RE: Asbestos Contaminated with Rad Materials

["William D. Ulicny" <wulicny@erols.com>]

George Xu stated,

I would like to hear your experience in dealing with
asbestos-containing-materials (ACMs)contaminated with rad. sources such as
U-235, Co-60, or Cs-137 in as deep as 1-2 inch. What detection methods are
used for characterizing both asbestos and the embedded rad. sources. I am
interested in DOE practice, but any experience would be helpful.  Thanks in
advance!!
****************



The details of characterization depend on the form the asbestos is in.  However, in general, I would surface scan the material if it is already in place.  Follow that up with cores/samples of "hot" areas for gamma spec. analysis.  Since you're dealing with gamma emitters, it shouldn't be too difficult to detect.  Also, if the equipment is available to you, your scans could be performed with a portable NaI detector for "in-the-field" gamma spec.

For characterizing the asbestos, your best bet would be to send a non-rad-contaminated sample.  However, I believe some laboratories are capable of accepting rad contaminated materials for asbestos analysis (although I am hard-pressed to remember which ones they are).

Thoughts from anyone else?

Bill



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