Press Release-96-110, NRC Removes Detroit Property from List of Contaminated Sites
| ML003705910 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 08/01/1996 |
| From: | Office of Public Affairs |
| To: | |
| Category:Press Release | |
| References | |
| Press Release-96-110 | |
| Download: ML003705910 (1) | |
Text
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Public Affairs Washington, DC 20555 Phone 301-415-8200 Fax 301-415-2234 Internet:opa@nrc.gov No.96-110 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Thursday, August 1, 1996)
NRC REMOVES DETROIT PROPERTY FROM LIST OF CONTAMINATED SITES The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has removed the Frome Investment Company property at 1950 West Fort Street, Detroit, Michigan, from a special list of sites contaminated with radioactive material.
Brooks & Perkins Corporation used radioactive thorium at the site from 1957 to 1971, under an Atomic Energy Commission license.
Frome Investment Company purchased the property from Brooks & Perkins.
NRC conducted a radiation survey of the site in February 1994, after an NRC contractor--performing a paperwork review of a number of terminated license files--identified the site as one that potentially could have residual contamination.
The survey detected radiation levels exceeding NRC's criteria for unrestricted use.
Follow-up inspections found that some of the suspected contamination was due to natural radiation in brick and cinder block walls.
But other elevated readings were eventually traced to a fragment of magnesium thorium metal--slightly under the soil surface--in the shape of a box about 6 inches by 6 inches by 6 inches.
Frome Investment arranged to have this fragment transferred to the low-level radioactive waste disposal facility in Barnwell, South Carolina.
Based on these actions, NRC notified the company that cleanup is complete and the site is suitable for unrestricted use.
The agency has also removed the site from its Site Decommissioning Management Plan, which identified about 50 sites throughout the United States that are contaminated with radioactive materials and warrant special attention.