API 7103 : 1997

Executive Summary
1 Introduction
1.1 Origin and nature of NORM
1.2 Precedent for unregulated disposal options
2 Waste characteristics affecting NORM disposal
2.1 Sludges
2.2 Scales
2.3 Production equipment
2.4 Gas-plant equipment
3 Waste disposal alternatives
3.1 Disposal of solid residues
3.1.1 Landspreading
3.1.2 Landspreading with dilution
3.1.3 Non-retrieval of surface pipe
3.1.4 Burial with unrestricted site use
3.1.5 Disposal at a commercial oil field waste site
3.1 6 Disposal at a licensed NORM waste disposal site
3.1.7 Disposal at a licensed low-level radioactive waste
       disposal site
3.1.8 Burial in surface mines
3.1.9 Plugged and abandoned wells
3.1.10 Well injection
3.1.11 Hydraulic fracturing
3.1.12 Injection into salt domes
3.2 Alternatives for equipment containing NORM
3.2.1 Release for general use
3.2.2 Release for re-use within the petroleum industry
3.2.3 Storage in an oil-field equipment yard
3.2.4 Release to a smelter
3.2.5 Burial with NORM sludges and scales
4 Radiation exposure limits and pathways
4.1 Radiation exposure limits
4.2 Radon inhalation pathway
4.3 External gamma exposures
4.4 Groundwater pathway
4.5 Surface water pathway
4.6 NORM dust inhalation
4.7 Food pathway
4.8 Skin dose from NORM particles
5 NORM concentration limits for disposal
5.1 Concentration limits for NORM disposal
5.1.1 Limits for landspreading
5.1.2 Limits for landspreading with dilution
5.1.3 Limits for non-retrieved surface pipe
5.1.4 Limits for burial with unrestricted site use
5.1.5 Limits for burial in a commercial oil-field waste site
5.1.6 Limits for small amounts of NORM
5.1.7 Limits for landspreading with cover
5.1.8 Limits for disposal at a commercial NORM facility
5.1.9 Limits for a commercial LLW disposal facility
5.1.10 Limits for surface mine disposal
5.1.11 Plugged and abandoned wells
5.1.12 Limits for well injection
5.1.13 Limits for hydraulic fracturing
5.1.14 Limits for salt dome disposal
5.2 Limits for equipment disposition alternatives
5.2.1 Smelter
5.2.2 NORM storage yard
5.2.3 Equipment re-use in a dwelling
Appendix - Radium source and lead-210 source concentration limits
for all waste forms, site characteristics, disposal alternatives, and
exposure pathways
References
List of Figures
1-1 Principle nuclides, decay modes, and mobilities of the
       Uranium-233 and Thorium-232 decay series
1-2 Determination of nuclide concentration limits for NORM
       disposal
3-1 Comparison of isolation provided by NORM disposal alternatives
4-1 Illustration of radon and groundwater exposure pathways
4-2 Illustration of external gamma, dust inhalation, surface
       water and food consumption pathways
5-1 Radium concentration limits as a function of waste
       thickness for the landspreading option
5-2 Radium concentration limits as a function of application
       density for the landspreading with dilution option
5-3 Radium concentration limits as a function of cover thickness
       for waste burial
5-4 Radium concentration limits as a function of cover thickness
       for oil industry waste disposal facility
5-5 Radium concentration multipliers for small-quantity
       small-area NORM disposal, as limited by randon accumulation
       and by gamma exposures
5-6 Multiplier factors for radium concentration limits after
       dilution by varying thicknesses of soil cover
List of Tables
4-1 Pathway parameters that depend on geohydrological conditions
4-2 Radiation concentration and exposure limits
4-3 Nuclide dose factors
4-4 Inhaled dust concentrations and exposure times
5-1 Radium source concentration limits for disposal at a humid
       permeable site
5-2 Radium source concentration limits for disposal at an arid
       permeable site
5-3 Lead-210 source concentration limits for waste disposal
5-4 Radium and Pb-210 concentration limits for equipment
       disposition alternatives
5-5 Maximum radium concentrations from smelting

Gives radiological analyses of disposal alternatives that will protect against elevated radiation exposures and facilitate cost-effective precautions that are proportionate to any hazards posed by the NORM.