Re: Radioactive vinegar bottle ?!?!

[William V Lipton <liptonw@DTEENERGY.COM>]

10 CFR 40.4 defines "source material" as "...(2) ores which contain by weight

one-twentieth of one percent (0.05%) or more of:  (i) uranium..."  Thus, at some

point in the processing of uranium ore, the natural uranium comes under NRC

regulation.



The opinions expressed are strictly mine.

It's not about dose, it's about trust.

Curies forever.



Bill Lipton

liptonw@dteenergy.com



"Jacobus, John (OD/ORS)" wrote:



> Is the naturally occurring uranium or thorium used to make glass bottles

> regulated by the NRC?  I thought that NORM was under the regulation of the

> states or EPA?  Does this NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rule Making) have

> anything to do with the use of NORM?

>

> -- John

> John Jacobus, Area Health Physicist

> Radiation Safety Branch

> Building 21, Room 238

> Telephone:  6-5774

> Fax: 6-3544

> E-mail:  jjacobus@mail.nih.gov

>          jacobusj@ors.od.nih.gov

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: Richard F. Orthen [mailto:rorthen@EARTHSCIENCES.NET]

> Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2002 3:09 PM

> To: Marty.Bourquin@GRACE.COM; liptonw@DTEENERGY.COM;

> radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu

> Subject: RE: Radioactive vinegar bottle ?!?!

>

> Marty-The source material waters are being muddied a bit.  On August 26,

> 2002, the NRC issued a NPRM stating, in part:

>

> "Currently, NRC regulations exempt persons from licensing requirements for

> source material if they possess or use only materials that contain less than

> 0.05 percent by weight of uranium and thorium. A report issued in June 2001,

> "Systematic Radiological Assessment of Exemptions for Source and Byproduct

> Materials," NUREG-1717, indicates that, in certain situations, quantities of

> source material in concentrations below the 0.05 limit could potentially

> result in exposures to radiation that exceed NRC's public radiation dose

> limits.

>

> The proposed rulemaking would ensure that transfers of source material at

> very low concentration levels from specific licensees to persons exempt from

> licensing do not cause undue risk to the public. A licensee seeking to

> transfer such low levels of source material would have to submit information

> to NRC on the type and quantity of the material, location of the transfer,

> end use of the transfer, individual public dose estimates, and assumptions

> used in estimating the dose. The NRC would independently analyze the request

> before approving the transfer."

> . . .





************************************************************************

You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,

send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu  Put the text "unsubscribe

radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.

You can view the Radsafe archives at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/