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United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Radiation Protection
EPA's Unique Role
Radiation exists everywhere in the environment and has since the Earth's formation—
in rocks, soil, water, and plants. The mining and processing of radioactive materials
for use in medicine, power generation, consumer products, and industry inevitably generate
emissions and waste. Recognizing the potential hazards of these activities, Congress
designated EPA as the primary federal agency charged with protecting people and the
environment from harmful and avoidable exposure to radiation.
Key Responsibilities
EPA carries out its radiation protection
responsibilities with several key,
complementary activities.
Responding to Emergencies
EPA is the lead federal agency for responding
to international emergencies involving
radioactive material, such as the accident at
Chernobyl. EPA also provides support,
guidance, and training to other federal and
state agencies to prepare for emergencies at
U.S. nuclear plants, transportation accidents
involving shipments of radioactive materials,
and acts of nuclear terrorism. Through
emergency drills and exercises, EPA's
radiological emergency response team helps
states and other agencies test their response
plans and hone their skills.
Assessing Risks
EPA's scientists study both the risk of
exposure—the way that radioactive materials
move through the environment and the
potential for human contact—and the risks
Responding to Terrorism
EPA's Counterterrorism Program Coordinating
Team is actively involved with other U.S.
government agencies for preparing to respond to
acts of chemical, biological, radiological, and
nuclear terrorism. For terrorist incidents involving
radioactive materials, EPA provides support to the
Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal
Emergency Management Agency by: (1)
establishing guidelines for protecting the public
from radiation exposure, such as when to
evacuate or relocate citizens; (2) monitoring and
assessing the radioactivity in the environment
from an incident; and (3) defining the extent of
exposure to the public.
from exposure—how radiation affects human
health. Key risk assessment activities include
monitoring the environment for above-normal
levels of radiation, studying the effects on
human cells from exposure to different kinds
and amounts of radiation, and developing
mathematical models to estimate the effects of
potential exposures.
Controlling Lost Radioactive Sources
Some devices used for
industrial and medical
purposes contain radioactive
material sealed in a metal
casing. If these devices are
lost, stolen, or abandoned,
they are called "orphan
sources." Every year in the
U.S. there are over 200
reports of "orphan"
radioactive sources. Each of
these uncontrolled sources
poses potentially serious
risks to public health and the
environment.
Radioactive sources are
often placed in scrap metal
destined for recycling. If the
protective casing around the
source breaks open or is
"breached" at a metal
processing facility and the
radioactive material is
released, people and the
environment may be
contaminated. To date, there
have been over 70 meltings
of radioactive sources at
steel mills, which have
contaminated the facilities and
may have exposed workers to
radiation. The average cost to
clean up a contaminated
facility is $10-$12 million.
EPA's Orphan Sources
Initiative is helping states
recognize, retrieve, and
safely store and dispose of
these radioactive sources
before they endanger
workers and the public.
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Safeguarding Radioactive Waste Disposal
In 1980 Congress authorized DOE to
develop the Waste Isolation Pilot
Plant (WIPP) as the nation's first deep
underground facility for the permanent
disposal of radioactive waste from
U.S. defense programs. The WIPP is
located 2,100 feet underground in the
natural salt formations outside
Carlsbad, New Mexico. To protect
local residents and ground-water
resources from dangerous
levels of radioactive contamination,
Congress also charged EPA with
finalizing regulations that limit
radioactive emissions from all
disposal facilities, developing criteria
to implement and interpret those
generic regulations specifically for the
WIPP, and certifying the WIPP's
compliance with those criteria.
After a review of over 100,000
pages of documentation, audits and
inspections, independent testing,
public hearings and meetings, and
over 1,000 public comments, in 1998
EPA certified that the WIPP is safe to
contain the designated waste for at
least 10,000 years. EPA
continues to use its inspection
authority to confirm that the WIPP is
meeting safety requirements, and will
shut down the plant if it finds
significant noncompliance.
Setting Protective Limits
EPA uses its risk assessment results
to set protective limits on radioactive
emissions for all media—air, water, and
soil—and to develop guidance for
cleaning up radioactively contaminated
Superfund sites. In turn, other federal
and state agencies use EPAs standards
to develop their own regulations. For
example, the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission uses EPAs standards to
develop regulations for commercial
nuclear facilities, and the Department of
Energy (DOE) uses them to develop
regulations for facilities that once
developed and produced nuclear
weapons.
Protecting U.S. Borders
EPA is working with the
U.S. Customs Service to develop
improved systems for safeguarding
the nation's borders against illicit or
inadvertant movement of radioactive
material into the U.S. Products
manufactured with contaminated
metals pose potential health risks to
the workers who produce them and
the consumers who buy them.
Looking to the Future
EPA is working with its partners
to identify future risks of radiation
contamination and exposure and to
meet the public health and
environmental protection challenges
these risks present. Following are some
examples of future challenges in four
important areas.
National Security
' Disposition of dismantled nuclear
weapons and materials
• Nuclear terrorism and nuclear bombs
• Nuclear proliferation, testing, and use in
developing countries
• Large-scale planning for response to
radiological accidents
Industry and Consumer Products
• Identification and tracking of new
industries using radioactive materials
• Exposure to non-ionizing radiation
(wireless communications, high-voltage
power transmission lines,
electromagnetic fields, lasers)
• Import of radioactively contaminated
scrap metals and consumer products
• Recovery, tracking, and management of
uncontrolled radioactive sources
• Naturally-occurring radioactive
materials in building construction
Health and Medical
• Changes in technologies that increase
medical exposures from frequent
medical procedures
• Training and professional certification
of health professionals to reduce
excessive procedures and radiation
overdoses
• Identification of new methods for
informing the public and reducing
radon-related lung cancer
Energy
' Decommissioning and dismantling of
old nuclear power plants
• Wastes and emissions from alternative
energy sources, such as wind power,
hydropower, geothermal energy, and
solar power
• Naturally radioactive contamination
from traditional coal, oil, gas, and
energy production
EPA Office of Air and Radiation
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, (6608J)
Washington, DC 20460
(202) 564-9290
EPA#402-F-01-021
March 2002
www.epa.gov/radiation
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