Nuclear-safety Experts to Evaluate Risk to Public of DU in Old Aircraft Parts

The Montreal Gazette reported in May that Nuclear-safety inspectors are to visit a South Shore scrapyard to investigate a report that radioactive (DU) waste is being stored on the site.

A spokesman for the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission said his agency was contacted April 29 about six radioactive aircraft engines as well as a pile of contaminated pipes on the property, which is surrounded by farmland.

James Leveque said commission officials will visit the scrapyard with personnel from Quebec’s Environment Department. Leveque played down the potential for health risks. Any radioactivity will likely be at low levels, he said. The radioactivity would have come from depleted uranium that was used in aircraft as ballast, Leveque said.