Disused Sources: The Need for Proper Management and Disposition
The US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) asked the LLW Forum’s Disused Sources Working Group (DSWG) to evaluate the impact that the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) 2015 revision to the Branch Technical Position (BTP) on Concentration Averaging and Encapsulation has had on the disposal of radioactive sealed sources.
Click here to view the report.
NEWS 2024:
The Conference Radiation Control Program Directors (CRCPD) Source Collection and Threat Reduction (SCATR) Program has begun its 2023-24 unwanted radioactive sealed source collection and disposal effort. CRCPD/SCATR provides cost-shared support for the packaging, transport, and commercial disposal of Class A, B, and C sources. SCATR receives funding through a grant provided by the Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
SCATR is targeting a 40% cost-share amount for 2023-24 program participants. Licensees in all 50 States and U.S. territories are eligible for program participation. The SCATR program is now accepting larger sources. If your shipment requires a Type B cask you will be offered a 50% cost-share amount.
Note: Cost-share targets are set on an annual basis. However, the cost-share amount is expected to remain constant each year going forward. While the program makes every effort to assist as many eligible generators as possible each year at the targeted cost-share amount, the cost-share support available, as well as the number and location of sources collected, are subject to funding, logistic, and other considerations.
To qualify for SCATR participation, licensees must register their disused and unwanted sources with the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Off-Site Source Recovery Program (OSRP) at:
http://osrp.lanl.gov/PickUpSources.aspx
Interested licensees are encouraged to complete source registration as soon as possible. Source registration does not imply a commitment by either the generator or CRCPD with regard to program participation. CRCPD selects participants, in part, based on the number of sources the generator has registered with OSRP/LANL. However, any previously registered party is encouraged to contact the person listed below to request to participate.
All registered parties are encouraged to request a copy of information about their facilities and source inventory to determine if the information in the SCATR database is accurate and up to date.
For more information on CRCPD/SCATR or the 2023-24 national SCATR collection, please contact
Michael Snee
Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors
msnee@crcpd.org
502-545-6679
A disused source is any sealed source of radioactive material that is not currently being utilized and will never be utilized again for the original intended purpose.
There are approximately 2 million sealed sources and tens of thousands of disused sources in the United States.
Due to the increasing use of radioactive sources within the United States along with the lack of a comprehensive database and tracking system, it has become relatively easy to obtain sealed sources. The sources could be utilized individually or in aggregate in a radiological dispersion device or in a radiation exposure device.
In September 2011, at the request of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration/Global Threat Reduction Initiative (NNSA/GTRI), the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Forum (LLW Forum) formed the Disused Sources Working Group (DSWG). The working group, which was comprised of eight Directors of the LLW Forum, solicited input from a broad range of stakeholders at 19 meetings over a 30-month period.
The DSWG has developed 24 recommendations to be considered by States, Federal agencies and industry representatives in implementing individual contributions towards a timely and comprehensive solution.