A wide range of industrial operations produce wastes and residues with increased levels of natural radionuclides. These include extraction of rare earth elements; production and use of thorium and its compounds; production of niobium and ferroniobium; mining of ores other than uranium; production of oil and gas; the zircon and zirconia industries; manufacture of titanium dioxide pigment; the phosphate industry; production of iron and steel, tin, copper, aluminum, zinc and lead; combustion of coal; and water treatment.
Malaysia, for example, does not have a nuclear power plant, but faces issues regarding ionizing radiation as a result from the operation of a NORM related industry. “There is a lack of homogeneity and consistency in dealing with NORM by the various industries in different parts of the world. Developing countries are looking up to the more developed countries for case reference,” said Ismail Bahari, General Manager of Radiation Safety, Regulations and Compliance at Malaysia-based Lynas, the world’s second largest rare earths producer. “Unfortunately, there are diverse and conflicting opinions on allowable practices and unallowable practices when dealing with NORM, especially NORM wastes, among the developed countries.”
Marcelo Valinhas of Brazil’s state-owned Oil Company Petrobras said that, with regard to residues from the oil and gas industry, integrating the requirements of different regulatory bodies could facilitate NORM management. “The controls are similar in terms of the use of individual protection equipment, project lifetime, protection of the public and the environment protection,” he said. “Technological development can improve NORM management, especially in measuring activity within the area of operation and not in the laboratory.”
In addition to operational issues, a NORM residue is not necessarily a waste: in many cases it can be recycled or used in other applications and there are many opportunities for the safe use of NORM residues as by‑products. Regardless of whether a NORM residue is recycled, used as a by-product or disposed of as waste, safety considerations are of high priority and must be in place. Given the variability of potential exposure of the public and workers to NORM, a graded approach is seen as the appropriate course of action to ensure proper consideration of safety requirements that commensurate the associated risks. This was also highlighted at the Ninth International Symposium on Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material held last year.
“International harmonization of NORM practices and management is making progress, with countries taking various approaches to NORM,” said Philip Egidi, Environmental Scientist at the US Environmental Protection Agency. “The biggest challenge to dealing with NORM is to keep it in proper perspective relative to other environmental and workplace hazards. People need not be scared of NORM, but they need to respect it.”
The IAEA NORM 2020 conference will feature a series of dedicated workshops that will address specific topics in different industrial operations such as mining and processing of ores, phosphogypsum management, groundwater treatment, NORM management in the oil and gas industry, radiation protection in NORM Industry and sampling and characterization of NORM residues and wastes.
“Non-nuclear industries increasingly recognize the benefits of paying due attention to the potential radiological issues in their operations. Some of them have put in place effective management practices that can be useful and inspiring for others,” said Mykolaichuk. “We hope that this conference will be a forum for different industries to share those practices and experiences and learn from each other.
