Decade
of Resistance 
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Shundahai Network
Dedicated to Breaking
the Nuclear Chain
Shundahai is a Newe (Western Shoshone) word meaning "Peace and Harmony with all Creation"
April 7, 2006
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Company Allays Hazardous Waste Fears ST. GEORGE - The disposal of radioactive waste can be a frightening subject, but for those in the field the threat is often unrealistic. Bette Arial, director of legislative and community affairs for Energy Solutions, said low-level radiation is everywhere. It is present on emergency exit signs, Teflon-coated pans and smoke detectors. Arial said these should all go back to the manufacturer not the trash, but most of these items will end up in a landfill. Energy Solutions - located in Clive, Utah - offers an easily accessible location to dump the low-level waste. "We dispose, we do not store," Arial said at Wednesday's St. George Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon. Once the waste arrives at Energy Solutions, Arial said, the danger is nonexistent because the material - mostly building products and dirt - is buried deep in the ground. "Our waste will decay in a natural cycle and in 100 years it will be completely non-hazardous," she said. "This is risk-free." Arial said the transportation of radioactive materials should not be a concern, either. "Less than one percent of radioactive shipments contains radioactive waste," she said. "In the last 50 years not a single death or injury has been caused by radioactive transportation." She added that people have a better chance of being killed in a car accident than hurt by radioactive transportation. "You have a one in 4,000 chance of being killed in a motor vehicle accident and a one in 200 billion chance of being involved in an accident involving the transport of radioactive materials," Arial said. Doug Labrum attended the speech and said the information was great. "These are things we should all know because it helps to get rid of the fear," he said. "The more knowledge we have the better off we will all be." Arial said there a number of rumors swirling around the safety and dangers of radioactive waste, but nearly all of these are false. She said the Occu-pational Safety and Health Administration limit for radioactive milirems is 5,000 per year, per employee. A milirem is 1/1,000th of a rem - the unit used to measure the ionizing effects of radiation on the human body. Arial said the average U.S. citizen has 360 milirems. A CT scan delivers 110 milirems and a tobacco smoker will have around 1,300 milirems. However, Energy Solutions has been able to keep all of its employees under 200 milirems. "These safety myths are a lot of political hoopla," Arial said. "We do a lot of good. We are one of the leading companies in the nation."
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