CITIZENS GROUPS CRITICIZE NUCLEAR AGENCY'S RADIATION LEVELS (fwd)

[Terry Brock <brockt@ucs.orst.edu>]

Hi all,
 
This interesting tidbit of propaganda was forwarded to me. Please
notice the body count associated with the doses listed. Viva la
LNT!

Terry A. Brock
Oregon State University

******* PUBLIC CITIZEN'S CRITICAL MASS ENERGY PROJECT *******

MILITARY PRODUCTION NETWORK * NUCLEAR INFORMATION & RESOURCE  SERVICE *
PUBLIC CITIZEN * SAFE ENERGY COMMUNICATION COUNCIL * SIERRA CLUB * U.S.
PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, May 21, 1997

CONTACT:
Bill Magavern
202-546-4996

Mary Olson
202-328-0002


	CITIZENS GROUPS CRITICIZE NUCLEAR AGENCY'S RADIATION LEVELS

	Citizens groups strongly criticized the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission for issuing a new regulation that will allow unacceptably high
levels of radioactive contamination in American communities.

	"Today's NRC action allows deadly amounts of radiation to remain
on sites of retired nuclear reactors and other contaminated facilities,"
said Bill Magavern, Director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy
Project. "In the Orwellian world of the NRC, the agency would declare a
site clean' even if it had a radiation level that would kill one out of
every 286 people exposed to it," Magavern continued.

	The NRC would allow owners of contaminated facilities to walk away
from the sites even if so much radioactivity remained that individuals
could be exposed to as much as 100 millirems annually. In some cases,
residual radioactivity as high as 500 millirems would be allowed. The
Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a level of 15 millirems,
which would set risks for radiation contamination similar to the risks for
other hazardous substances.

	"The NRC, because of its coziness with the nuclear power industry,
continues to treat radiation as a privileged pollutant," charged Mary
Olson of the Nuclear Information & Resource Service. "Instead of favoring
the nuclear lobby, NRC should have listened to citizens who want sites
left free of radiation created by industrial activity," Olson said.

	The groups also criticized NRC's refusal to adopt a standard for
groundwater protection, as recommended by the EPA. They urged the EPA to
set its own guidelines for radiation cleanup, and to make them protective
of public health and safety.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Write to EPA Administrator Carol Browner, Washington,
D.C. 20460, and urge EPA to set its own standards for cleanup of all
radioactively contaminated sites in the U.S., overriding NRC's
outrageously weak standards. For more information, see EPA's web site,
especially Ramona Trovato's presentation to the NRC, at
www.epa.gov/radiation/cleanup.

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