Re: "Hot" Medical Waste in CA

[avest@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Albert Lee Vest)]

>
>     Help!
>     The state of California has mandated (in a policy guidance memorandum 
>     dated 4-22-94), off-site medical waste treatment facilities to monitor 
>     medical waste and to set their monitoring devices at three times 
>     background. Our vendor has had to return our medical waste to us more 
>     than once already and twice the material was found to be Indium-111 
>     from diagnostic nuclear medicine procedures. 

All the In-111 used in our NP - from at least 3 different manufacturers - 
seems to have a tiny amount of longer-lived contaminant, which looks like 
In-114.  The stock vials clued us in, hanging on in the decay room much 
longer than expected.  
     Does the state of California policy guidance, which mandates waste 
treatment facilities set their instruments at "three times background", also 
mandate that waste be sent back to the generator if that level is exceeded? 
Instrument performance is one thing, but IMHO *decision* levels ought to be 
based on the magnitude of health impact which the contamination detected is 
likely to cause.  Setting alarm levels on instruments is not equivalent to 
doing good health physics.

>     outlining potential solutions to the problem which will require 
>     monitoring of medical waste prior to its leaving the facility. I am 
>     interested to hear from this audience if anyone has set up their own 
>     procedures for effectively monitoring and removing radioactive medical 
>     waste prior to its being removed from their facility. Some of the 

There was an information notice from USNRC about 2 years ago, advising (not 
requiring!) just such a course of action.  But OSU has not begun to monitor 
all medical wastes, and we have no plans to start.
 
Albert Lee Vest    avest@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
health physicist        Office of Radiation Safety
(614)292-0122            The Ohio State University
--All standard and nonstandard disclaimers apply--