The Impact of Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Policy on Biomedical Research in the United States (2001) / Chapter Skim
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Adaptations and Waste Minimizations
Adaptations and Waste Minimizations
Pages 27-36
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From page 27... ...
The use of nonradioactive materials in biomedical research is one approach to waste minimization. Improved Management There are three key strategies for improved management of LERW: avoidance, consolidation, and volume reduction.
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From page 28... ...
Storage Practices Storage of LLRW generated by biomedical research facilities uses specialized packaging that provides protection from radiation emitted by the waste and isolates the radioactive material from employees handling it. Storage is used to hold LLRW for decay to background levels of radioactivity before disposal as conventional nonradioactive material at conventional or industrial landfills disposal facilities or, for very small LLRW generators, to hold it until sufficient LLRW is accumulated to fill a disposal container or to warrant shipment.
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From page 29... ...
. Treatment Practices Because of concerns over the lack of available disposal facilities in the states that do not have guaranteed long-term access to LLRW disposal sites and the costs associated with disposal, biomedical-research generators of waste continue to pursue more comprehensive and sophisticated methods of treating their LLRW and mixed waste to minimize the volumes and radioactivity of waste requiring disposal in licensed facilities.
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From page 30... ...
The process used to separate dissolved solids from liquids by using chemical resins to exchange the atoms in the radioactive materials with the atoms attached to the resin material. This waste separation technique can reduce the level of radionuclides in liquid waste by a factor of 10-100.
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From page 31... ...
Now that those generators in many parts of the country face the potential loss of access to disposal, research institutions are requiring additional minimization procedures of their researchers. Procedures include comprehensive and repeated training of generators, improving wasteidentification procedures, reducing the quantities of radioactive materials ordered and used in research, automating procedures to enhance reproducibility, recycling chemicals where possible, repurifying for reuse, preventing the unnecessary generation of mixed waste, and planning the costs and amounts of waste disposal in the design of experiments and products.
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From page 32... ...
A limited exemption to allow the onsite burial of LLRW can be granted to an individual licensee, case-by-case basis, "to dispose of licensed matenal in a manner not otherwise authorized" in Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations (10 CFR 20.2002~. The rule requires a licensee to submit an application Ascribing the licensed matenal for which the exemption is sought; kinds, and levels of radioactivity; the proposed manner and conditions of disposal; an analysis of the nature of the environment and use of groundwater and surface waters in the general area; the nature and location of other potentially affected facilities; and procedures to minimize the risk of unexpected or hazardous exposures.
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From page 33... ...
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission allows radionuclides in radioactive materials or LLRW to be released in effluents (air or water) as long as the release remains within the radiation dose limits allowed by Commission regulations.
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From page 34... ...
Once the activity of the mixed waste has decayed, it can be disposed of as chemical waste; the legal term is "hazardous waste". The confusion between US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and EPA regulations, as they pertain to mixed waste, has caused many generators to use various source-minimization and waste-volume reduction techniques to avoid generating mixed waste or to treat it and destroy the hazardous chemical properties so that the waste can be disposed of as LLRW.
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From page 35... ...
Use of Nonradiological Materials Substituting nonradioactive materials for radioactive ones or shorter-lived materials for longer-lived ones is becoming more common. For example, biomedical researchers are substituting 33P for 32p and 35S because of the shorter half-life and the potential for lower personnel exposure.
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From page 36... ...
DNA base sequencing was developed by using gel separations of DNA fragments internally labeled with 3 P or 33P. Although accurate, that method was not readily adaptable to the large-scale sequencing needed to sequence the genome of an entire organism.
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