Holtec International Makes Headlines Again for Nuclear Exposure

Mindy Cohn

Another strike for Holtec International as an inspection report shows the company transported a package on public roadways far exceeding federal radiation levels.

This news comes following months of controversy after Holtec announced they were going to dump treated radioactive wastewater in the Hudson River. The governor finally signed the "Save the Hudon" bill earlier this month, putting the issue to rest, as reported by Rockland Daily here. 

On May 3, two packages from Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station arrived at the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant in Buchanon. Both locations are owned by Holtec International, the company responsible for decommissioning both nuclear power plants. Both packages contained equipment contaminated with radiation, but one gave off more than double the allowable limits due to improper packaging, according to an inspection report from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

The report showed that the radiation was measured at 450 millirem per hour, over twice the 200 millirem per hour limit set by the Department of Transportation.

According to the NRC, the average American is exposed to about 620 millirem of radiation yearly, about half of which comes from natural background radiation. The other half comes from manmade sources, such as medical, commercial, and industrial ones.

The inspection report stresses that when a company transports nuclear materials on public highways, they must follow the radiation limits. As a result of non-compliance, the NRC says they are considering possible "escalated enforcement action, including a civil penalty."

While the NRC did not specify what kind of civil penalty they are considering, the agency's civil penalties for improper transfer, loss, abandonment, and disposal of radioactive material range from $7,000 to $54,000. The range can depend on different factors, such as the radiation source and the radiation levels emitted. The penalty can be as much as $350,000 against companies that operate power reactors and high-level nuclear waste storage facilities.

Holtec spokesperson Patrick O'Brien said in an email, "Holtec is reviewing the notice and will provide a written response to the NRC within 30 days of the date of the letter."

Asbury Park Press reported that Edwin Lyman, director of the Nuclear Power Safety program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote an email on this issue. He said, "It appears that Holtec's radiological monitoring was extremely sloppy and underestimated the peak dose… posing unacceptable risks to the misinformed conveyance driver and anyone else in close proximity to the package."

Lyman continued, "Fortunately, the drive was not that long, but the doses from even a few hours of overexposure could have led to a significant dose excess — perhaps tens of millirem, although it is hard to say — comparable (to) the typical occupational dose that radiation workers receive in one year. Nearby vehicles were probably not put at significantly increased risk unless there was a traffic jam resulting in someone unfortunate being stuck near the open transport vehicle for an extended period of time."

Lyman expressed concern that "the company's ambition is to build new reactors even though it hasn't demonstrated sufficient competence in its ability to manage spent fuel and decommission shutdown reactors."

Photo Credit: Holtec International