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Downblending Contaminated Radioactive Wastes

Received: 12 August 2015     Accepted: 14 August 2015     Published: 27 August 2015
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Abstract

Dilution is the mixing of radioactive waste with non-radioactive material, whereas downblending is the mixing of high-level radioactive waste with low-level radioactive waste. These processes have been applied predominantly at nuclear sites as part of the decontamination procedures for the disposal of blended wastes in licensed facilities. Proper health and safety assessments should be carried out as part of the processes and procedures of diluting or downblending radioactive waste before disposal to ensure minimal risks to the general public and environment. Hydraulic fracturing for the exploration of oil and natural gas can bring NORM materials to the surface, and the processing of these wastes can further enhance the radiological concentration of these Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (TENORM). Current regulations and industry practices are investigating the feasibility of incorporating dilution or downblending as a means of waste predisposal processing and management of hydraulic fracturing produced TENORM wastes.

Published in International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis (Volume 3, Issue 2-1)

This article belongs to the Special Issue Clean Methods and Technologies for Hydraulic Fracturing

DOI 10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030201.13
Page(s) 11-14
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Dilution, Downblending, Hydraulic Fracturing, TENORM, Gamma Spectroscopy

References
[1] United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 10 CFR, NRC Library: http://www.nrc.gov/reading.rm/doc-collections/cfr/
[2] United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Final comparative environmental evaluation of alternatives for handling low-level radioactive waste spent ion exchange resins from commercial nuclear power plants, Federal Register, vol. 78, no. 188, 2013, pp. 59729-59731.
[3] R. Whicker, M. Whicker, J. Johnson and B. Meyer, Mobile soils lab: on-site radiological analysis supporting remedial activities, Health Physics: The Radiation Safety Journal, vol. 91, no. 2, 2006, pp. S24-S31.
[4] N. R. Warner, C. A. Christie, R. B. Jackson and A. Vengosh, Impacts of shale gas wastewater disposal on water quality in western Pennsylvania, Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 47, 2013, pp. 11849-11857.
[5] L. Ying, F. O’Connor, TENORM radiological survey of Utica and Marcellus shale, Applied Radiation and Isotopes, vol. 80, 2013, pp. 95-98.
[6] M. Peroni, V. Mulas, E. Betti, L. Patata and P. Ambrosini, Decommissioning and remediation of NORM/TENORM contaminated sites in oil and gas, Chemical Engineering Transactions, vol. 28, 2012, pp. 181-186.
[7] Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors, E-42 Task Force Report: Review of TENORM in the oil and gas industry, 2015.
[8] L. Ying, Method and apparatus for assessing and diluting contaminated radioactive materials, 2015, US Patent pending 14816554.
[9] International Atomic Energy Agency, Predisposal management of radioactive waste, General Safety Requirements Part 5, 2009.
[10] A. W. Nelson, D. May, A. W. Knight, et al., Matrix complications in the determination of radium levels in hydraulic fracturing flowback water from Marcellus shale, Environmental Science and Technology Letters, vol. 1, 2014, pp. 204-208.
[11] L. Ying, F. O’Connor and J. Stolz, Scintillation gamma spectrometer for analysis of hydraulic fracturing waste products, Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A, vol. 50, 2015, pp. 499-503.
[12] United States Environmental Protection Agency, Land disposal restrictions: summary of requirements, Offices of Solid Waste and Emergency Response & Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, EPA 530-R-01-007, 2001.
[13] United States Department of Energy, Environmental assessment for U-233 material downblending and disposition project at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, DOE/EA-1651, 2010.
[14] United States Environmental Protection Agency, Technology reference guide for radioactively contaminated media, Office of Radiation and Indoor Air Radiation Protection Program, EPA 402-R-07-004, 2007.
[15] United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Results of the license termination rule analysis of the use of intentional mixing of contaminated soil, SECY-04-0035, 2004.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Leong Ying, Robert Brenna, Richard Yuen, Cory Hoskins. (2015). Downblending Contaminated Radioactive Wastes. International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis, 3(2-1), 11-14. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030201.13

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    ACS Style

    Leong Ying; Robert Brenna; Richard Yuen; Cory Hoskins. Downblending Contaminated Radioactive Wastes. Int. J. Environ. Monit. Anal. 2015, 3(2-1), 11-14. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030201.13

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    AMA Style

    Leong Ying, Robert Brenna, Richard Yuen, Cory Hoskins. Downblending Contaminated Radioactive Wastes. Int J Environ Monit Anal. 2015;3(2-1):11-14. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030201.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030201.13,
      author = {Leong Ying and Robert Brenna and Richard Yuen and Cory Hoskins},
      title = {Downblending Contaminated Radioactive Wastes},
      journal = {International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis},
      volume = {3},
      number = {2-1},
      pages = {11-14},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030201.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030201.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijema.s.2015030201.13},
      abstract = {Dilution is the mixing of radioactive waste with non-radioactive material, whereas downblending is the mixing of high-level radioactive waste with low-level radioactive waste. These processes have been applied predominantly at nuclear sites as part of the decontamination procedures for the disposal of blended wastes in licensed facilities. Proper health and safety assessments should be carried out as part of the processes and procedures of diluting or downblending radioactive waste before disposal to ensure minimal risks to the general public and environment. Hydraulic fracturing for the exploration of oil and natural gas can bring NORM materials to the surface, and the processing of these wastes can further enhance the radiological concentration of these Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (TENORM). Current regulations and industry practices are investigating the feasibility of incorporating dilution or downblending as a means of waste predisposal processing and management of hydraulic fracturing produced TENORM wastes.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Downblending Contaminated Radioactive Wastes
    AU  - Leong Ying
    AU  - Robert Brenna
    AU  - Richard Yuen
    AU  - Cory Hoskins
    Y1  - 2015/08/27
    PY  - 2015
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030201.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030201.13
    T2  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
    JF  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
    JO  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
    SP  - 11
    EP  - 14
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-7667
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.s.2015030201.13
    AB  - Dilution is the mixing of radioactive waste with non-radioactive material, whereas downblending is the mixing of high-level radioactive waste with low-level radioactive waste. These processes have been applied predominantly at nuclear sites as part of the decontamination procedures for the disposal of blended wastes in licensed facilities. Proper health and safety assessments should be carried out as part of the processes and procedures of diluting or downblending radioactive waste before disposal to ensure minimal risks to the general public and environment. Hydraulic fracturing for the exploration of oil and natural gas can bring NORM materials to the surface, and the processing of these wastes can further enhance the radiological concentration of these Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (TENORM). Current regulations and industry practices are investigating the feasibility of incorporating dilution or downblending as a means of waste predisposal processing and management of hydraulic fracturing produced TENORM wastes.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 2-1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • KLYTEC, New Jersey, USA

  • KLYTEC, New Jersey, USA

  • KLYTEC, New Jersey, USA

  • Advanced TENORM, Kentucky, USA

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