Radioactive chemicals hazards

Carcinogens, teratogens, and mutagens Explosive and flammable chemicals Radioactive chemical hazards Characteristics of radioisotopes Storage and handling techniques Dosimetry... 

The chapter on Radioactive chemicals (Chapter 11) has been updated. Considerations of safety in design (Chapter 12) are presented separately from systems of work requirements, i.e. Operating procedures (Chapter 13). Tlie considerations for Marketing and transportation of hazardous chemicals are now addressed in two separate chapters (Chapters 14 and 15). Chemicals and the Environment are now also covered in two chapters (Chapters 16 and 17) to reflect the requirement that the impact of chemicals on the environment should be properly assessed, monitored and controlled. Although a substantial contribution to atmospheric pollution is made by emissions from road vehicles and other means of transport, and this is now strictly legislated for, this topic is outside the scope of this text. Chapter 18 provides useful conversion factors to help with the myriad of units used internationally. 

A brief discussion of the relevance of physicochemical principles to hazard identification is given in Chapter 3. Relevant toxic and flammable properties, and summaries of appropriate precautions to cater for them during handling, use and disposal, are provided in Chapters 4 and 5 respectively. Reactive hazards are discussed in Chapter 6. The special problems with cryogenic materials and chemicals under pressure, typified by compressed gases, are dealt with in Chapters 7 and 8. The unique problems associated with radioactive chemicals are described in Chapter 10. 

Radioactive chemicals, See also Chemicals Transportation control measures, See Precautions exposure limits, 393 hazards, 391 monitoring, 393 types, 391... 

On July 18, 2000, the Agency released HWIR-waste exemption levels for 36 chemicals that were developed using a risk model known as the Multimedia, Multi-pathway and Multi-receptor Risk Assessment (3MRA) Model.17 The May 16, 2001, HWIR-waste rule revised and retained the hazardous waste mixture and derived-from rules as previously discussed in this module. In addition, the rule finalized provisions that conditionally exempt mixed waste (waste that is both radioactive and hazardous), if the mixed waste meets certain conditions in the rule.5... 

Treatment of life-threatening injuries should almost always take precedence over measures to address radioactive, chemical, or biological contamination or exposure. Injured individuals should be stabilized if possible and immediately transported to a medical facility. It is recommended that an individual with training in the areas of radioactive, chemical, and biological hazards accompany the first patients to the hospital and serve as an advisor to the medical team. 

When an explosive device is used to disperse radioactive, chemical, or biological materials, the treatment of casualties is more difficult because of the presence of contamination. In this situation, emergency responders could face a life-threatening situation unless appropriate precautions are taken. These precautions include using screening instruments (see Section 6.12) to assess hazard conditions before responding, then selecting the appropriate level of personal protective equipment (see Section 6.7) to provide protection from the hazard. 

Chemical contaminants for which full-scale treatment data exist include primarily volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs). These SVOCs include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pentachlorophenol (PCP), pesticides, and herbicides. Extremely volatile metals, such as mercury and lead, can be removed by higher temperature thermal desorption systems. The technology has been applied to refinery wastes, coal tar wastes, wood-treating wastes, creosote-contaminated soils, hydrocarbon-contaminated soils, mixed (radioactive and hazardous) wastes, synthetic mbber processing wastes, and paint wastes. 

When a radioactive chemical is released from a large area, such as an industrial plant, or from a container, such as a drum or bottle, it enters the environment as a radioactive chemical emission. This emission, which is also called a release, does not always lead to exposure. You can be exposed to a radioactive chemical when you come into contact with that chemical alone or with a substance that contains it. You may be exposed to it in the environment by breathing, eating, or drinking substances containing the radioactive chemical or from skin contact with it. Exposure can also occur by being near radioactive chemicals at concentrations that are found at hazardous waste sites or industrial accidents. 

Over the last several decades, separate classification systems have been developed for radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes based on a variety of considerations, the most prevalent being the source of the waste. These classification systems have served their intended purpose of facilitating development of health-protective strategies for waste management and disposal reasonably well. However, they have exhibited a number of shortcomings and undesirable ramifications, which indicate that a new approach to classification of hazardous wastes would be beneficial. 

The primary purpose of this Report is to present NCRP s recommendations on classification of hazardous wastes. The Report is directed at a multidisciplinary audience with different levels of technical understanding in the fields of radiation and chemical risk assessment and radioactive and chemical waste management. Anew hazardous waste classification system is proposed that differs from the existing classification systems for radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes in two fundamental respects. First, hazardous waste would be classified based on considerations of health risks to the public that arise from disposal of waste. Hazardous waste would not be classified based, for example, on its source. Second, the classification system would apply to any hazardous waste, and separate classification systems for radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes would not be retained. In the proposed system, waste would be classified based only on its properties, and the same rules would apply in classifying all hazardous wastes. 

The objective of the study presented in this Report was to address difficulties (elaborated, for example, in Sections 1.3.1.5 and 1.4) that have arisen from use of the existing classification systems for radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes. An important impetus for... 

This Section summarizes the separate classification systems that have been developed for radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes. Impacts of the two classification systems on management and disposal of mixed wastes are also described. 

Comparison of Classification Systems for Radioactive and Hazardous Chemical Wastes... 

The existing classification systems for radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes in the United States and approaches to disposal of... 

NCRP s recommendations on classification of hazardous wastes are intended to address deficiencies and inconsistencies in the separate systems for classification and disposal of radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes in the United States summarized previously. The most important of these include ... 

Legal impediments to development of a new waste classification system would be ignored. These include, for example, the distinction between radioactive waste that arises from operations of the nuclear fuel-cycle and NARM waste, which is based on provisions of AEA, the distinction between radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes, which is based on provisions of AEA and RCRA, and the provision in the National Energy Policy Act that prohibits NRC from establishing a general class of exempt radioactive waste. 

The recommended risk-based waste classification system has important implications in three areas (1) the resulting classification of existing radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes, (2) subclassification of the basic waste classes, and (3) changes in existing laws and regulations that would be required to implement such a classification system. 

As part of this study, NCRP investigated how the recommended waste classification system would affect the current classifications of radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes. The results of this investigation are summarized as follows ... 

A general class of exempt waste, which could be regulated as nonhazardous material, would be established. Development of an exempt class of waste that contains low levels of hazardous substances has been controversial and currently is banned by law in the case of radioactive waste. Some radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes have been exempted on a case-by-case basis, but general principles for exempting radioactive or hazardous chemical wastes have not been established. In spite of these difficulties, however, a meaningful risk-based waste classification system must include a general class of exempt waste. 

Under current laws and regulations, many radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes are classified based on their source, rather than their radiological or toxicological properties. Development of a risk-based waste classification system would require elimination of source-based waste classifications. 

In addition to the effort required to develop a comprehensive and risk-based hazardous waste classification system based on NCRP s recommendations, several legal and regulatory impediments would need to be addressed. However, the resulting classification system would be more transparent and understandable than the separate classification systems for radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes... 

Wastes have been classified for decades for a variety of purposes. This Section discusses the historical development of classification systems for radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes and the resulting classification systems in use at the present time. The relationship between waste classification and requirements for disposal of different classes of hazardous waste is emphasized. The framework for this discussion is the top-level system for waste classification in the United States shown in Figure 4.1. Within this framework, it is first determined whether a waste is nonhazardous (e.g., municipal waste) these wastes are not addressed in this Report. If a waste is deemed hazardous, it is so classified due to the presence of radionuclides or hazardous chemicals. Mixed radioactive and hazardous chemical waste is not a separate class of waste. However, mixed waste has been an important concern as a result of differences in requirements for management and disposal of radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes. Section 4.1 addresses classification and disposal of radioactive waste, and is followed by discussions of classification and disposal of hazardous chemical waste in Section 4.2 and approaches to management of mixed radioactive and hazardous chemical waste in Section 4.3. Finally, Section 4.4 summarizes previous NCRP recommendations relevant to waste classification. 

The discussions of classification of radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes and management of mixed waste in Sections 4.1 to 4.3 are presented in considerable detail to facilitate understanding of these issues by readers who may not be knowledgeable in these areas. The existing hazardous waste classification systems and the historical developments underlying them are complex. NCRP believes that an appreciation of these complexities is important in gaining an understanding of the need for a new hazardous waste classification system and the benefits it would provide. 

Dual regulation of mixed waste has no effect on classification of the radioactive component of the waste, and classification of waste as chemically hazardous is not affected by the presence of radionuclides. Rather, dual regulation mainly affects requirements on management and disposal of waste that had previously been managed as if it were radioactive but not chemically hazardous. 

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