Project Number:

2689

Radiation Evaluations for Solid Waste Facilities

SERVICE:

Radiation SOP Development

DESCRIPTION:

Tech Environmental recently developed a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to assist one of the largest solid waste management companies in the Northeast with radiation identification. Officials in one municipality decided that radiation must be monitored at the municipal solid waste transfer station, but they did not develop a plan to determine the type of radiation, or the appropriate response to it. Eventually, a single incoming load triggered a positive reading for radiation. The load was quickly quarantined and arrangements were made to ship the load to a hazardous waste disposal site. This particular waste load contained a small quantity of low-level radiation from human waste; given the very short half-life of this radiation, the waste was, in fact, safe for disposal. While arrangements were being made to ship the load to a hazardous waste facility, the radiation in the load decayed to the point of being undetectable.

While this load was clearly not a public safety concern, the public perception was that there was a window of opportunity in which the neighborhood could have been exposed to harmful radiation. The community was thus strongly focused on a radiation detection program, believing it to be a necessity. As a result, an SOP was needed to address the community's fears, and to direct facility staff in the event of radiation detection. The SOP developed by Tech Environmental uses state-of-the-art detectors to properly assess false positives and detect specific isotopes, so that the proper disposal method can be determined. The SOP complies with applicable local, state and federal requirements regarding identification and control of radioactive material. Most importantly, the SOP provides immediate comfort to neighbors of the solid waste facility, while giving the facility operator a quick and cost-effective way to identify and dispose of materials of concern.

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Key Points

  • A municipal landfill sought to develop a radiation detection program in response to community concerns.
  • Tech developed a Standard Operating Procedure to properly and cost-effectively assess incoming waste, which proved an immediate comfort to the facility and community.