SEMO's EXPERIENCE WITH RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS PRODUCES GOOD LESSONS

The lessons of discovering that radioactive materials have contaminated a classroom building at Southeast Missouri State University are many. For one thing, the university has learned that concern for individuals who might have been exposed to a manmade material called americium-241 is tantamount. And the university has learned that mistakes -- no matter how inadvertent -- can be costly to correct.

The university believes the americium-241 has been on campus since the 1960s. At that time, the school was licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to use the material in scientific experiments.

One wonders why the NRC wasn't a little more diligent in keeping track of the dangerous materials it licenses for use throughout the private and public sectors. Strict safeguards are being required to prevent another such spill. That's good. Similar restrictions for the last 30-plus years might have prevented the current situation and the accompanying worry.