The Federal Environment Ministry was informed that radioactively contaminated stainless steel products from India have been found in several German Länder. The available information suggests that the contaminations result from the unintentional melting down of high-radioactive sources containing cobalt-60 in an Indian smelting plant. According to analyses carried out by the competent authorities of the Länder the material does not pose a hazard to the population and the environment.
The products found include both semi-finished products such as stainless steel rounds intended for further processing in Germany and final products such as machine parts. According to latest information, household products and essentials are not affected.
By way of precaution the material was confiscated by the competent radiation protection authorities in the Länder to prevent a spread of the contamination to consumer goods or other economic sectors. The level of contamination varies among the different products. The exemption levels of the German Radiation Protection Law are exceeded in some products, making them subject to state control. For the majority of products contamination is low. Federal and Länder authorities are currently searching for solutions to prevent these low contaminated substances from entering the economic cycle.
The steel in question originally comes from India. It can be assumed that one or more radioactive sources containing cobalt-60 have been melted down in an Indian smelting plant.
The Federal Environment Ministry initiated and organised a meeting with representatives from the federal supervisory authority, the competent radiation protection authorities of the Länder and steel industry associations last week to discuss how to proceed in this matter. Among other things, the talks focused on the question of how to handle the confiscated contaminated steel products and how to prevent further cases of radioactively contaminated steel entering the German economic cycle. The federal supervisory authority has invited the companies concerned to a meeting next week to discuss potential solutions. Moreover, the Federal Environment Ministry has sent a letter to the competent supervisory authority in India, requesting stricter controls of Indian companies to avoid such incidences in future.
Contaminated steel products as a result of unintentional melting of radioactive sources constitute a global problem. In order to find effective long-term solutions, the Federal Environment Ministry has taken the initiative in support of increased international efforts to control imports to Europe.