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7 June, 1999The goals set by the organisers were to identify the scale of the problem and assess the effectiveness of current regulations.
GENEVA/PRAGUE: The U.N. Economic Commission for Europe, based in Geneva, held a Workshop on Radioactive Steel Scrap in Prague on May 19-21. Len Powell, of the IMF Secretariat, took part in the Workshop, along with more than 120 others, representing the steel industry in 31 countries and many governmental and international agencies concerned with the regulation and control of radioactive materials.
The goals set by the organisers of the Workshop were to identify the scale of the problem and assess the effectiveness of current regulations. Although all steel companies and many scrap suppliers have installed detection equipment over the last 10 years, this equipment cannot always identify contaminated scrap. All steel companies have contracts with scrap suppliers which ban any shipment of radioactive scrap, and scrap dealers are required to accept responsibility for contaminated materials, which should be returned to the original source on the basis that the polluter pays. In order to prevent contaminated supplies entering countries, border checkpoints are equipped with detectors.
The IMF expects to participate in the Working Group being set up to propose acceptable standards and harmonised regulations, as well as to elaborate appropriate codes of conduct.
The goals set by the organisers of the Workshop were to identify the scale of the problem and assess the effectiveness of current regulations. Although all steel companies and many scrap suppliers have installed detection equipment over the last 10 years, this equipment cannot always identify contaminated scrap. All steel companies have contracts with scrap suppliers which ban any shipment of radioactive scrap, and scrap dealers are required to accept responsibility for contaminated materials, which should be returned to the original source on the basis that the polluter pays. In order to prevent contaminated supplies entering countries, border checkpoints are equipped with detectors.
The IMF expects to participate in the Working Group being set up to propose acceptable standards and harmonised regulations, as well as to elaborate appropriate codes of conduct.