Reduction in Radioactive Material Use and Waste Generation at the National Institutes of Health

Abstract

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has implemented an enhanced and comprehensive program to reduce the use of radioactive materials and to minimize the generation of radioactive and mixed wastes. The primary drivers for this program were increasing waste management costs, difficulties in disposing of certain types of radioactive wastes, particularly mixed wastes, and the increasing burden of managing radioactive materials in accordance with new regulatory requirements. These minimization efforts, coupled with the development of new on-site waste treatment options and the use of commercially available waste processing facilities, have resulted in significant reductions in the use of radioactive materials in bench research and the resultant amounts of radioactive and mixed waste generated and disposed off-site. A survey of users of radioactive materials was conducted to examine the reasons for this reduction and to predict future ordering trends. The primary factors contributing to reductions in ordering appear to be rapidly increasing use of non-radioactive research techniques, and increasingly burdensome safety and security regulations governing the use of radioactive material, which tend to discourage their use. The downward trends in use and disposal of radioactive materials at the NIH appear to be continuing.