Radioactive Recycling 101

[Guest guest]

The following article was posted on www.citizen.org on October 18th,

2002. The full article appears below.

 

Radioactive Recycling 101

Q : Isn’t recycling a good thing?

A : Not when the materials being recycled are radioactive waste from

nuclear power reactors and nuclear weapons facilities. The radiation in

this waste persists for thousands of years, posing enormous dangers to

human health, such as cancer and genetic mutations.

Q : Does recycling make the waste less radioactive, less dangerous?

A : No. Recycling only disperses the radiation throughout various

materials and products, spreading it out over a wide area. This makes it

harder to detect and essentially impossible to collect, but it doesn’t

reduce its radioactivity or its dangers, since a single alpha particle of

radiation can trigger a fatal cancer. Dilution is NOT the solution to

pollution!

Q : Who is recycling radioactive waste?

A : The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) currently allow " unrestricted release " of some

radioactive wastes from nuclear reactors and weapons facilities. The

Department of Transportation (DOT) is making this easier by weakening

radioactive transport regulations. Permitted to dump the wastes without

restrictions, private companies take the most profitable course. This

means that material that is radioactive from manmade nuclear activities

and processes is " cleared " to be sent to landfills, recycling facilities,

incinerators, or virtually anywhere, since it is (falsely) designated as

non-radioactive before it is released. Now, the drive is on to increase

and expand these practices.

Q : Is this happening now?

A : Yes, materials are being released and recycled now, and it’s probably

been occurring in some form since the beginning of the nuclear age. There

has been scant recordkeeping of these activities. If standards are set

that normalize " radioactive recycling " the floodgates will open and we

can expect massive quantities to enter the commercial marketplace.

Q : What sorts of materials are getting recycled?

A : Virtually anything that is found at a nuclear reactor or weapons

facility could be getting out. This includes metal, concrete, soil,

plastic, asphalt, glass and chemicals. Currently, the NRC allows all

materials to be released on a " case-by-case " basis, while the DOE allows

everything except some metals to be released, also on a case-by-case

basis.

Q : Why are they doing this?

A : The nuclear industry wants to unload these wastes to pad its profits

or - at least - to reduce the expense of managing their radioactive

wastes. Radioactive waste disposal can be an expensive activity. By

claiming that these wastes are an " asset, " just another type of commodity

that can be sold or traded (or even donated!), the nuclear industry is

trying to avoid the proper containment and monitoring of the wastes –

cutting costs at OUR expense!

Q : Do recycling companies really want to recycle this stuff?

A : To the extent that recyclers are even aware of the risk that they

could be taking in nuclear waste and mixing it and recycling it with

non-radioactive materials, the vast majority of recyclers don’t want it.

The problem is that, in many cases, they might not even know they are

receiving a load of nuclear waste, because it will not be identified,

marked, or labeled as radioactive in any way after it leaves the nuclear

facility. The only way that recyclers can even hope to reduce the risks

of taking in nuclear waste is by installing expensive radiation detection

equipment, which doesn’t guarantee protection because it can’t detect all

types of ionizing radiation. But right now, metal recyclers are acting as

the public’s first (and possibly only) line of defense against industrial

materials and consumer products being made from radioactive waste. They

shouldn’t have to do this.

Q : Have consumers ever purchased radioactive products?

A : Yes. Various products tainted with radiation have made it to stores

and ended up in people’s homes. In the early 1980s, at least 170 pieces

of radioactively-contaminated jewelry were discovered in New York and

Pennsylvania, already in the possession of consumers. At least fourteen

people developed cancer and several required amputations. In 1997, the

La-Z-Boy chair company unwittingly manufactured about 6,000 recliners

with radioactive steel parts. 1,000 of these recliners were purchased and

found in people’s homes. These are just two examples of incidents in

which radiation has ended up where it doesn’t belong - and these are only

cases that were discovered. If radioactive release and " recycling "

continues, or is even expanded, we can expect many more of such

incidents.

Q : How can I be sure that I’m not buying radioactive products when I

shop?

A : Radioactively " hot " consumer products will not be hot to the touch or

look any different than non-radioactive products. Aware that consumer

goods that are labeled " radioactive " will not sell, companies knowingly

marketing " hot " products will not want to label them or identify them as

containing nuclear waste. Short of scanning in-store items with sensitive

(and expensive) radiation detectors, the only way that we can be sure

that products will not be radioactive is to stop nuclear facilities –

worldwide - from releasing radioactive waste. Government regulatory

agencies must protect the public and prohibit the deregulation of nuclear

waste and materials.

Q : What can I do to stop this outrageous practice once and for all?

A : Write, phone, fax and e-mail the NRC , DOE , the DOT (and the

Environmental Protection Agency ), and insist that they prevent the

dispersal of radioactive materials and wastes into the general

environment and protect the public from nuclear radiation.

Write to your senators and representatives and insist that they put

some muscle into our nuclear regulations. Make sure your elected

officials and agency decision-makers know you want to be protected from

this threat. Tell them to ban any and all radioactive " recycling " and

release practices.

Write letters to the editor of your local newspapers, and encourage your

friends to do the same.

Propose a resolution in your city council to ban these practices and the

" hot " products that they create. Click here for a sample resolution.

Call your local recycling facilities - ask about radiation detection

devices they have installed, if any

Keep in touch with Public Citizen and Nuclear Information & Resource

Service (NIRS) for the latest updates on this issue:

Public Citizen's Critical Mass : phone 202-454-5176, website

www.citizen.org/cmep

NIRS : phone 202-328-0002, website www.nirs.org

Remember, as long as the nuclear industry is around, they will want to

dump their deadly waste in someone’s back yard (or kitchen, playground or

workplace), and run away from the scene!

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