Re: release of patient based on NRCREG 35.75

[psr@po.cwru.edu (P S Rao)]

> ...
>- If a load of waste can be traced back to a hospital, it is reasonable for
>the landfill to ask the hospital to investigate because the landfill
doesn't >know if they've got innocuous material or a teletherapy source.
>
>- If the hospital sends people to the landfill and ID the waste as trace
>amounts of I-131, the landfill is unlikely to say "Oh, then go ahead and
>leave it with us."
>
>- If state or federal regulators are contacted, they may understand the
>health physics and public health concerns, but may still be obligated to
>accede to the landfill's wishes.
> ...

This does describe the existing, and an infuriating, state of affairs.  In
my opinion, it is unreasonable for a regulator to acknowledge that a
hospital has followed all the rules, but to penalize it anyway by demanding
the removal of, say, an I-131 contaminated diaper from a landfill.
Regulators are in an excellent position to guide radiation-related
activities along the paths of reason and science, but instead seem compelled
by public pressure to fall back on emotional and irrational tracks.
>

-psrao
--
P. Sridhar Rao, Mailstop BSH5056, Univ Hospitals, Cleveland, Ohio 44106.
Tel: 216-844-1295.   Fax: 216-844-3300.   E-mail: psr@po.cwru.edu

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