UNH Announces System to Track Radioactive Materials

[David Gillum <David.Gillum@unh.edu>]

UNH Announces System to Track Radioactive Materials



New Web-based System is Available to Universities Nationwide



Contact: Lori Wright

603-862-0574

UNH Media Relations



June 14, 2004





DURHAM, N.H. - As the United States enters a summer of heightened concern

regarding terrorist attacks, the University of New Hampshire announces it

has expanded its comprehensive online system that tracks hazardous materials

to include radioactive materials, such as substances that could be used to

manufacture a dirty bomb.



The UNH Chemical Environmental Management System (UNHCEMS) was developed by

the UNH Research Computing Center (RCC) in consultation with the UNH Office

of Environmental Health and Safety. The Web-based system allows public and

private research institutions to manage hazardous chemicals and radioactive

materials stored at multiple locations on their campuses.



Radioactive materials are common in medicine and research, according to Brad

Manning, director of UNH Environmental Health and Safety. UNHCEMS already

tracks thousands of chemical and radioactive materials, and UNH is working

to expand the system to track biological agents, such as anthrax and the

plague. 



"From the standpoint of Homeland Security and the U.S. Patriot Act, this

system dramatically increases the ability of universities to track specific

radioactive materials. For example, if we need to determine if we have a

particular hazard on campus, we can query the system and find out within a

minute if that substance is on campus and exactly where it is located,"

Manning says.



The system also tracks radioactive decay for materials. Radioactive

materials decay, or disintegrate, at different rates. By calculating the

radioactive decay of all radioactive materials stored on campuses, UNHCEMS

can accurately determine the level of radioactivity of the materials.



"Most universities do not maintain comprehensive, online inventories of

their hazardous materials. Most universities simply don't have that

information available or up-to-date. My counterparts at other universities

have had to hire people to go out and look in every laboratory - hundreds of

laboratories - to find these hazards," Manning says. "Unlike many

universities, we know what our risk factors are."



A case study of UNHCEMS published by the Environmental Protection Agency was

included in the EPA's best management practices catalog for colleges and

universities regarding homeland security. UNHCEMS was developed as part of a

settlement agreement with the agency following an EPA inspection at UNH five

years ago. At the time, UNH was found to have violated the Resource

Conservation and Recovery Act regarding waste disposal in laboratories. 



"This online chemical management system holds great potential to help

universities and colleges improve tracking and management of chemicals and

wastes," says Robert W. Varney, regional administrator of EPA's New England

Office. "We've found in our inspections that many colleges are wasting

significant amounts of chemicals because they do not have systems in place

for accurately recording the identity, quantity and location of materials.

This system holds great promise to reverse this problem, resulting in

campuses that are safer and better for the environment."



Brown University and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst are using

UNHCEMS, and numerous universities and hospitals have expressed interest in

the system, according to Manning. In addition, a government delegation from

Macedonia recently visited UNH and was presented the system as an option for

part of its national emergency response system. Universities and other

organizations can easily access the system via the Web, with data and

software securely stored at UNH. 



Institutions wanting to learn more about UNHCEMS can visit:



  www.cems-info.sr.unh.edu



or contact Patrick Messer, associate director of the UNH Research Computing

Center, at 603-862-2889.



Editors: Brad Manning, director of UNH Environmental Health and Safety, is

available for press inquiries. He can be reached at 603-862-2571. The UNH

EHS website is located at www.unh.edu/ehs.





--

David R. Gillum, MS

Laboratory Safety Officer



University of New Hampshire

Environmental Health and Safety

11 Leavitt Lane, Perpetuity Hall

Durham, NH  03824

Telephone # 603-862-0197

Facsimile # 603-862-0047

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