Company possessing radioactive materials insists on safety standards

BANGKOK, October 16 (TNA) - A transnational energy company, Schlumberger Overseas SA, has informed Thai News Agency (TNA) that its planned storage of radioactive materials in the center of Thailand's southern Songkhla province is safe and meets international standards. The information responds to TNA's recent report over concerns of local people about the planned storage of radioactive materials at Schlumberger Overseas SA Co., Ltd., located on Sai Ngam Road in Wat Teen Meru community in the heart of Songkhla. The company said in a letter sent to TNA that it has already stopped the construction of a facility to store radioactive materials in its compound and it is looking for a new location in an industrial zone for the purpose. The company insisted that it complies with internationally recognized safety standards for the import, transportation and storage of radioactive materials. The company acknowledged that, as a petroleum exploration firm for over three decades with its Thai office located in the heart of Songkhla, it has regularly checked radioactivity at its project sites and vicinities and found that radiation levels have remained within natural and safe levels, saying that it is ready to explain the matter to concerned communities. (TNA)