``We're going to base our decision on what the environmental impact statement says, as well as public opinion,'' agency spokesman Joe Davis said. The study will probably be finished next summer, he said.
An Energy Department draft memo obtained by The Associated Press earlier this week said agency officials wanted to proceed with recycling some metals before the study was finished.
Environmentalists were outraged, saying the move could endanger public health by allowing radioactive metals to be recycled into common household items.
Davis called the memo ``moot, because the decision has been made by the department that we will do a full environmental impact statement before any decision is made.''
Release of metals from radiological areas of nuclear sites was banned by the Clinton administration last year. In July, the Bush administration began its environmental assessment study to evaluate the policy. At the time, the Energy Department said it would continue the ban during the review unless ``DOE makes a specific determination that the metal could not have been radioactively contaminated by DOE activities or operations.''
Diane D'Arrigo, radioactive waste project director at the Nuclear Information and Resource Service in Washington, said she was ``cautiously relieved'' to hear about the Energy Department's latest decision.
``I am hopeful that the department will be responsive to the massive public opposition to any radioactive contamination getting out and will factor that into their final decision,'' D'Arrigo said.
She said metals taken from ``hot areas'' should be treated like nuclear waste, because it is too difficult and expensive to determine if they are truly safe.
Supporters of recycling say it can be done safely and is a cost-efficient and useful way to dispose of many tons of materials left over by the decommissioning of Cold War-era facilities. Associated Press