125I aqueous waste volume reduction at a pharmaceutical research laboratory

A wide variety of radioactive waste is generated by pharmaceutical research. One particularly high volume low specific activity waste stream produced by a research and development facility is aqueous 125I waste. This waste is generally held for decay and released to the sanitary sewer when the activity is low enough to ensure that concentrations are well below the appropriate regulatory limits. However, the large volume of this particular waste stream rapidly exhausted available space to store it for decay. This study investigated safe, inexpensive, and efficient methods for removing 125I from the aqueous waste, with the goal of implementing a practical process for concentrating the activity and thus reducing the stored volume. The implemented treatment (volume reduction) process used commercially available low cost activated carbon/particulate filters and inexpensive resin beds manufactured in-house. The much smaller volumes of spent filters and resin beds are then held for decay and eventual incineration. This technique has proven an effective means for managing this high volume waste stream.