Walmart's nuclear blunder: Retailer mishandled radioactive exit signs
Filed under: Energy, Company News, Technology, Economy, Home Depot, Delta Air Lines, Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., Wal-Mart Stores, Green
On Oct. 28, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission cited Walmart (WMT) for improperly disposing of nuclear material. The items in question were exit signs that contained tritium, a hydrogen isotope, and Walmart had apparently been lax in its removal of 2,979 of them. The massive retailer also neglected to hire someone to keep track of its radioactive signage, in direct contravention of the NRC's requirements.The NRC could, if it wished, levy a $369,300 fine on Walmart; however, it chose to waive the fee because the chain quickly responded to the citation. Walmart tallied the tritium-based signs at its stores, cleaned up radioactive spills created by its broken signs, and eventually decided to switch from tritium-based signs to more conventional -- and nonradioactive -- signs.
Although tritium is probably best known for its role as a neutron initiator and booster in nuclear weapons, it is used for a wide variety of civilian purposes. Its ability to glow in the dark makes it handy for firearm manufacturers, who use it in rifle sights; timepiece manufacturers often paint watch hands and numbers with the isotope for the same reason.
And, as Walmart's recent problems demonstrate, tritium can be handy for exit signs. Since they provide illumination without electricity, tritium-based signs can be placed far from electrical outlets, will continue to work when electricity shuts down, and can run for up to twenty years with minimal maintenance. Unfortunately, they also have one major downside: if they are damaged, they can release tritium gas, a radioactive pollutant that can enter the body through the lungs, open wounds, or the skin. On the bright side, tritium gas dissipates quickly in well-ventilated areas, and its tendency to leave the body quickly means that it would require exposure to large amounts to cause cancer.
Walmart isn't the only retailer getting targeted by the NRC for questionable disposal of tritium-based exit signs. Sixty other companies, including Home Depot (HD), Northwest Airlines (DAL) and Bed, Bath and Beyond (BBBY) are also facing investigation. And, lest it appear that the government is unfairly targeting commercial and industrial groups, it's worth noting that NASA, West Point, the U.S. Postal Service and dozens of other government-owned and administered facilities are also facing investigation by the NRC.
As the NRC joins the SEC and the FDA in launching new, energetic investigations, it's worth asking if the government has suddenly grown a fresh set of very sharp teeth!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
11-03-2009 @ 3:44PM
dwayne said...
No, it has nothing to do with safety concerns. It has everything to do with bigger government needing more cash. So they go around tightening up their fines to get more cash. Oh, and to those who say, "The government waived the fine", I'll reply by saying that they let go of fines they know won't stand up in court.
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11-03-2009 @ 9:59PM
htc said...
If you knew anything about tritium you'd think differently. Of course, your ability to think is in question after your inane comments. I'll take big government over the traitor corporation Wal Mart any day too. All Wal Mart cares about is screwing every customer that walks in their front door, never mind the consequences.
11-04-2009 @ 6:20AM
justlegalizeit09 said...
hmmmm..... my question is what the hell is radioactive material doing in exit signs??? hmmmmmm...... i know there is an answer that i just dont know so please people... dont blow up on me for it.... calm down........ i cant believe everything isnt LED now.... like street lights, stop lights etc... they are much brighter than the bulbs in there now, last much longer and use less power.... the street lights could be powered by solar.... you could never use just solar for HPS bulbs..... it would give jobs and the work would pay for itself over time...... maybe we should be using LED's in exit signs also....lol..... To the people who will try and say that LED's arent bright enough.... tell me that the next time you pass a cop car with an LED light bar.... powered by a 12 volt system
11-04-2009 @ 9:50AM
BarryPeterson said...
Cretin.
11-06-2009 @ 12:54PM
Colin said...
Wow! Really? In these days with terrorists & Iran supposedly trying to get their hands on nukes & dirty bombs are you really going to complain when the government finally gets their act together and starts keeping tabs on nuclear material scattered across the country as they're supposed to? Yeah, I really hate it when the government does its job.
For you guys who really really hate the government never fear. There are places for you. I recommend Somalia. It's a haven of the free market. Absolutely no government interference. I highly recommend you move there and take all your teabagger friends with you. You'll love it there.
11-03-2009 @ 3:48PM
bigtom said...
Walmart is sucking our economy dry and they darned sure do not deserve a break. They sell so few items that are not made in China or somewhere else overseas. They have run all of the mom and pop operations that sold American made goods out of business and don't have any concern whatsoever about what they are doing to our economic condition. They need to be levied a heavy fine and they need to be encouraged to support the U.S. economy instead of China's. The Walton's are greedy beyhond tolerance and they deserve no respect and no mercy.
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11-03-2009 @ 7:46PM
me said...
The Waltons no longer control Wal-Mart. Once the old lady died a few years back they changed the company drastically. If Sam Walton could see what the people running his company have done to it he would clean house. Sam was a big supporter of Made In America and believed in rewarding those people that worked for him all the way down to the lowest employee. The people running it now believe in rewarding themselves at everyone elses expense!
11-03-2009 @ 5:06PM
yokoach said...
ah yes...it's about "big government"....as if Government protecting us is an evil thing in a world where the business people are soooooo conscientious.
Well here's a news bulletin...if Government didn't intervene and exercise controls on the 'free market' (read completely lacking in integrity and social responsibility as part of free market definition) IF they didn't intervene, let's see what would happen with "government" out of our lives..
.well, for starters, bridges and roads would become even more dangerous than they already are since states rely on "big govt. " funds for infrastructure...pharmaceuticals could put whatever crap they want to in drugs regardless of the effects (see Vytorin, alleged super anti chololesterol drug that when the company finally released tests after stalling for 2 years, they came out were found to increase bad cholesterol in the body thereby Promoting heart attacks) and food companies will put whatever crap they want in food and call it safe (witness the poisonous baby formula that eventually got pulled off the market) also, companies WOULD put cancerous materials anywhere they wanted to regardless of effects on communities (examples of this are legion) they would pollute rural and urban air at will, put the amount of nicotine into cigarettes at maximum levels for addiction, schools/businesses and govt.s could discriminate against women, african americans, seniors at will because there are no 'governmental restraints', OH, and by the way the banking industry would rape the everyday man with risky investments of their own offering products designed to fail and costing thousands to lose their homes to bad mortgages...ooops that already happened...hmmm....guess that "big" government failed at regulating that one....oh yes, Bush took those regulations OFF the "free market" system for the banking/investment industry
yup...government is a baaaad thing alright...because after all, if we didn't have it, we could go back to living in caves and randomly killing each other for food shelter, clothing and mates...yup...good idea...get rid of it...
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11-03-2009 @ 5:31PM
mcgowann said...
bigtom, you sound like many of the progressive socialists who think that anyone who has money is evil. How many jobs have you gotten working for poor people? Walmart isn't sucking our economy dry. They didn't get bailout or TARP money. The mom and pop operations were on their way out before Walmart. The discount stores were in every shopping center. Rose's. Ben Franklin's 5 and dime. Even K-mart had been around for years. Walmart is just the most succesful of discount stores. If Walmart were to go out of business, 1.4 million people would lose their jobs and health insurance. That doesn't include all their suppliers whose businesses would close. 7.1 million jobs have dissappeared this year and you want to see more?
Walmart also gives a ton of money to numerous charities. They are involve in huger relief, military support, education, disaster relief, etc..... I could go on and on. Now, tell me what you've done to employ people, discount goods to an affordable price for people, get health insurance for people or donate to charities.
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11-03-2009 @ 5:39PM
Sandy said...
It would be difficult to decide which is more perfidious, WalMart or the U.S. Government.
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11-03-2009 @ 5:57PM
greg belter said...
we love shopping at Walmart.
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11-04-2009 @ 11:03PM
Jeff said...
We had 2 people that worked at walmart when the ole man was alive there job was to pull made in china stickers off and put made in the usa TRUE STORY! Walmart was fined for it but people dont care anymore were in it for our gain I guess me to . Were a sad nation! And walmart has broken good people and small mom and pop shops for the greed of the all mighty dollar!
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11-03-2009 @ 7:15PM
pete said...
Looks like Watson has jumped with both feet onto the "bash WalMart" bandwagon. "Sixty other companies" under investigation, but who gets the BIG headlines? Watson is just another PC idiot who won't wake up until government comes for him and his business.
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11-03-2009 @ 6:34PM
gary said...
Stupid Government Official who did this. Nothing but making money. We are a very small company and we threw several away in our garbage can. BIG DEAL. Nothing is on those lights telling you it is dangerous.
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11-03-2009 @ 7:24PM
haley said...
Gary, you might want to check out this website:
http://www.ccnr.org/tritium_1.html
It details how tritium IS dangerous. If the lights don't have a warning label, they should. Throwing them away in the garbage can, as opposed to disposing of them correctly, could be detrimental to the health of the community around you.
Here's a website that tells you how to properly dispose of tritium:
http://www.tritiumdisposal.com/
Please do the responsible thing!
11-03-2009 @ 8:42PM
bigtom said...
mcgowann ...I am not a socialist but it seems obvious that you are a extreem radical masquerading as a "conservative Repubican". With your line of crap you are well suited for a slot as a columnist on Fox News. You will fit right in with Glen Beck...by the way do you have an alcohol and drug problem too. That would be a plus with the Beck crowd. If you like to sexually abuse women maybe you could become an O'Reilly regular. If you have been recently released from an institution for the mentally ill you could try to team up with Limbaugh. By the way you did drop out of college didn't you??? Of if these suggestions don't excite you go to work for Walmart.
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11-03-2009 @ 7:12PM
HBD said...
Green onions from Mexico, grapes from Mexico and Chili, Shrimp from Korea and soon coming chiken from China, etc, etc.
I don't buy it! If we let enough of it rot on the shelf, they will stop selling it. surefire solution!
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11-06-2009 @ 12:29PM
Colin said...
Problem is that many labels don't tell us where the product is from. Luckily for us "Big Government" is working on some laws requiring producers to let us know where those products come from so we can make those decisions.
11-03-2009 @ 7:23PM
em said...
I found this information about Tritium on Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Tritium-Health risks
Tritium is relatively similar to hydrogen, which makes it bind to OH as Tritiated water (HTO), and that it can make organic bonds (OBT) easily. The HTO and the OBT are easily ingested by drinking, through organic or water-containing foodstuffs.
As tritium is not a strong beta emitter, it is not dangerous externally, but it is a radiation hazard when inhaled, ingested via food, water, or absorbed through the skin.
It seems to me that Tritium, although somewhat hazardous, does not pose as much of a direct threat to our health as we are led to believe.
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11-03-2009 @ 7:24PM
john perry said...
Bigtom, I have an idea. Put Wal Mart of business tomorrow. Where would all of their employees go to work?
The only employer larger than Wal Mart in America is obamas federal government.
Do you wear New Balance tennis shoes? If not why not? They are the only tennis shoe totally made in America.
Wal Mart doesn't sell any more Chinese products than other comparable retailers.
In your ignorance of the facts you only spout disingenuous Union, liberal Democrat soundbites and talking points. Your good, you have them all memorized.
Try some original thinking and maybe your post will be credible.
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