TITLE: Waste Disposal of Radioactive Materials

TYPE: DepartmentFINAL APPROVER: Administrative Director; Medical Director; Radiation Safety Officer; Alliance Medical Physicists

PRIMARY REVIEWER: PI Coordinator COLLABORATORS/DEPARTMENTS: Imaging P&P Committee, Nuclear Cardiology

PURPOSE: In order to protect personnel and the public from unnecessary exposure from radiation contamination the Nuclear Medicine Department will implement the following policy.

A. Each used unit dose syringe is placed in the lead “pig” it arrived in and these “pigs” will be returned to the nuclear pharmacy the following day.

[B.] All contaminated wipes, vials, syringes or other radioactive waste will be placed in a lead trash container, stored in the “hot lab”, and monitored until the reading reaches background level (10 half-lives)l. It will then be recorded in the appropriate logbook.

B.[C.] All used needles and syringes (non-radioactive) are to be placed into a sharps container when 2/3 full it is sealed and taken to the dirty utility room for disposal by housekeeping staff.

C.[D.] If adjustments are made to a dose due to an earlier injection than the calibration time, the excess will be stored in the leaded trash container until background level (10 half-lives) is reached.

D.[E.] All records of radioactive waste disposal will be recorded in the appropriate log book for review. The entry will include:

a. Container number in sequenceb. Date disposed c. MR/hrd. Date container released to general trashe. MR/hr recorded when released to general trash (must be background level)f. Signature of person storing and disposing of material

REFERENCE: MM.03.01.01, MM.03.01.03, MM.03.01.05FILE: NM-001

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