Nuclear Regulation

Radioactive materials are sometimes discharged into municipal sewer systems by hospitals, decontamination laundries, research facilities, and manufacturers licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). NRC regulations fall short, however, in controlling low-level radioactive wastes being discharged into municipal sewer systems, possibly putting treatment plant workers, plant property, and the general public at risk. During the past decade, at least nine cases of radioactive contamination of sewage sludge have occurred at treatment plants. One of the most recent was the inadvertent discovery by NRC in 1991 of radioactive contamination at the Southerly Sewage Treatment Plant in Cleveland, Ohio. NRC has concluded that the elevated radiation levels at the site do not pose health or safety risks to plant workers or to the public. The facility has already spent more than $1.5 million for on-site cleanup and a secured fence, and estimates for off-site disposal range as high as $3 billion. The full extent of contamination at other treatment plants nationwide is unknown because (1) NRC has inspected only 15 of the 1,100 NRC licensees that may discharge radioactive material to determine if a concentration problem exists, (2) NRC does not know how many of the estimated 3,000 "agreement state" licensees may have been inspected, and (3) neither NRC nor the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires treatment plants to test for the presence of radioactive materials in sewage sludge. Exposure to treatment plant sludge, ash, and related by-products can occur in a variety of ways. For example, some of the substances are used for agricultural and residential purposes, such as lawn fertilizer. NRC and EPA studies on the health effects of radioactive materials in sewage sludge and ash have been inconclusive. GAO summarized this report in testimony before Congress; see: Nuclear Regulation: Action Needed to Control Radioactive Contamination at Sewage Treatment Plants, by Jim Wells, Associate Director for Energy and Science Issues, before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs and the Subcommittee on the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources, House Committee on Government Operations. GAO/T-RCED-94-247, June 21, 1994 (15 pages).

GAO found that: (1) NRC and Southerly plant officials do not believe that the plant poses any health or safety risks to treatment plant workers or the general public; (2) the total cleanup costs for the Southerly plant could exceed $3 billion if NRC and Ohio do not approve on-site disposal of contaminated soil; (3) some treatment plants' sludge and ash disposal methods could expose plant workers and the general public to elevated levels of radiation; (4) NRC and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have not conducted required testing and inspections to determine the extent of radioactive contamination at sewage treatment facilities; (5) treatment plants will face significant future cleanup costs if radioactive sludge and ash disposal methods and monitoring are not improved; (6) although NRC has revised its regulation to reduce the concentration of radiation that licensees can discharge to treatment plants, it needs to further study why radioactive materials concentrate during the waste treatment process and the impact of new regulations on concentration levels; (7) NRC and EPA have not issued sufficient guidelines so that waste treatment operators can regulate and reduce radioactive discharges; (8) the health risks of exposure to contaminated sludge, ash, and related by-products are not known because NRC and EPA do not know how much radiation is contained in these products and how these products might affect people; and (9) both NRC and EPA are required to resolve contamination problems at treatment plants.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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