To request a radioactive waste appointment, a completed RedCap form must be completed online. Once the Radiation Safety team receives the online form, they will contact the research lab with a waste appointment. Usually appointments are made Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings from 9:00 a.m. until 11:30 a.m.

Radioactive Waste Disposal Procedures

Radioactive waste in red bags will not be accepted for disposal. This includes solid waste, scintillation vials, animals, and biological waste. Deactivate potentially infectious agents in radioactive waste prior to disposal.

Solid Waste:

• All solid waste must be segregated by isotope whenever possible. Contact Radiation Safety if there are questions about segregation by isotope.
• Solid waste must be completely dry - no liquid is allowed.
• Do not dispose of non-radioactive materials in radioactive waste.
• Place all sharp objects in puncture-proof containers. Contaminated lead pigs must be packaged separately from other waste.
• Dry solid waste should be transported in bags strong enough to prevent any splitting. These bags should be closed and labeled with what isotopes are in the bags.
• If multiple bags are utilized, each bag should be labeled with the isotope, control number, and activity inside each of the bags.

Scintillation Vials:

• Scintillation vials can be disposed in their original shipping trays or bagged separately from the solid waste.
• Scintillation vials should be segregated by isotope.
• If the vials are in plastic bags, the bags should not be overloaded so they may be lifted and transported without splitting open. Utilize double bags or extra heavy duty bags as necessary. The bags should be labeled with the isotope inside the bags.
• Radiation Safety will accept no more than 10 trays of scintillation vials (~1000 vials) during any one waste appointment.

Liquid Waste:

• Radiation Safety will accept no more than 20 liters of liquid waste during any one waste appointment with no more than 8 liters in any one container.
• If glass bottles are utilized for disposal purposes, they must be transported in protective holders. Lids to the liquid waste containers should be tightly closed.
• Bleach should be added to liquid containers prior to disposal.
• Scintillation fluors and other organic solvents must be kept separate from water-soluble liquids.
• Be prepared to provide the total activity of 3H, 32P, 35S, or 125I liquid waste when filling out your RedCap form.

Biological Waste:

• Animal carcasses and other biological wastes should be frozen prior to disposal (whenever possible) and packaged separately from other solid wastes. Additionally, animal carcasses containing 3H and 14C must be segregated from carcasses containing other isotopes.

Uranyl Compounds:

• Attached to any bag of solid waste, any jug of liquid waste and any glass bottles of stock material, the container must have a Hazardous Material – Uranyl Compound label attached. 
• For any liquid uranyl compound waste the “ph” must be determined and indicated on the label.  If the label is not correctly completed, the waste will not be accepted.