Waste identification, characterization and disposal during the D and D of a non-reactor nuclear facility

The principal health physics concern during the D and D of the New Brunswick Laboratory in New Jersey was assuring that no contaminated material was released for unrestricted use. The release criteria were based on removable and total contamination per 100 cm2 of surface area. To increase the odds of not missing contaminants, all surfaces were surveyed at least three times with three portable instruments having different detection characteristics. In addition, smears were accomplished to measure removable contamination. Detailed documentation was done for all surveys. The structures were dismantled rather than demolished. All objects above the contamination criteria were placed directly into shipping bins. Two major difficulties were assuring detection of alpha contamination under painted surfaces in the plutonium area and maintaining high sensitivity gas-flow proportional survey instruments. The project was completed in 7 months with an average of less that 12 people at a cost of less than 10 person-years. Less than 50 pages of procedures were sufficient to satisfactorily complete the effort. The D and D site was left in a stable condition. 5 references, 9 figures, 3 tables