Critics are concerned about an Energy Department waste-reduction plan to sell tons of scrap metal from government nuclear sites.

The proposal adheres to DOE's policy of "reusing materials whenever possible," the department said in a document released last month. Tens of millions of tons of metal is recycled each year, the department said. And the 14,000 tons of metal from nuclear sites that could be sold makes up a fraction of that. While the metal would come from "radiological areas," the dose the public would be exposed to would be low, it said.

The department estimates the sale could bring in $10 million to $40 million a year for the agency.

But environmentalists and trade groups have expressed worries.

"We are concerned about what could happen in the marketplace if you have to worry about radioactive material possibly being in your eyeglass frames," said Thomas Danjczek, president of the Steel Manufacturers Association, a trade group whose members use recycled metals. "Why is the government trying to hurt the image of American products?"

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) called the plan "unwise" and suggested in a letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu that it "should be immediately abandoned."

The government has recycled metal from its nuclear sites in the past. Shipments were suspended following a 2000 report from DOE's inspector general that found testing procedures in place were inadequate. The proposed plan indicates that procedures have since improved (John R. Emshwiller, Wall Street Journal, Jan. 16). -- WW