Issues > Energy > Printer Version
Trash Radioactive "Recycling" Radioactive "Recycling" Subsidies

$286 million

"BNFL did not perform accurate surveys of contaminated metals before the contractor released the metals for recycling on the open market… employees who performed the surveys were not adequately supervised. As a result, there was increased risk to the public that contaminated metals were released from the site…" September 11, 2000 Memorandum for Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary from DOE Inspector General Gregory H. Friedman (emphasis added).

In August 1997, the Department of Energy (DOE) entered into a noncompetitive contract with British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. (BNFL) at Oak Ridge, Tennessee to decommission three massive buildings formerly used to enrich uranium for atomic weapons and nuclear reactors. The DOE gave BNFL incentives to process and sell more than 127,000 tons of radioactively contaminated nickel, aluminum, copper, and steel to commercial recyclers who provide metals for consumer products such as tableware, frying pans, orthodontic braces, furniture, batteries and automobiles. Consumer products made with metal that is contaminated by long-lasting radioactivity from DOE activities will not be labeled to alert producers or consumers that they are contaminated.

Green Scissors Proposal
1. Cancel the DOE BNFL contract at Oak Ridge's East Tennessee Technology Park. 2. Cut the DOE's "National Center of Excellence for Metals Recycling" Program, which promotes radioactive recycling at taxpayer expense. 3. Make the DOE's temporary moratoria on releasing potentially contaminated metal from the DOE complex permanent and extend it to cover all materials with radioactive contamination from DOE activities. These proposals would save taxpayers $286 million.

Current Status
According to the DOE Inspector General Audit Report (DOE/IG-0481) on the BNFL contract, 6.6 million pounds of metal have been released for recycling from the site as of May 2000. Inaccurate surveys, inadequately supervised surveyors and selective verification have resulted in an "increased risk to the public that contaminated metals were released from the site." Ineffective management has led to cost overruns and put the successful completion of the project in doubt.

Although release of potentially contaminated metals from DOE sites is temporarily on hold, the DOE is planning the unrestricted release and recycling of concrete from the site. In addition, contaminated metal is being stored at the site until the suspension is lifted.

Project Hurts Taxpayers

Contract cancellation would save federal taxpayers approximately $286 million over the remaining four-year period of the contract plus additional savings from subsequent changes to the contract. This is determined by subtracting the amount the DOE has already paid BNFL (approximately $54 million as of the last payment on June 30, 2000) and the contract cancellation cost ($4 million) from the adjusted contract amount plus the Inspector General's projected increase (total $344 million).

The program is over-budget and behind schedule. The DOE Inspector General estimated that the project will cost $94 million more than the current contracted amount to complete. The Inspector General also found that the completion of the project was two years behind.

Project Hurts the Environment

The three buildings being decommissioned under this contract do not pose such high priority health and safety risks as do other parts of the Oak Ridge site. However, if atomic bomb and reactor contaminated materials and wastes are released and used to make consumer goods, they will cause continuous, routine and unwitting exposure of the public to radioactivity.

The DOE, in its own words, is setting a "precedent" by creating a new market for dangerous radioactive materials from the nuclear military-industrial complex. The processing, transport, and use of radioactive materials in consumer products will increase the exposure of workers, the public and the environment to radiation. The likely result is increased cancer incidences and deaths, birth defects, and other radiation-related illnesses.

Some of the radioactive materials are extremely long lasting, remaining hazardous for hundreds of thousands of years.

Allowing radioactive wastes and materials from nuclear weapons and power to be released into general commerce and "recycled" will not only irreversibly contaminate raw materials and daily use items, but could also destroy existing recycling programs and industries. If public confidence in general recycling and recycled goods is reduced because of concern about radioactive contamination, the demand for virgin materials will go up, negatively impacting decades of responsible recycling efforts and wasting natural resources.

Contacts

• Diane D'Arrigo, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, (202) 328-0002.
• Dr. Judith Johnsrud, Sierra Club, (814) 237-3900.
• Pete Strader, PACE (Paper, Allied Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers) International Union, (202) 293-7939.