H-3 Shipping Question

[harland@ccmail.orst.edu (Daniel L. Harlan)]

     I have a question regarding shipping small quantities of 3H.  A 
     researcher wants to ship about 5 mCi of tritium (limited quantity 
     limit for liquids is over 100 mCi) to a remote research site, conduct 
     some experiments, then return all the material to the lab for 
     analysis.  All the shipping would be done by the researcher, and 
     carried in his/her official vehicle.
     
     Does anyone have suggestions on how to perform the required survey of 
     the package (49 CFR 173.421(3)/173.443) for the return shipment?  
     We're dealing with small research budgets, so buying a portable 
     tritium monitor for $$$thousands of dollars just to survey the package 
     is not an option.
     
     One consideration is to perform the package survey at the site, load 
     it into the vehicle and return to the lab to count the wipes.  This 
     requires a variance from DOT.  Has anyone done this before?
     
     Any suggestions on how to approach this problem would be welcome.  
     What I want to avoid is having good research obstructed or canceled 
     because we can't work out a minor wrinkle in the regs.
     
     Thanks for the input,
     Dan Harlan
     Radiation Specialist
     Oregon State University
     
     harland@ccmail.orst.edu