Conditioning of disused Ra-226 radioactive sealed sources in Egypt

Hot Labs & Waste Management Center, Atomic Energy Authority, 3 Ahmed El-Zomor St., El-Zohour District, Naser City, 11787, Cairo, Egypt

^a yasser202000@yahoo.com

Received: 11 August 2013
Accepted: 22 April 2014

Abstract

The present work describes the technical information on issues associated with the management of disused Ra-226 radioactive sources. The different settings needed to condition these sources in stainless steel capsules, working area setup, packaging preparation, Ra-226 source characterization, capsule welding, leakage test and data information are completely described. The radium sources addressed in the present work are mainly those which have been used in medicine and for industrial applications, in the form of sealed radiation sources. In Egypt hospitals are among the largest users of sealed radium radioactive sources which are mostly used for brachytherapy. The inventory of radium sources in large hospitals could be in the hundreds. There is a real risk that sources may be lost or mishandled, if very restricted procedures are not followed. An additional problem with these sources is that they are often leaking, due to internal overpressure. The small size of the sources, portability and high apparent value (due to the materials of encapsulation) increase the risk of theft.