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Sunday, December 30, 2018

NORM waste disposal needs to be regulated!


Waste containing Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) is generated in industries which handle uranium and thorium containing raw materials. The waste contains radioactive uranium/thorium and their progeny and or K-40 which are naturally present in the earth crust in rocks, in ores/minerals and in coal. After recovery of the useful product elements, the waste contains traces of radioactive elements and can pose an environmental hazard. The fly-ash (waste product after burning of coal) also contains radionuclides in more concentrated levels as compared to their presence in coal. The ash waste is used to make bricks in some countries. The constraint is the emanation of radioactive radon gas from the traces of Ra-226/224 present in the fly ash.

There are regulatory limits on the radioactivity elemental concentration levels for disposal without any controls. However, in most of the industrial situations the activity concentration levels are much higher and are not safe to indiscriminate disposal in the environment. Disposal as road fillings is one of the uses of NORM waste.

It is time that national regulatory bodies wake up this public health concern and enforce appropriate controls on the disposal of the NORM waste.

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