Testing Lab GemClear Suspends Operations

GemClear, the laboratory that was licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to test irradiated gemstones, has suspended operations indefinitely, according to its website.

The lab’s former president, Rick Krementz, tells JCK the problem was a lack of demand, as the NRC “made regulations but hasn’t enforced them.”

“We fairly often came across parcels that were above the [radiation] limits,” he says. “My concern is not the major treaters over here, but the rogue treaters in China.”

All customer gemstones have been processed and returned to their owners, Krementz says.

The lab was only licensed to test topaz.

In a statement, Krementz blasted the NRC for mishandling the issue.

“The NRC, after having caused chaos in the billion dollar blue topaz market, unofficially stopped all enforcement for irradiated gemstones,” he said.

He adds that  “because of some post 9/11 panicky, ill-informed Congressional mandates, diamonds and other gemstones treated by linear acceleration were added to the regulations …  To the best of my knowledge, the NRC never issued any licenses for diamonds while simultaneously informing the industry that certificates were required.”

 

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