Radioactive contamination of manufactured products

Cases of inadvertent radioactive contamination of manufactured articles have occurred sporadically in the past and bore little relationship to each other. Since 1983, however, seven instances have occurred of accidental radioactive contamination of steel either manufactured in or imported into the United States. Five of the contamination events went unrecognized by the mill operators and were discovered by others through radiation monitoring conducted for other unrelated purposes. Impacts have included costs to mill operators in the United States for decontaminating their steel plants which have ranged from $50,000 to more than $2,200,000. The states, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the private sector have taken steps to further assess the scope of the problem and to improve responses when such incidents occur.