Re: RADSAFE digest 1856

[Ken Smith <ksmith@cats.ucsc.edu>]

Hi All-

I'm posting this for a local community college.  They discovered a
container of
radioactive material in their biology labs.  The container was a 250 ml
plastic
screw-top lid opaque in color containing ~200 ml  of a lightly-tinged yellow
liquid. The container was labeled:
"Uranyl reagent
Laboratory Associates
Westchester Associates"

It is believed to be part of a water quality testing kit.  A hazardous waste
disposal company wouldn't dispose of the material because their meter pegged
(?) at >25 uR/hr at 6 inches form the container.

A radioactive waste vendor was contacted but will not dispose of the container
until it's contents have been identified.

My questions to the list are:
1. Does anyone have a contact for Laboratory Associates?
2. Does anyone know what chemical may be?  Is there a specific uranium
chemical
that is used in water quality testing?
3. Does any one know of a reference / recommendation for a laboratory testing
company that can identify the chemical constituent’s of radioactive waste? 
(The chemical identification labs I have dealt with in the past refuse
radioactive samples for analysis.)

Thanks in advanced for your information.  You may reply to me directly at the
e-mail address below.  I'll post a consensus answers to the questions back to
the list for everyone's knowledge.

Ken





----------
Ken Smith
Acting Radiation Safety Officer
University of California
Santa Cruz, CA  95064                   
Voice: (408) 459-3911
Fax: (408) 459-3209
e-mail: ksmith@cats.ucsc.edu