Re: Cooling tower radioactivity

["baumbaug@nosc.mil" <baumbaug@nosc.mil>]

        David,

        If the tower had a "lightning" rod, then you've probably found your
culprit.  Lightning rods "often" have radioactive material (various
radioisotopes are/were used) incorporated within them to ionize the
surrounding air and facilitate the lighting's path to ground.

        Joel


At 02:27 PM 8/12/97 -0500, you wrote:
>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
>
>
>
Joel T. Baumbaugh (baumbaug@nosc.mil)
Naval Research and Development (NRaD)
San Diego, CA., U.S.A.

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