritium is in exit signs to my information present
as tritium gas. If it is liberated it may of course be inhaled and will lead
to some dose. Opening the windows and doors will after not too long a time
dilute the tritium concentration to almost zero. Does the opening of windows
and doors cost $ 100 000?????? Tritium is very slowly converted to HTO, so
there will hardly any residual tritium contamination be present - and HTO is
as volatile as H2O (within some extremely low differences.....) and will
vanish within short time. Are the temporary relocation costs at $ 100 000?
The family must have spent some months on travelling first class around the
world together with a big party.
Please enlighten me!
Franz
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