ABSTRACT
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Department of Energy (DOE), and state agencies regulate radioactive pollution pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act (AEA), and federal and state environmental laws. DOE's record at its K Reactor at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina provides an example of the problems states have in controlling radioactive water pollution. In 1991, the K Reactor discharged thousands of curies of radioactively-contaminated cooling water into the Savannah River. Congress enacted the Clean Air Act to "protect and enhance the quality of the nation's air resources so as to promote the public health and welfare and the productive capacity of its population." The solution for the problems involved with the regulation of mixed wastes at NRC-licensed facilities is less clear. The federal government regulates radioactivity differently from almost any other pollutant. The AEA gives EPA, states, and citizens little oversight or enforcement authority over radioactive pollution.
