Re: Use of Uranyl Acetate

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

> Use of uranium is goverened by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory under 10 CFR
> part 40.  Uranium and thorium are "source materials" under the Atomic
> Energy Act. Radioactively, they are pretty innocuous.  Part 40 gives a
> general license to just about anybody to use up to 150 lbs of uranium per
> year for just about any purpose without having to comply with any of the
> radiation safety or waste disposal regulations.  It should be handled
> with appropriate precautions for the chemical form, i.e. heavy metal
> acetate, depending on what you're doing with it.

In Colorado the limit is 30 pounds of source material (at least it is for
my license...).  The nice folks at State Health have decided that any
solution or mix with a uranium content higher than .05% is ALL source
material.

This, they say, comes from the NRC.  Can anyone shed a little light on this
interp?

I think it's ridiculous to look at a liter of 1000 ppm Th solution and
say:

"Yup.  That sure is a kilogram of thorium..."

John

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