Recycling Industries

Seibersdorf Academy

Radiation Safety in Recycling Industries

Course Objectives

It has become commonplace that radioactive substances make their appearance in industrial refuse and recycling materials. Therefore, monitoring of waste streams and recyclable materials for radioactivity has become an important and necessary requirement for waste processors and recycling industries, to ascertain health and safety at work and maintain specifications of the waste and/or output streams (especially scrap metal). This course provides an introduction to orphan radioactive sources and establishes the basics for dealing with such materials.

Topics

  • Fundamental principles in radiation safety and measurement
  • Radioactive materials in waste and recycling streams
  • Dealing with orphan sources
  • Legal requirements when detecting orphan sources
  • Naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) in recycling industries
  • Incidents and accidents involving radioactivity, first aid
  • Practical exercises: radioactive substances and shielding; portal monitors; recommended procedure when detecting orphan radioactive material