Re: smoke detector disposal

["John DeLaHunt" <jdelahunt@cc.colorado.edu>]

>>      Does anyone out their have any advice on what to do with a smoke
>>        detector whose manufacturer has gone out of business?
>>
> In Canada, the advice given by the regulator (the Atomic Energy Control
> Board) is to ensure that there are no visible radiation warning labels on
> the smoke detector and then dispose of it to regular garbage.  The
> reasoning is that this amount of Am-241 is not going to cause a hazard to
> the environment, and that disposal to a rad waste site would be
> financially extravagant, and therefore not ALARA.  In fact, the AECB says
> don't dispose of more than 10 detectors per garbage can of waste!  (Max
> activity for this method of disposal is 5 microcuries)

It's a shame that this makes too much sense for NRC to adopt.

*sigh*

John

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