We’ve been writing in this series about radium—how it was discovered, how it was used, how it can impact human health. Today we want to explain where the NRC fits in.
As we said in our last post, the states originally oversaw radium use. In 2005, Congress gave the NRC authority over radium through the Energy Policy Act. In 2007, we put in place our regulations on the control, use, and disposal of radium. These rules made clear that the NRC oversees radium only after it has been purposely concentrated for use.
Because many states already had laws on radium, we took over regulatory oversight in phases. We had full oversight for radium in all states by August 2009 (either through states that regulate nuclear materials under agreements with the NRC, known as Agreement States, or directly in those states that remain under NRC jurisdiction).
In 2007 after our regulations were put in place, we began talking to the U.S. Navy about radium contamination at their sites. As we learned more about this program and talked with the other branches of the military, we began working to clarify our role in the remediation at military sites. During the same time, we became aware of two specific radium cleanup efforts by other federal agencies. The Environmental Protection Agency has done cleanup work at the former WaterburyClock

Waterbury Clock Company, in Waterbury, Conn. The National Park Service is also involved in a cleanup project at Great Kills Park, in Staten Island, N.Y.
As we learned more about these projects, it became apparent that a critical step for us to take would be identifying historical commercial radium sites; many of which were many decades old. As such, we began to look for sites in our jurisdiction that may have radium, and to find out how much, if any, cleanup was done. There are no known health and safety issues at any of these sites, but we want to make sure they do not pose a risk.
We contracted with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to help us develop a full picture of commercial radium sites. The lab started by cataloging the different products developed and sold to the public in the early 20^th century. Oak Ridge scoured existing publicly available literature, records and databases, identified sites where radium may have been used to make consumer goods and looked for any cleanup records. We received the final results in November 2015.
We are working to get more information about the sites under NRC jurisdiction. We will be reaching out to site owners. Our goal is to confirm that these sites do not pose a risk to public health and safety and the environment. We’ll keep you posted on our progress.

Humans need new skills for post-AI world, say MPs

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37618579?utm_source=MIT+TR+Newsletters&utm_campaign=985a0d8396-The_Download_October_12_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_997ed6f472-985a0d8396-153856085&goal=0_997ed6f472-985a0d8396-153856085&mc_cid=985a0d8396&mc_eid=e25735476a

The long read

Crash: how computers are setting us up for disaster

We increasingly let computers fly planes and carry out security checks. Driverless cars are next. But is our reliance on automation dangerously diminishing our skills?https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/11/crash-how-computers-are-setting-us-up-disaster?utm_source=MIT+TR+Newsletters&utm_campaign=985a0d8396-The_Download_October_12_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_997ed6f472-985a0d8396-153856085&goal=0_997ed6f472-985a0d8396-153856085&mc_cid=985a0d8396&mc_eid=e25735476a

Every new house in Europe to have an electric vehicle charging point by 2019

http://www.cityam.com/251174/every-new-house-europe-have-electric-vehicle-charging-point?utm_source=MIT+TR+Newsletters&utm_campaign=985a0d8396-The_Download_October_12_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_997ed6f472-985a0d8396-153856085&goal=0_997ed6f472-985a0d8396-153856085&mc_cid=985a0d8396&mc_eid=e25735476a

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

On Melting Ice: Inuit Struggle Against Oil and Gas in the Arctic

On Melting Ice: Inuit Struggle Against Oil and Gas in the Arctic

Chris Williams, Truthout: Climate-related discussions often focus on physical phenomena, such as melting glaciers and weather patterns, but climate change is, above all, a human story. The Inuit in the Canadian Arctic who are opposing seismic blasting for oil in Baffin Bay are fighting not only for the environment, but for self-determination.

Read the Article and View the Photos http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/37921-on-melting-ice-inuit-struggle-against-oil-and-gas-in-the-arctic

Grid Scale Battery Energy Storage

Batteries are rapidly becoming the dominant form of energy storage both at the grid and end-user levels, with utilities, project developers and wholesale markets playing an important role. Join Kinetic on November 1-2 in Chicago to discuss how industry leaders are capitalizing on opportunities related to this emerging technology. Learn More. http://www.becomekinetic.com/events/battery_energy_storage