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NRC NEWS
U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION |
| Office of Public Affairs |
Telephone: 301/415-8200 |
| Washington, DC 20555-001 |
E-mail: 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.
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