Transportation Press Releases
UNECE Releases Recommendations on Radioactive Scrap—04/03/07
The first set of internationally agreed recommendations to monitor and reduce the risks involving radioactivity in scrap metal has been published by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in Geneva.
Recycled scrap metal is a commodity that crosses most of the world’s borders, with 184 million tonnes traded internationally in 2004. Up until now however, no unified guidelines on checking for radioactivity in recycled scrap metal have existed. The UNECE Recommendations represent a critical first step to address this problem.
A UNECE survey of 55 countries found that while a growing number of States are checking imports and exports of scrap metal for radiation, less than half of the scrap yards do so, and there is no consistency in the approaches. Yet with 50% of steel being produced from numerous recycled sources, monitors are increasingly detecting radiation in scrap metal. In the US alone over 5000 radiation monitor alarms rang in 2004 as a result of detections in metal scrap. Many of these detections are from natural sources and represent low levels of radiation. Others, however, may be from losses, accidents or inadvertent disposal of radioactive material. All alarms must be taken seriously.
In addition to potential health and environmental risks, the economic ramifications involved are significant. The cost of search, decontamination and clean up can amount to millions of US dollars and put companies out of business altogether. In the words of a representative from the scrap metal processing industry "not a single normal client in the world has any interest in scrap with radioactively contaminated material."
The UNECE Recommendations provide an important tool for scrap yards, metal smelters, Customs, regulatory authorities and transporters, amongst others, to prevent incidents and better deal with them should they happen. While these Recommendations are not legally binding, they provide guidance to all interested parties based on existing best practice. The UNECE has already received requests for capacity building to better implement these Recommendations and is currently working with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) to support countries in this respect.
The Recommendations are available in English, French and Russian and may be obtained from the UNECE secretariat. They can also be downloaded from the UNECE website (see contacts below). Their production was made possible thanks to support from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
