Experience of disused source management in Latin America
- Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear, Belo Horizonte (Brazil)
The Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear (Center for the Development of Nuclear Technology) - CDTN - has been actively engaged in cooperation programs for disused source management throughout the Latin American and the Caribbean region since 1996. The CDTN source conditioning team participated in the preparation of the technical procedures established for the different tasks involved in the radium sources conditioning operations, like preparation of the packaging for conditioning; sources conditioning; capsule welding; leak test in radium-containing capsule; and radiation protection planning for the conditioning of disused radium sources. The team also carried out twelve radium sources conditioning operation in the region, besides in-house operations, which resulted in a total conditioned activity of approximately 525 GBq, or 14,200 mg of radium. Additionally, one operation was carried out in Nicaragua to safely condition three Cobalt teletherapy heads stored under very precarious conditions in the premises of an old hospital. More recently, the team started its participation in an IAEA- and US State Department-sponsored program for the repatriation of disused or excess transuranic sources presently stored at users' premises or under regulatory control in different countries in the region. In September 2007 the team attended a theoretical and practical training in transuranic sources management, including the participation in the conditioning of different neutron sources in certified packages. It is expected that the trained team will carry out similar operations in other Latin American countries. Finally, the team is expected be involved in the near future in the repatriation of US-origin teletherapy heads and industrial gauges. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, 1628 E. Southern Avenue, Suite 9 - 332, Tempe, AZ 85282 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 21326165
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-10-WM-08443; TRN: US10V0620067530
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: WM'08: Waste Management Symposium 2008 - HLW, TRU, LLW/ILW, Mixed, Hazardous Wastes and Environmental Management - Phoenix Rising: Moving Forward in Waste Management, Phoenix, AZ (United States), 24-28 Feb 2008; Other Information: Country of input: France
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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