API PUBL 7103:1997 pdf download.Management and Disposal Alternatives for Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) Wastes in Oil Production and Gas Plant Equipment.
Natural radioactivity occurring at trace concentrations in oil and gas production streams occasionally accumulates as scale or sludge in tubing and in surface equipment to exceed background levels. Since the radioactivity is generally low and of natural origin, its accumulation and significance were not noted and studied until recent.ly.” The American Petroleum Institute (API) has subsequently sponsored studies to characterize accumulations of naturally-occurring radioactivity in oil-field equipment, and to determine safe methods for their disposal. This report presents the analyses of disposal methods for naturally-occurring radioactive materials (NORM) from oil and gas production. It builds on results of a previous safety analysis of disposal methods for NORM wastes in Texas, including a broader range of petroleum industry wastes, more detailed characterization, and covering a broader range of disposal alternatives.
Understanding the radiological safety of NORM waste disposal alternatives is vital to waste management and disposal decisions. Priorities in these decisions are to protect against harmful radiation exposures and to accomplish the disposal in a practical manner proportionate to any hazards posed by the NORM. Since radiation exposures depend on both the quantity of NORM and on its isolation, disposal safety depends on both the waste characteristics and the disposal method.
NORM concentrations vary from background levels to levels exceeding those of some uranium mill tailings, suggesting a similarly broad range of suitable disposal alternatives. Disposal of wastes containing NORM clearly does not require precautions for common cases in which NORM occun at background levels. When elevated occurrences are found, their disposal should be handled in a way that protects against significant radiation exposure. The disposal problem is compounded by the lack of standards for pertinent alternative disposal methods or for defining the precautions needed for different kinds of NORM. Although detailed regulations provide for disposal of radioactive wastes that clearly pose health risks, there is less guidance on the disposal of wastes contining NORM with elevated radionudjde concentrations. As a result, some wastes containing extremely small amounts of NORM are occasionally sent to elaborate disposal sites at extremely high costs. was ting money. ma.npower and resources.
This report addresses the problem of what can be done with residues and equipment containing elevated NORM. It systematically identifies the maximum quantities or concentrations of NORM that can utilize various disposal alternatives, implemented at either arid or humid sites.
API PUBL 7103:1997 pdf download
