Re: Neutron or even Am Disposal

["J. Andrew Tompkins" <jatalbq@mindspring.com>]

Tom,
I apologize for replying to your message so belatedly.  Like many others, I
was off at the HPS summer school and the annual meeting.

The Off-site Source Recovery (OSR) Project at Los Alamos National
Laboratory (LANL) recovers and manages unwanted radioactive sealed sources
for which the US Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible under the
Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985. This includes
Am, Am/Be and most other actinide-bearing sources which cannot be disposed
as low level waste. The goal of the project is to reduce to zero the
backlog of such sources for which no disposal options now exist. Currently,
LANL expects to recover as many as 17,000 sealed sources and sealed source
devices over the next ten years. At this point the project is gearing up.
LANL and DOE are working with the NRC to clear a list of sources under a
pilot effort, with more general acceptance scheduled to begin after October
1999. The project is developing a comprehensive database to identify and
track all the excess radioactive sealed sources for which disposal options
do not now exist. 

We will soon have a web page to provide up to date
information on the project. We will post this site on RADSAFE as soon as
it's operational. This web page will have a link to a source registry
questionnaire for people who have excess sources and wish to register them
through the OSR Project at LANL. At the present time, if you would like to
register sources on the database, call Shelby Leonard (505) 667-6701 or
Sarah Hoffman (505) 667-9067 to obtain a questionnaire.

Further
information about the OSR Project can also be obtained by contacting the
following individuals:

Joel Grimm
DOE-Albuquerque Operations
Waste
Management Division
(505) 845-5463
e-mail: jgrimm@doeal.gov

Lee
Leonard
Los Alamos National Laboratory
E/WM
Off-site Source Recovery
Project
(505) 665-8292
e-mail: lleonard@lanl.gov

or  myself.

Andrew Tompkins
LANL/E/WM
Off-site Source Recovery Project
770-517-4320
e-mail: jatompkins@lanl.gov


At 03:35 PM 6/30/99 -0500, you wrote:
>We have seen several requests for information regarding disposal
>of Am-Be or Am sources in several generally licensed products such
>as moisture density gauges.
>
>If someone has some of these, the probability of inappropriate disposal
>seems too high either because the cost of sending it back is too high, or
>because the manufacturer is no longer in business.
>
>We have seen several offers for Troxler gauges (which contain an Am-Be
>source - people will give them away free (usually the device is no longer
>useable).
>
>There is a problem in this country of this type of source being disposed of
>and winding up at a steel mill, the device is then smelted and a great mess
>costing $$$$$$$$$ is created.
>
>Is there a solution to reasonable low cost disposal of Am-Be sources, or
>has our country again caused a situation where they encourage bad things
>because people can't do anything else.
>
>Please respond to the list because this is a problem that everyone should
>be aware of and maybe somebody can help.
>
>Tom O'Dou
>tom_dixie@msn.com
>
>
>
>
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