Recycling of norm-contaminated equipment
- S. Cohen & Associates, Inc., McLean, VA (United States)
- Texaco, Houston, TX (United States)
- T.P. McNulty and Associates, Evergreen, CO (United States)
Eight oil companies, under the auspices of the Petroleum Environmental Research Forum, have sponsored a study to evaluate the feasibility of recycling NORM-contaminated equipment as scrap Metals. The focus-of the study is to identify advantages and assess radiation exposures and risks associated with the recycling of such equipment. Laboratory benchtop tests, using steel and NORM-contaminated scale, were used to study the fate of NORM in steel mill furnaces. The test results revealed that nearly 100% of the added {sup 226}Ra, {sup 228}Ra, and {sup 228}Th activity were recovered in slag. This behavior prevailed whether conditions were oxidizing or reducing. The radioactivity retained in steel was less than 2% of that added in the furnace. The presence of {sup 210}Pb and {sup 210}Po were not determined, as analyses revealed their presence in steel, slag, and scrubber solutions to be within detection limits. The presence of {sup 226}Ra in off-gases was calculated to be 0.04% of the added activity. Risk assessment analyses were conducted to estimate radiation doses and risks associated with stack emissions from electric-arc and basic oxygen furnaces. For the maximum exposed individual, the results indicated that offsite annual doses (EDE) vary from 6.9 E-04 to 2.3 E-06 {mu}Sv. Lifetime doses were estimated to range from 5.0 E-02 to 1.6 E-04 {mu}Sv. The corresponding lifetime risks for fatal cancers range from 1.1 E-09 to 2.6 E-12, well under the range of 1.0 E-4 to 1.0 E-06 deemed acceptable by the EPA under NESHAPS regulations.
- OSTI ID:
- 394000
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9607135-; ISSN 0017-9078; TRN: 96:028683
- Journal Information:
- Health Physics, Vol. 70, Issue Suppl.6; Conference: 41. Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society, Seattle, WA (United States), 21-25 Jul 1996; Other Information: PBD: Jun 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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