Challenges of radionuclide deportment in the oil and gas industry

Full text: Within the Oil and Gas industry, Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) can be a radiation hazard during operations but can be more significant particularly during maintenance work and the management of wastes. Understanding the deportment of radionuclides within infrastructure during normal operations, during maintenance periods and during decommissioning can have an impact on radiation safety measures implemented. This paper discusses the most commonly observed deportment of radionuclides in both offshore and terrestrial oil and gas facilities, monitoring techniques used and some of the common traps that can be encountered. Less common scenarios that impact radiation readings are also discussed. The paper also covers the problems with waste management and the characterisation of decommissioned components. (author)