Radiation Safety Training Radioactive Waste Washington State University Radiation Safety Office

Waste Program Overview Planning your waste production. As you plan your experiment you should take into account the following items. These items pertain to the types of waste you will produce and the volumes of that waste. Disposal of radioactive waste is very expensive.

Waste Program Overview Planning your waste production. (cont.) Use a less radiotoxic isotopes if possible, such as P-33 in place of P-32. Minimize use of dangerous chemicals (including LSC cocktails) Contact EH&S to determine if your waste is dangerous. LSC

Ecoscint (only the original, order # LS-271) from National Diagnostics and Optifluor from Perkin Elmer are currently the only scintillation (LSC) cocktails considered to be non-hazardous by WSU EH&S. Non-hazardous scintillation (LSC) cocktails.

Waste Program (continued) In addition, planning should take into account: Mixed wastes Mixed wastes refer to wastes that are a mixture of hazardous wastes (i.e., chemicals) and radioactive wastes and, as such, are dually regulated and very expensive to dispose of. If dangerous chemicals must be used, please minimize the volume of waste.

Waste Program (continued) Liquid radioactive waste that is non-hazardous is easier and cheaper to dispose of. In order for waste to be non-hazardous, it must be designated so by the WSU EH&S office. Please contact them to determine if your waste is hazardous. The waste must also have a pH of between 6 and 9 to be non-hazardous. Please try to minimize your volumes of all radioactive waste. Radioactive waste

Waste Program (continued) You should also try to minimize the production of solid radioactive waste. Again it is very expensive to dispose of. Arrangements must be made in advance for storage of putrefiable radioactive waste.

Waste Program (continued) You must segregate your waste according to half-life. The back of the waste receipt form has more detailed information. This applies to both solid and liquid waste. You must fill out the waste receipt form completely and correctly, before your waste will be picked up. H-3, C-14 P-32I-125

Dr. Who 6/9/09 ChemistryFulmer 123 P Water 95% NaCl 5% X Fill in the Authorized users name.Fill in the date. Fill in your department.Fill in your location. Circle your waste type. Definitions of the abbreviations can be found on the back of the waste form. Enter the nuclide that is in the waste.Enter the amount of activity that is in the wasteFor liquid waste, enter the pH of the liquid. Enter the chemical makeup, with percentages, of the waste. The percentages should equal 100%. Mark the size of your waste container. Filling out the waste receipt form.

The Back of the waste receipt form.

Waste Program (continued) The user must also verify that the outside of the containers are free of radioactive contamination. This should be done with a swipe survey.

Radioactive Waste pick-up. In order for you to have your radioactive waste picked up you must: 1) Segregate your waste according to half-life and place it in appropriate containers. 2) Fill out the waste receipt form completely and correctly. 3) Ensure that the outside of the containers are free of radioactive contamination. 4) Fill in the waste pick up request form on the RSO web site at,

Outer shipping containers (boxes) may be discarded as NORMAL trash only after they have been surveyed and found free of contamination and had any and all radioactive labels defaced. Waste Program (continued)

Inner shipping containers (pigs) may also be discarded as NORMAL trash only after they have been surveyed and found free of contamination and had any and all radioactive labels defaced. Except for ones that contain lead (Pb). Lead is a hazardous waste and can not be discarded in normal trash. These lead pigs will be picked up by the Radiation Safety Office (RSO) and recycled.

Waste Containers. The Radiation Safety Office supplies all radioactive materials waste containers to users on campus, free of charge. For liquid waste there are one gallon jugs and five gallon jugs. Please do not use glass bottles for liquid waste. For solid waste there are one cubic foot boxes and two cubic foot boxes.

Release by Authorized Users on the Pullman Campus. Releases to Sewer System (Pullman Campus Only) In accordance with the Washington State Administrative Code ( WAC ) Authorized Pullman campus users may release small quantities of non-alpha-emitting radionuclides to the sanitary sewer only if two conditions are met;WAC

Release by Authorized Users on the Pullman Campus. 1) It is in a readily soluble form or if it is a biological material, it is readily dispersible in water. 2) The chemical compositions are within limits imposed by state environmental health regulations. (No hazardous wastes are allowed; only aqueous wastes may be released, with a PH between 6 and 9). Contact WSU EH&S for assistance in determining if your waste designates as hazardous/dangerous.

Release by Authorized Users on the Pullman Campus. To ensure that total releases do not exceed regulatory limits, authorized users are not to exceed those release limits listed below. Radionuclide Release Limit for One Month in Microcuries H-3 4,160 C For all other isotopes (non- H-3, non- C-14, and non- alpha-emitters), 83 microcuries is the limit for each isotope. No alpha emitting isotopes may be discharged by individual authorized users.

Release by Authorized Users on the Pullman Campus. Each authorized Pullman campus user must record radionuclide sewer releases on a Radioactive Sanitary Sewer Discharge Record form. Use one form for each radionuclide released for each month in which releases are made. Send copies of completed Radioactive Sanitary Sewer Discharge Records to the Radiation Safety Office for any month in which such discharges take place. Print the PDF master from at S S

Release by Authorized Users on the Pullman Campus. Releases to the Atmosphere Authorized users may release small quantities of non- alpha-emitting radionuclides to the atmosphere. Each authorized user must record radionuclide releases to the air on a Summary of Radionuclide Disposals to the Air form. Use one form for each radionuclide released for each month in which releases are made. Submit the completed form to the Radiation Safety Office. Print the PDF master form at S S

Test Time! Follow this link to the test. Use your WSU user name and password to sign in. Click on the training tab. Then click on the available training tab Find the radiation safety training waste course, in the OR section, click on it and take the test.