We do not have any radioactive waste, famous last words to be avoided for Environmental Professionals.

"We don't have any radioactive waste":  Famous last words to be avoided for Environmental Professionals.

Among licensing the civilian use of radioactive materials, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulates reactors, radioactive materials and radioactive wastes.   

In industry, there are many items that could emit harmful radiation if managed improperly.  Items such as smoke detectors, self-luminescent exit signs, instrument dials, aircraft counterweights, ignition exciters, refractory brick from industrial ovens, metal manufacturing, petroleum exploration, to name a few, all may include material that produce radiation at some level. 

The aircraft industry can generate number of radioactive items that are part of aircrafts safety systems and control systems.  Due to advancements in power source and other engineered technologies, newer aircraft have reduced some requirements for radioactive devices.  Unfortunately, older aircraft may still include self-luminescent emergency lighting and instrumentation containing Tritium (H-3), depleted uranium counterweights, some detectors containing Americium-241 and ignition exciters containing Krypton-85, Cesium-137 or Tritium (H-3). 

Environmental professionals should be aware of items that may be overlooked as potentially hazardous to human health and the environment due to radiation.  Radioactive material and waste must be handled properly in accordance with the NRC as well as possibly state and local environmental agencies.  In addition, licensing, reporting, exporting and importing among compacts, selection of properly permitted disposal facilities, utilizing brokers and consultants, are all important steps in complying with the NRC and other involved regulatory entities.  This presentation will discuss the lessons learned from finding and disposing of radioactive materials and radioactive wastes.