[ RadSafe ] Radioexcretia, etc. in municipal solid waste

[George J. Vargo]

John,

What you cite below is true insofar as radiation protection regulations are
concerned.  They do not bind the solid waste regulators who have their own
regulations.  Rightly or wrongly, the solid waste regulators do not want
radioactive material; buried with municipal solid waste.  You may not like
it, it may make absolutely no sense, but that's the reality.  In
Pennsylvania each solid waste transfer station is required by state
regulation to have portal monitors that are set at 20 micro-R/hr above
background.  This causes the identification of all manner of medical waste
and NORM including I-131 contaminated dressings, I-131 contaminated kitty
litter from veterinary procedures, weld rod, refractory brick, and the
occasional radium-bearing luminous bulkhead marker, to name just a few.

George J. Vargo, Ph.D., CHP
Senior Scientist
MJW Corporation
http://www.mjwcorp.com
610-925-3377
610-925-5545 (fax)
vargo at physicist.net


Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2005 05:56:59 -0700 (PDT)
From: John Jacobus <crispy_bird at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] More radioactive debris turning up in garbage
To: Jose Julio Rozental <joseroze at netvision.net.il>, radsafe at radlab.nl
Message-ID: <20050428125659.10063.qmail at web54306.mail.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Maybe the laws need to be changed so that patient
waste is exempted.  See
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/part020/part020-2003.html

10 CFR 20.2003(b)Excreta from individuals undergoing
medical diagnosis or therapy with radioactive material
are not subject to the limitations contained in
paragraph (a) of this section.