Radioactive Waste Disposal

To request a radioactive waste pick-up, you must submit a “Radioactive & Decayed Waste Disposal Request” on the Environmental Health & Safety page in iLab. One request form should be submitted per waste container. If there are multiple waste containers, a request will need to be submitted for each.

It is important to complete the request form in full to prevent delays in the pickup of your waste. Of particular importance is the Principal Investigators name, the location of the waste, the radioisotope and amount of activity, and the fund number to be charged for the pickup. Be sure to select the correct waste type on the request form. Once the request has been submitted, please print a copy of the request and tape it to the waste container so that EH&S can easily identify the waste come time for pick-up. 

Radiation Safety will receive the waste request once it is submitted in iLab. If everything is in order, the waste will be picked up within one week of receipt of the request. If the laboratory uses an EH&S provided 5-gallon metal waste container or a 10-gallon plastic waste container, an empty container will be left in place of the full container that is being picked up and removed. Before adding waste to a container, be sure that it is lined with a durable bag to ensure that the container’s interior does not get contaminated.

The EH&S Department provides a variety of sizes for waste containers including a 5 and 10-gallon container. In addition, EH&S also supplies decay storage service for a fee for laboratories who do not have the space to decay their radioactive waste. If you want EH&S to decay your radioactive waste, complete a waste request in iLab. It is strongly recommended that you do not store large amounts of radioactive waste in your laboratory. If you do store waste in your laboratory, P-32 waste should be placed in a Plexiglas waste container or behind plexiglass shielding, while large quantities of Cr-51 and I-125 should be placed behind lead shielding.