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10 Disposal of waste radioactive material
10.1 The disposal of waste radioactive material is heavily controlled, and the University must keep within strict limits. These are listed below. Any variation or increase must be justified, and a licence variation sought. Certain parameters, such as the dustbin limits, are not variable.
10.2 Waste disposal forms part of the Best Practical Method system that the University must apply to its radioisotope acquisition, holding and disposal. This is described in the accompanying document.
10.3 Aqueous waste will be disposed of via a designated disposal sink leading directly to a sewer. The disposal amount and rate will be controlled by the availability of radioisotope and the protocols of the experiments. Care must be taken to ensure that licence limits are not exceeded. If there is any likelihood of the limit being exceeded, the RPA must be consulted before any disposal action is taken, in order that a protocol may be devised to prevent contravention.
10.4 With the exception of disposal to sink or to air (which nevertheless must remain within permitted limits) all radioactive waste at Exeter/Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry must be disposed of via the University Radiation Protection Service. All waste will be collected, stored in an authorised holding facility, and streamed according to nuclide type and physical and/or chemical nature. The URPO will ensure that the waste is disposed of in accordance with Best Practicable Method.
At the Tremough Campus, Cornwall, waste will be held within the appropriate department/approved waste store. Disposal will be directly to the approved contractor following consultation with the URPO.
10.4.1 Very Low Level Waste (swabs, pipette tips, gloves, washed-out sample containers etc) must be collected in non-biodegradeable white or black plastic bags of suitable robustness, double-thickness, held in a suitable waste-bag support (for radiophosphorus this should be a purpose-made box of acrylic of minimum thickness 1 cm, with a lid) labelled to indicate that radioactive materials only must be disposed of there, and where separate waste streams are maintained, to identify which bag is for which waste type. The bags themselves should not be marked as radioactive. When a bag is full, the Radiation Service must be informed (Exeter only), and arrangements made to collect the bag with minimum delay. When it is collected, the bag will be marked with a radiation symbol which can be removed when it is finally disposed of.
At the Tremough Campus storage of VLL Waste will be within the appropriate department in approved waste storage. The URPO will visit at regular intervals to supervise dustbin disposal.
10.4.2 Each container of scintillation and other counted radionuclide samples must bear a radioactive warning sign and a legend identifying it as radioactive waste. It must have associated with it a schedule listing each disposal, with the activity disposed of, and a running total of activity in the container. When the container is full and passed to the Radiation Service for disposal(Exeter only), this schedule (or an exact copy thereof) must accompany the container
at all times.
When the container has been taken to the waste store, the schedule will be assigned the same identifying code as the container to which it relates.
Similar waste held at Tremough will be recorded in the same manner, the record of activity being required for the waste disposal contractor.
10.4.3 Non-aqueous waste disposal routes are as follows:
- Dustbin waste - pipette tips, swabs, gloves etc - are collected in bags, recorded, checked for radioactive emission and placed in dustbins at a controlled rate.
- Rapidly-decaying isotope waste (Phosphorus-32 and 33, Cr-51, I-125) will be separated from other isotope waste and stored for decay to minimise environmental impact. When it has decayed for a suitable period (such that the activity is demonstrably below the statutory limits) it will be disposed of to dustbin.
- Scintillation waste will be disposed of regularly to our licensed disposer, Veolia Environmental Services (UK)Limited,Southampton.
