RE: natural thorium

[Craig Reed <CReed@novoste.com>]

Steve,

To your second question: radioactivity in thoriated welding rods is also
addressed in NCRP 95 and NUREG CR1039.

However, exempt means exempt (from licensing) as approved for
distribution by the NRC.  Any license to manufacture/distribute exempt
quantities of RAM (in welding rods) is unrelated to your need for a
license to possess, distribute or dispose of licenseable quantities of
radioactive material (obtained from slag). 

Regulated waste?  I suspect other toxic/hazardous waste characteristics
of slag would invoke regulation of the waste before you exceeded a
concentration of radioactive material (in otherwise
non-radioactive/uncontaminated metal) that initiated low-level
radioactive waste licensing.  However, if you're starting with thousands
of tons of used gaseous diffusion plant process equipment, you may be in
the de minimus trap which you have to resolve with the State EPA
"accepting" the metal/slag/etc.  The lead HP (still Randy Nichols?) at
Manufacturing Sciences in Oak Ridge might be able to shed some light on
your question at least for ops in Tennessee.

How does your State authority address recycling of pipe with
radium-scale at metal smelting facilities?  Do they allow smelting? Do
they have concentration limits for release?

Craig Reed
creed@novoste.com



-----Original Message-----
From: Meiners, Steve E. (VSM) [mailto:VSM@BechtelJacobs.org]
Sent: Friday, July 09, 1999 10:54 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: natural thorium


Two questions with respect to "natural" or "source" material.

Does anyone have a value or reference for the total activity in a gas
mantle?

Uranium and thorium in steel and welding rods/wire are exempt from
regulation by the NRC.  When these radionuclides are concentrated in
slag do
they become a regulated waste?  What about DOT issues?
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