Contaminated mercury

[psr@po.CWRU.Edu (P S. Rao)]

This is a question for the gurus on mixed waste, and and also for anyone at
the EPA who may be listening in.

I would like to dispose of about 38 kg (84 lb) of mercury that is
contaminated with detectable amounts of Pb-210 and its progeny (Bi-210 and
Po-210).  I have not quantified the extent of contamination, but I suspect
that it is small.  When an aliquot of about 1 mL is counted in a NaI well
counter, the gamma line at 47 keV from Pb-210 builds up slowly in the gamma
spectrum.  Obviously the only gammas that can be detected are emerging from
a thin surface layer around the blob of mercury, but I have not calculated
how efficient this counting geometry is.

The mercury is the remnant of a radon generator that this hospital used to
have, until it was dismantled in 1954.  Nobody quite knew what to do with
the mercury, and so it has sat quietly in its corner all this time.  I
don't believe it is presently a threat to anybody or anything, but
regulations now demand its "safe" disposal.  My past attempts at learning
how to get rid of it led nowhere, but that was before I knew what RADSAFE
could do..

So, how do I get rid of it?

Please direct any replies to my e-mail address or telephone.  The general
RADSAFE readership has suffered enough.

--
P. Sridhar Rao, Radiology, CWRU / Univ Hosp of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio.
Tel: 216-844-1295.    Fax: 216-844-5922.    E-mail: psr@po.cwru.edu