Fertilizer Containing Uranium Cleared State Says Product Does Not Pose Any Health Hazard

The Washington state Department of Agriculture approved registration last week for a fertilizer derived from nuclear fuel production waste.

In February, the state halted sales of the ammonium hydroxide solution because the product had not been tested or registered for use as a fertilizer. The solution was found to contain uranium, a by-product of Siemens’ nuclear reactor fuel operation.

Prior to the stop order, the company since 1996 had sold about 390,000 gallons of the product to farmers wanting to boost nitrogen levels in their fields. The fertilizer was sold through Northwest Agricultural Products.

“The material was certainly a real question mark when it became known that it was in use,” said Miles Kuntz of the state Department of Ecology. “Then, that it came from a nuclear fuel production plant was another question mark.”

But, after the state departments of Health, Ecology, Labor and Industries, and Agriculture completed a three-month review of the fertilizer product, the state told Siemens to resume selling the solution as fertilizer.

“I think after they reviewed it, the stuff just really had a clean bill of health … according to all the agencies involved,” said WSDA’s Ted Maxwell.

Of the uranium content, the ammonium hydroxide had less than .05 parts per million. The radiation dose to an agriculture worker using the fertilizer amounted to less than the exposure from watching television, according to the state Department of Health.

“There’s virtually no uranium in this material,” said Wayne Baker, of Siemens. “It’s very high purity.”

The state offices have not received much public comment about the fertilizer. “Just a few calls from reporters was really all the response they got,” Maxwell said.

The issue came to the state’s attention when Siemens was considering an application for another waste-derived fertilizer solution that would contain possibly 20 times the amount of uranium. That stopped when the state opened the review of the first fertilizer.

“At the moment we’re not pursuing that,” Baker said. “But we might in the future.”