LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Federal regulators have instructed dozens of companies to count their exit signs that use a low-level radioactive compound and report any that are missing, a directive issued after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it could not find 15,000 of the signs.
The world’s largest retailer said Tuesday it has checked all its U.S. stores and removed any glow-in-the-dark signs that use tritium, a hydrogen isotope that, when used in the signs, has a radioactive strength similar to that of a smoke alarm.
The missing 15,000 signs were purchased by Wal-Mart between 2000 and 2007, a period in which Wal-Mart added or remodeled thousands of its domestic Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and Neighborhood Market stores. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wal-Mart bought 70,000 of the signs during that time.
The NRC has not told Wal-Mart or other companies to stop using the signs.
The federal agency said the signs are “inherently safe” and don’t require a special license or special worker training to handle them. But improper disposal could lead to an expensive cleanup.
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Daphne Moore said the signs were used in about 4,500 Wal-Mart facilities in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. The Bentonville-based company began an inventory of the signs in 2006 and, in 2007, decided to expand the search to all its stores, Moore said.
“We assembled a staff, that included contractors, and went to each store and club in the U.S. and Puerto Rico,” Moore said. “The program was a complete inventory and removal and replacement.”
The team talked to staff, reviewed documents and signs on hand, she said, adding that the same team removed the signs. She said the signs were disposed of according to proper procedures.
In a Jan. 9 news release, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it had asked 61 entities, as varied as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Salt Lake City to the Outrigger Hotel in Honolulu, to inventory their signs and report any that could not be accounted for. The agency asked businesses and organizations with 500 or more of the signs to report in writing to the NRC on the status of the signs.
Wal-Mart said it has replaced the signs with other non-radioactive notices that can be seen in the dark.
“Wal-Mart’s inability to account for all the tritium exit signs the company purchased demonstrates that organizations may not be fully aware of the regulatory requirements for owning these signs,” said George Pangburn, NRC deputy director for Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs.said George Pangburn, NRC deputy director for Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs.
He said organizations have to account for the number of tritium signs they have and they are responsible for disposing of the signs properly when necessary to replace them.
“Tritium exit signs pose little or no threat to public health and safety and do not constitute a security risk,” the NRC said in the news release. “However, the NRC requires proper record keeping and disposal of all radioactive materials. Proper handling and record keeping are important because a damaged or broken sign could cause minor radioactive contamination of the immediate vicinity, requiring a potentially expensive clean up.”
Included in the list of groups named by the NRC are retailers, such as Home Depot, and federal operations, such as the General Services Administration and the Smithsonian Institution. Also included are other businesses, state government entities, universities and school districts.
The NRC allowed 60 days for the organizations to respond. The agency wants to know how an organization complies with regulations for handling the signs and wants an explanation regarding any discrepancies in the records over the number of signs a company has. The NRC developed its list of entities from a tracking system that includes manufacturer sales data.
“They are also subject to NRC or state inspection and enforcement action (including fines) for violating ... requirements,” the NRC said.
