RE: NRC's Patient Release Rule -Reply

[Jim Hardeman <Jim_Hardeman@mail.dnr.state.ga.us>]

Charles --

I was involved in one of those landfill
radiation monitor incidents involving I-131
several years ago ... long enough back
that a 2"x2" NaI detector was the norm for
landfills and recycling facilities ...
somewhere around 10 years ago. The
monitor at the landfill alarmed on a spot
about 4" in diameter which measured
approximately 1 mR/hr at 1 foot (all
numbers from memory).

Fortunately for us, we had a brand new
portable gamma spec system that we
were testing, and through a Rube
Goldberg-esque setup, we were able to
determine pretty quickly that we were
dealing with I-131. We were able to
convince / ask / direct landfill staff to dump
the load slowly, allowing us to monitor it all
the way out of the truck.

What did we find? Napkins, cups, papers,
anything somebody would have touched
or come in contact with. We even found a
prescription for thyroxine (very lucky) and
were able to trace back the patient and
physician. (Note: I would NEVER pick
around in this kind of stuff again, more for
fear of biohazard than anything else).
Turns out that the patient had received
200+ mCi (again from memory) and was
sent home the following day. We held
onto the "stuff" for a few months (in
retrospect, probably a bad decision) and
then tossed it.

Jim Hardeman, Manager
Environmental Radiation Program
Environmental Protection Division
Georgia Department of Natural Resources
4244 International Parkway, Suite 114
Atlanta, GA 30354
(404) 362-2675  fax: (404) 362-2653
Jim_Hardeman@mail.dnr.state.ga.us

>>> "Beasley, Charles W."
<CWBeasley@sprg.smhs.com> 10/28/99
13:17 >>>
Even a medical physicist has found the
some of the info new or insightful.
I will add my concerns about the landfill
radiation detection systems.  I
have read about garbage containers being
sent away from landfills because
they set off the radiation alarm systems.  I
visited our local site and
determined that the alarm system was
very sensitive.  The operators were
somewhat familiar with Tc-99m and its
short half-life;  hold the container
for a couple of days and resurvey.  I-131
waste from a patient's home will
not decay in a couple of days.  My
institution still follows the
conservative patient release: 33 mCi or 7
mR/h.

Charles Beasley, M.S.; DABMP



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