Lessons learned in decommissioning medical facilities

In decommissioning medical research buildings at this institution, most areas surveyed were not contaminated above NRC 1993 release limits. Most contamination found was fixed. Wipe tests were inefficient at assessing removable contamination. An initial approach to surveying such a facility should begin with limited sampling emphasizing fixed contamination detection. Recent NRC guidance on decommissioning suggests that the requirements are becoming less stringent for medical facilities. This seems to support our limited decommissioning survey strategy for medical research buildings where radioisotopes have been used.