IEER SDA Vol. 6 No. 1

SDA Vol. 6 No. 1 Centerfold:
Table 2.

NRC Limits Defining
Class A, B, and C Low-Level Waste
(curies per cubic meter)

Half-life (years)
Class A
Class B
Class C
A. "Long-lived radionuclides"
Carbon-14 5,700 0.8
N/A
8.0
Carbon-14 in activated metal 5,700 8.0
N/A
80.0
Nickel-59 in activated metal 75,000 22.0
N/A
220.0
Niobium-94 in activated metal 30,300 0.02
N/A
0.2
Technetium-99 213,000 0.3
N/A
3.0
Iodine-129 15.7 million 0.008
N/A
0.08
Alpha-emitting transuranics with half-lives greater than 5 years - 10.0*
N/A
100*
Plutonium-241 14 350.0*
N/A
3,500*
Curium-242 163 days 2,000*
N/A
20,000*
B. "Short-lived radionuclides"
Tritium 12.3 40
no limit**
no limit**
Cobalt-60 5.3 700
no limit**
no limit**
Nickel-63 100.1 3.5
70
700
Nickel-63 in activated metal 100.1 35
700
7,000
Strontium-90 28.5 0.04
150
7,000
Cesium-137 30 1
44
4,600
Total of all nuclides with less than 5-yr. half-life - 700
no limit**
no limit**
Source: NRC 1988 (10 CFR Part 61.55).
* Units are nanocuries per gram. (Note that Pu-241 and Cm-242 have long-lived decay products. Quantities given decay to approximately 100 nanocuries per gram of Am-241 and Pu-238, respectively.)
** There are no limits established for these elements in Class B or C wastes. If waste is contaminated with these radionuclides in concentrations greater than their Class A limits, the waste is Class B, unless the concentrations of other radionuclides determine the waste to be Class C or above, independent of these nuclides.

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October, 1997