Nickel is essential to the steel-making process which is heavily dependent on scrap metals.
This nickel would have found its way into millions of products utilizing steel and nickel, such as food containers, silverware, orthodontic braces, belts, and earrings. Previous attempts by the NRC to set standards allowing unrestricted release of such material have been rejected by the public and Congress. Despite the fact that the NRC is required by its own rules to license the manufacture of all products containing radioactive material, the NRC has taken the position that it does not regulate radioactively contaminated products, but only those products in which the radioactive material is deliberately placed for a beneficial purpose. Rep. Dingell, Rep. Ron Klink, and Rep. Edward Markey have questioned the legality, logic, and public purpose of this position. Now the Nuclear Regulatory Commission must finally do its job, or lose whatever meager credibility it has left.