[S-C] Fwd: Comment to EPA on radioactive materials deregulation

[Kevin Shrieve]

From: Michael Mariotte <nirsnet@nirs.org>
Subject: Alert! Comment to EPA on radioactive materials deregulation!
Date-Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2004 3:30 PM -0500

NIRS RADIATION ALERT and UPDATE (1/2004)

Nuclear Power and Weapons Waste to go to Regular Landfills
and other "Non-Regulated Management"

Environmental Protection Agency joins Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Departments of Energy and Transportation in Deregulating Radioactive
Waste

Comments due to EPA by March 17, 2004
Email to:  <a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov>

The US Environmental Protection Agency is planning to make a new rule
that would allow nuclear waste to go to places that are not licensed
for radioactive materials.

The goal appears to be to redefine radioactive materials, no matter
what their source (nuclear power, nuclear weapons, naturally occurring
or other), based on EPA-calculated and projected risks. The new
category of nuclear materials (once called BRC or Below Regulatory
Concern) would supposedly not need radioactive regulatory controls.
EPA does not consider all the potential health effects of radiation
and hazardous materials in estimating the risks. They have never
demonstrated the accuracy of their predictions.

1) First, EPA would allow mixed radioactive and hazardous wastes to go
to facilities permitted for hazardous waste only (RCRA C hazardous
waste dumps and processors).

2) Second, radioactive waste (not mixed with hazardous) could be
permitted to go to places that do not have radioactive licenses or
regulations, such as regular garbage dumps or incinerators or
hazardous sites. EPA justifies this by claiming they will provide an
acceptable level of protection from radiation risk. It seems obvious
this would be a problem for communities around the waste sites, many
of which already leak.

3) Third, EPA suggests that a "non-regulatory approach" to management
of radioactive waste is an option and requests creative ideas for
"partnering" with waste generators or other schemes to relieve the
regulatory burden. Nothing would prevent radioactive materials from
going to recycling facilities and being mixed with the normal
recycling streams which are made into everyday household items like
toys, cookware, personal use items, cars, furniture and civil
engineering projects like roads and buildings.

4) This dangerous proposal dovetails neatly into the US Nuclear
Regulatory Commission's rulemaking to deregulate and release
radioactive material from control, ironically called "Control of
Solids." The NRC is considering several options for nuclear waste
deregulation including continuing the current case-by-case release
procedures, starting new release procedures that are based on
projected risks, sending the waste to sites that are not licensed for
nuclear materials. NRC is claiming they could approve "restricted"
release of nuclear waste meaning certain conditions would apply but
that NRC would not enforce them -- someone else, as yet un-named
would.

The upshot is that NRC and EPA are joining forces to allow nuclear
power and weapons waste which is now generally required to be
regulated and controlled, to be released to waste sites never designed
to take radioactive materials and either deliberately or
unintentionally to the marketplace where it will come into routine
daily contact with us, our children and environment.

5) To make matters even worse, the US NRC and US Department of
Transportation are on the verge of finalizing new transport
regulations (TSR-1) that would exempt various levels of hundreds of
radionuclides from regulatory control in transit. This will make it
easier for NRC and EPA to deregulate nuclear wastes since they will no
longer require regulation, labeling or control as radioactive material
during transportation. (This is especially distressing in light of
increased security concerns about transportation of nuclear materials
that could be used for dirty bombs. More unregulated nuclear materials
will be on the roads, rails, barges and aircraft.)

6) Finally, the Department of Energy is in the process of a
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on releasing radioactive
materials from its sites. In 2000, DOE halted the commercial recycling
of potentially radioactive metals from certain contaminated area on
its sites, but could resume it. DOE continues to allow radioactively
contaminated metals out for unregulated disposal and to allow other
radioactively contaminated materials out for recycling or unregulated
disposal -- soils, concrete, asphalt, plastic, wood, equipment,
buildings, sites and more. EPA=EDs Nov. 18, 2003 notice would help
legalize DOE=EDs release of nuclear weapons wastes from regulatory
control.

ACTIONS:

1)  Send a letter to the new EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt telling
him what you think of the EPA's proposed action, encouraging him
withdraw it.
        Administrator Mike Leavitt, US Environmental Protection
Agency, 1101A,
        Ariel Rios Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. Washington,
DC 20460
        <leavitt.michael@epa.gov>

2) Comment to EPA and get organizations and landfill boards to do so
at
        <a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov>
The proposal is on the EPA website (http://www.epa.gov/radiation) and
will be posted with comments on NIRS website (http://www.nirs.org)
soon.

3) Tell EPA we need a 6 month extension to run their ideas by our
communities that will be impacted.

4) Let your elected officials know how you feel about these dangers by
sending them a copy of your letter to Secretary Leavitt, comments to
EPA, NRC, DOT and/or DOE and telling them about your opposition to the
federal rules that would deregulate and exempt nuclear materials from
regulation.


For more information contact:

Diane D'Arrigo, Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), 1424
16th Street NW Suite 404, Washington, DC 20036, dianed@nirs.org, 202
328-0002 ext 16

See NIRS website under Campaigns at http://www.nirs.org for more info
and actions.