United States Policies for Cleanup at Radioactively Contaminated Sites

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation is responsible for implementing the long term (non-emergency) portion of a key law regulating cleanup: the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, CERCLA, nicknamed 'Superfund.' This paper provides a brief overview of the approach used by EPA to conduct Superfund cleanups at contaminated sites, including those that are contaminated with radionuclides, and to ensure protection of human health and the environment. The theme emphasized throughout the paper is that within the Superfund remediation framework, radioactive contamination is dealt with in a manner consistent with chemical contamination, except to account for the technical differences between radionuclides and chemicals. This consistency is important since at every radioactively contaminated site being addressed under Superfund's primary programme for long term cleanup (the National Priorities List), chemical contamination is also present. (author)