Disposal of Radioisotopes

Disposal of Radioisotopes

Radioactive waste must not be disposed of with any other laboratory refuse, but must be sealed in an appropriate plastic bag labelled with the

  1. laboratory of origin
  2. date of delivery
  3. the isotopes present
  4. estimated activity on the date of disposal

and disposed in a bin provided for this purpose. Estimates of activity must be as accurate as possible. Syringe needles and pipette tips must be shrouded before disposal.

Pre-printed labels are available from FBLS stores or from RPS office ext 4471.

  • The solid waste disposal bags cannot contain more than 37MBq. Full bags should have clearly completed labels which are available from FBLS Stores or RPS.
  • Collections of full bags of radioactive waste are made weekly on Tuesday afternoons from the rear of the GBRC building.
  • Bins for radioactive waste are emptied on a weekly basis, however 32P should be left to completely decay before disposing of container to solid waste.
  • Radioactive liquid waste may only be disposed of via the sinks designated for this purpose. Restrictions are placed on the total activity which may be discharged to drain each calandar month. It is therefore essential that all disposals be recorded in the log kept near each designated sink, and the cumulative total reported on a monthly basis to Jim Scott or his designated deputy.
  • Non-aqueous radioactive waste (eg organic solvents) is particularly difficult to dispose of, so when designing experiments take care to keep this waste to a minimum. Where it arises unavoidably, it should be sent to the Radiation Protection Service for disposal.
  • Special arrangements exist for the disposal of radioactive animal waste. Waste that may putrefy on storage must not be included with the normal radioactive waste. The Radiation Protection Service will provide advice in each individual case.