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Medical isotopes the likely cause of radiation in Ottawa waste

Medical isotopes the likely cause of radiation in Ottawa waste, CBC Canada February 4, 2009

The sludge that was recently quarantined near the Canadian border tested positive for radiation because of the presence of a medical isotope, according to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

The biosolids, which were being transported from the Robert O. Pickard Environmental Centre in Ottawa for disposal in New York State, were turned away at the border last Thursday because the truckloads had registered low levels of radiation.

Since then, the sludge has been stored at Third High Farms, a waste storage facility Iroquois, Ont., and consultants have been called in to investigate.

The culprit appears to be the isotope iodine 131.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has said the isotope, which is used for medial procedures, is most likely the source of the radiation detected in the sludge.

The commission also said that the presence of medical isotopes in sludge is not unusual.

Medical isotopes the likely cause of radiation in Ottawa waste

Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, radioactive, uranium

February 5, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, environment, NORTH AMERICA