London (Platts)--31Jan2012/738 am EST/1238 GMT
Government experts at the International Atomic Energy Agency are expected to finalize a draft code of conduct this week to monitor the trans-boundary movement of scrap metal and semi-finished products that may inadvertently contain radioactive material, the Bureau of International Recycling said Tuesday. Currently the scope of the code of conduct includes both ferrous and all nonferrous metals as scrap and semi-finished products, the BIR said. "Not every metal is at risk of inadvertently containing radioactive material. For example primary aluminium semi-finished products such as ingot, slab, coil or billet should be considered for exclusion from the scope of this Code of Conduct," said the BIR's Ross Bartley in a statement. According to the IAEA, there are two main types of radioactive material that may be found in scrap metal. The first type is orphan sources or radioactively contaminated material that may have been lost from, or never were, under regulatory control. The second one is radioactively contaminated material, which may occur in a number of ways, the most likely being from the demolition or decommissioning of a nuclear installation or other facility that has used radioactive material. In essence, it is proposed that every trans-boundary movement of ferrous and nonferrous scrap metal or semi-finished products will need to be monitored for radiation and a "Radiation Monitoring Report" should be provided in paper form or electronically, the BIR said. "Large scrap yards and metal melting facilities that are at risk of inadvertent radioactive contamination should have invested in monitoring equipment," the recycling group said, adding that by doing so they are best placed to monitor for radioactive sources that governments lost control of or never controlled. "The positive experience from the Spanish Protocol, a voluntary agreement, has shown that the recycling sector's cooperation is the key to solving such contamination problems," the BIR added. The so-called Spanish Protocol, a voluntary agreement between industry and government, was developed in response to an incident in 1998 which involved the undetected melting of a Cesium-137 source in a Spanish steel recycling facility. Following meetings this week, which will be attended by the BIR's Bartley as well as national recycling association representatives, the code of conduct will have to pass through the IAEA's board of governors and general conference for political agreement.--Andy Blamey, andy_blamey@platts.comSimilar stories appear in Metals Week. See more information at http://www.platts.com/Products/metalsweek