Cooling tower radioactivity

["Engelbretson, David" <DEngelbretson@tmh.tmc.edu>]

Dear colleagues,

I recently had a question asked by a member of the hazardous waste team
at our facility that I did not know the answer to and was wondering if
anyone could help me.

He told me that a waste hauler friend of his had dismantled an old water
cooling tower (~40 yrs old) from the top of an office building and had
attempted to take it to a landfill.  The tower material  was rejected
because it was emitting radiation above the landfill's acceptable
limits.

Would anyone know how radioactivity could have ended up in the tower
materials and what radionuclides could be present?  From what I was told
most of the material was wood.  Thank you in advance for your
assistance.


David Engelbretson
Asst. RSO
Methodist Hospital, Houston