Re: Sewer Disposal & Plumbing

["Russ Meyer" <CMEYER@brc1.tdh.texas.gov>]

> Date:          Tue, 28 Feb 95 11:20:34 -0600
> Reply-to:      radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu
> From:          melissa@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu (M. Woo)
> To:            Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
> Subject:       Re: Sewer Disposal & Plumbing

> Sorry that I'm not going to address your questions directly, Sue, but the
> subject of sanitary sewage disposal reminded me of something that our
> campus research reactor is currently facing.  I'm curious if anyone else on
> the list has comments or whatever, as it has the potential to affect all of
> us who maintain sanitary sewage disposal programs.
>
> In order to prevent the discharge of insoluble radioactivity to the
> sanitary sewage system, the NRC has "forced" (for lack of a better term)
> our reactor to install filters in the discharge path for their retention
> tank.  Apparently, the reactor has to use a 0.45 um filter, because (as
> relayed to me by the reactor administrator -- I haven't seen anything in
> writing) it would require a larger pile of paper to justify using a larger
> pore size.
>
> All of this bother is apparently a test case for the NRC, but if this
> flies, one wonders about the ramifications for the rest of us.  Our campus
> utilizes the method of sanitary sewage disposal of radioisotopes in order
> to minimize the waste we must store.  I somehow can't imagine having to
> install 0.45 um filters at every single outlet to the sanitary sewer from
> campus laboratories.
>
> According to 10CFR20 (Illinois regs in our case), the conditions of
> discharge are that the "material be readily soluble, or is readily
> dispersible biological material, in water."  How far does a lab, or rad
> safety, have to go to determine solubility/dispersibility?  Where did NRC
> get the 0.45 um pore size from?  Why do I foresee either a lot more work on
> the horizon, or the possible cancellation of our sanitary sewage disposal
> program entirely?
>
> --
> Melissa Woo                       | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
> Health Physicist                  | Environmental Health & Safety Bldg., MC225
> office phone: 1.217.244.7233      | 101 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL  61801
> m-woo@uiuc.edu                    | http://www.cso.uiuc.edu/ph/www/m-woo

Milissa,
       The NRC has in the not too distant past received a lot of
heat from Sen. Glen and Rep. Sinar regarding its regulatory
capabilities.  One unfortunate event which came to light during the
roasting was the disclosure of Co-60 contaminated ash from
incinerated sewage sludge at a plant in Ohio.  This has caused some
stirring in the NRC and a NUREG or two.  These events may or may not
lead to a change in the general authorization in the regulations
regarding sewer disposal.  Hopefully, it won't be drastic if a
change is made.>







Russ
cmeyer@brc1.tdh.texas.gov
(512)834-6688