Re: Smoke Detectors

[LIPTONW@dteenergy.com]

Guidance on the disposal of smoke detectors is provided in NRC, HPPOS-150, 
which is copied, below. 
 
The opinions expressed are strictly mine. 
It's not about dose, it's about trust. 
 
Bill Lipton 
liptonw@dteenergy.com 
 
 
 Disposal Requirements for Specific and Exempt Licensed 
Smoke Detectors 
 
 
HPPOS-150                                     PDR-9111220094 
 
Title:  Disposal Requirements for Specific and Exempt 
Licensed Smoke Detectors 
 
See the letter from J. W. N. Hickey to D. L. Tremblay 
(Simplex Time Recorder Company) dated October 5, 1981. 
Imported smoke detectors possessed under a specific license 
must be returned to the manufacturer.  A licensee who 
possesses detectors distributed as exempt items is exempt 
from regulatory requirements regarding the smoke detectors, 
and they may be disposed of as ordinary trash. 
 
Your letter to General Counsel dated September 8, 1981 has 
been referred to the Division of Fuel Cycle and Material 
Safety.  In our telephone conversion, you explained that 
your company possesses two types of smoke detectors:  those 
imported, possessed, and distributed in accordance with NRC 
License Nos. 20-17584-01 and 20-17584-02E, and those 
obtained from an American manufacturer as exempt units. 
 
We agreed that the imported detectors must be returned to 
the manufacturer in accordance with your licenses, and that 
your letter concerns the domestic units.  To the extent 
that you possess domestic smoke detectors distributed as 
exempt units, you are exempt from any regulatory 
requirements.  Therefore, you may dispose of these units as 
ordinary trash. 
 
Regulatory references:  10 CFR 30.20, 10 CFR 32.26 
 
Subject codes:  3.3, 9.0 
 
Applicability:  Byproduct material 
    
You wrote: 
 
>Here's a thought. 
 
>Say you toss a couple of smoke detectors each containing a couple of 
>microcuries of Am-241 into the trash, then proceed to take that trash to
the 
>local landfill. Is it required that it be properly packaged and labeled,
and 
>a bill of lading indicating that it is a class 7 shipment accompany the 
>trash? 
 
>Yes, it's a slow Wednesday. 
 
>Donald P. Mercado 
>Radiation Safety Officer 
>Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space 
>O/47-20, B/101 
>1111 Lockheed Martin Way 
>Sunnyvale, CA 94089 
>Ph. (408) 742-0759 
>Fax (408) 742-0611 
>Email: Don.mercado@lmco.com 

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