Forward from dianed@nirs.org - action needed!
ALERT- DOE Comment deadline Monday, December 4, 2000.

DOE APPROVING "RELEASE"/"RECYCLING" of ATOMIC Waste, Materials, Sites, Soils, etc.

Department of Energy (DOE) proposes some limitations on 'Release'/'Recycling' of radioactive METAL, but continues to allow contaminated materials out.

DOE sets up to RESUME releasing/'recycling' some radioactive metal into commerce and daily use items!

DOE CONTINUES releasing radioactive wastes, materials, equipment, property, soils, land, etc.

On Thursday, October 16, 2000 in the Federal Register, 65 FR 198:60653-60656, DOE proposed changes to its internal Order 5400.5 on public radiation standards regarding RELEASING MATERIALS WITH RESIDUAL RADIOACTIVITY FROM DOE FACILITIES. Comments due DEC 4!

DOE's proposals:

DOE is clarifying what it needs to do let radioactive wastes and materials out into general commerce, regular trash and recycling into the marketplace.

Rather than prohibiting the release of any contaminated materials, DOE essentially codifying existing procedures, with the appearance of greater limits on the release of scrap metal.

For scrap metal originating in contaminated areas of DOE sites, DOE will use commercially available detection equipment to survey and determine with "reasonable assurance that residual radioactive material is not detectable on the metal." [proposed DOE Order 5400.5 Chapter V, 4.]

Address comments to:
Harold T. Peterson, Jr.  (202) 586 9640  harold.peterson@hq.doe.gov
or
Stephen L. Domotor (202) 586 0871  stephen.domotor@hq.doe.gov
Air, Water and Radiation Division
Office of Environmental Policy and Guidance
US Department of Energy (EH-41)
1000 Independence Avenue/ Washington, DC 20585.

Send a copy to your US Congressmember (US House of Representatives,
Washington, DC 20515), your Senators (US Senate, Washington, DC 20510)
and to DOE Secretary Bill Richardson, or EH-1 David
Michaels, US DOE, 1000 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20585.

NIRS general comment:

DOE must PROHIBIT and PREVENT any radioactively contaminated materials from being released from regulatory control within the DOE complex. No metals or other materials that are contaminated or potentially contaminated from DOE activities, at any level, should be released or recycled into the marketplace or regular or hazardous waste facilities.  Since contamination can be present below economically feasible detection levels, nothing even potentially contaminated should be released. Measuring for contamination at the lowest levels of detection would be an improvement over deliberately releasing contaminated materials at 'DOE authorized levels' but DOE and its contractors cannot be trusted to monitor adequately and the nuclear industry cannot be trusted to use the proper technology, mainly for economic reasons. NIRS supports DOE's implied goal of preventing  release/recycle of scrap metal with any contamination and encourages that this goal be expanded to cover all materials, not just scrap metal, but the loopholes must be plugged.

What DOE is proposing:

DOE's proposed changes to Order 5400.5 add a new Chapter V which would prohibit scrap metals with detectable radioactive contamination on the surface (from DOE activities) to be released into unrestricted commerce.  Other contaminated materials could be released if they meet DOE's "approved Authorized Levels" of contamination or are calculated, by DOE field managers or program officers, to give an "acceptable" dose to the public.

The first part, for scrap metals, SOUNDS good but it has big LOOPHOLES:

1)  DOE procedures, calling for "reasonable assurance," do not guarantee that the contamination will be detected. Accurate, adequate, systematic, complete detection is expensive and time consuming. If inadequate detection is carried out, it can give false assurance and allow DOE radioactivity out into commerce and consumer goods.

2)  DOE appears to allow 'indirect' release of contaminated metal to the public by sending it to licensed companies possibly processors---who don't directly release it to the public, but can make their own subsequent determination to send it out under their own loopholes and exemption options.

3)  DOE could let radioactive metal out through reduced oversight of the material once it is recycled or reused within the DOE complex.

POSITIVE ASPECTS of the Metals Portion of (Ch. V, 3) of the DOE Proposal-

1)  The GOAL of preventing DOE contamination being released from the sites is an UNUSUAL IMPROVEMENT in DOE ATTITUDE and is to be encouraged.  Unfortunately, the implementation has big loopholes that must be plugged.

2)   The requirement that DOE field offices coordinate with the public [Ch. V, 3. b] through local public participation programs is good but multiple, broad public participation programs must be carried out to truly involve the communities. Further, since the potential impact is on the general population at large, local coordination, although essential, is not adequate. "Coordination"  is not defined and should not be considered adequate approval of any DOE activities. Since Site Specific Advisory Boards do not exist at all sites and those that do have mixed effectiveness, programs involving the public must not rely on them alone.

Background:

For decades some radioactive materials from nuclear weapons and power have been sent off-site into daily commerce including regular and hazardous trash AND recycling  into the marketplace. Occasionally, it gets caught; not always. Now, the nuclear industry including DOE and international nuclear promoters want to clearly legalize the "release" or "clearance" of radioactive wastes, materials, sites, concrete, equipment, buildings, soil, etc.

Massive Increase in  'Releases' of Radioactive Waste/Materials/Metals expected:

As DOE attempts to "clean-up" the nuclear weapons complex and as nuclear power reactors age, projections have been made (by the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, International Atomic Energy Agency and others) of massive amounts of materials with "residual" radioactive contamination being 'released' or 'cleared' from regulatory control as if they were not radioactive.

TWO Temporary DOE Moratoria on Radioactive Metal Releases from DOE sites:

DOE Secretary Bill Richardson temporarily halted the release, from DOE sites, of metal with radioactive contamination throughout (volumetric contamination) on January 12, 2000, until the Nuclear Regulatory Commission acts.

On July 13, 2000 DOE Secretary Richardson suspended the release, from DOE sites, of metal potentially contaminated on the surface, and committed that DOE would "ensure American consumers that scrap metal released from Energy Department facilities for recycling contains no detectable contamination from departmental activities." The commitment was that DOE would develop a policy and procedures that will prevent any metal with radioactive contamination on the surface, from DOE activities, from going out of the DOE complex. The implication was that DOE would prevent any contaminated materials from getting out.

DOE announced its proposed policy and procedures on October 16, 2000, in the Federal Register, as a proposed change and addition to its internal public radiation standards, DOE Order 5400.5. The proposal was published for Public Comment on Thursday, October 16, 2000 in the Federal Register, 65 FR 198:60653-60656, with a December 4, 2000 comment deadline.

DOE proposal is a Disappointment but Not a Surprise:

INSTEAD OF PREVENTING radioactive metals and other materials from getting out into the marketplace, DOE's proposed  changes outline the steps to let contaminated materials out.

DOE will "CONTROL RELEASES of Materials with Residual Radioactive Contamination from DOE Facilities."

Rather than prohibiting radioactive materials, wastes, property and equipment from being sold, donated or otherwise sent out of the DOE complex, the proposed change to DOE Order 5400.5 refers to "DOE-approved Authorized Limits" for release and provides several options for releasing contaminated materials.

One of the Department goals of the proposed new Chapter VI of DOE Order 5400.5 is that:

"the level of residual radioactive material in property to be released is as near background levels as is reasonably practicable consistent with DOE ALARA process requirements and meets DOE authorized limits"  [proposed DOE 5400.5 Chapter VI 1. (b)].

THIS IS NOT A PROHIBITION ON RELEASE OF CONTAMINATED MATERIALS!

The proposed Requirements for Surveying and Monitoring are inadequate.

For example:

" Where potentially contaminated surfaces are not accessible for direct measurement (as in pipes, drains, ductwork), such property may be released only after case-by-case evaluation and documentation that the inaccessible surfaces are likely to be within DOE approved authorized limits." [proposed DOE 5400.5 Ch. VI 3.(a) 5. ; also in existing Ch. IV]

What are "DOE-approved Authorized Limits?"

They are "limits approved by DOE to permit the release of property from DOE control"

Under the proposal [DOE 5400.5 Chapter VI, 3. b], "Authorized limits must be established to GOVERN THE RELEASE of sites, structures, or materials (personal and real property). DOE authorized limits are limits approved by DOE to PERMIT THE RELEASE of property from DOE control" [EMPHASIS ADDED]

DOE Authorized Limits must  [Ch. VI 3. b]:

-"be selected *such that potential doses do not exceed and are as far below the dose limits and constraints as is PRACTICABLE" [Ch.VI 3.b(1)]

-"be selected to provide a REASONABLE expectation that the release will not cause the dose limits and constraints to be exceeded for current and future use of the property." [Ch. VI 3. b(2)]

DOE should be PREVENTING doses, not causing and permitting them!

-DOE is proposing to adopt the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's decommissioning rule (10 CFR 20 Subpart E) which allows as much or more exposure from a closed site as it allows from an operating site.  Although this may be considered an improvement to DOE standards by some, it is inadequate for protection of the public health and safety.  EPA has expressed concern that the NRC decommissioning rule could leave sites contaminated enough to be declared Superfund sites, especially due to groundwater contamination.

Give DOE your Comments on 'Release' and 'Recycling' of Radioactive Materials into Commerce and on site-release by Dec. 4, 2000.