Citation

Barish RJ. Health Phys. 2006; 91(5 Suppl): S74-7.

Affiliation

In-Flight Radiation Protection Services, Inc., 211 E. 70th St., Ste. 12G, New York, NY 10021, USA. robbarish@verizon.net

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Health Physics Society, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/01.HP.0000234041.33370.c3

PMID

17023802

Abstract

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (U.S. NRC) will soon publish a proposed amendment to its rules that will classify the naturally occurring isotope Ra as "byproduct material" subject to its regulatory control. One of the uses of radium in the first half of the twentieth century was as a source of energy that would make certain consumer products "glow in the dark." In addition to wristwatches and other timepieces, this form of self-luminescence was widely used on aircraft instruments. There have been a number of facilities where large numbers of such instruments were stored and leakage of this isotope occurred. Subsequent decontamination of these areas, including expensive disposal of the radioactive waste, was required. We were asked to evaluate the potential hazards of aircraft and aircraft instruments at a museum in New York City, specifically the decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Intrepid. We present the results of our investigation and discuss the implications as they relate to the proposed new U.S. NRC regulations and compatibility issues with State regulations.

Language: en