TENORM is an acronym for technologically enhanced, naturally
occurring radioactive materials. It refers to certain radionuclides
that are naturally present in rocks, soils, and minerals and that
human industrial activities have concentrated or exposed to the
accessible environment.
No, it's a new way to look at a series of existing problems.
Over the past 20 years, EPA and other environmental organizations
have identified an array of materials that present a radiation
hazard to people and the environment. Many of these materials
were products or by-products of manufacturing, water treatment,
or mining operations--that is to say products of some "human
activity." Over time, environmental organizations began to
consider this collection of individual problems as part of a single,
larger, and more complex problem, which came to be known as "TENORM".
TENORM can be found in all 50 states -- anywhere industrial processes
(such as mining) that generate it take place. For example, most
uranium mining has occured west of the Mississippi in states such
as Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. The
production of phosphate for fertilizer and associated TENORM waste
is predominately in the southeastern U.S. (especially Florida
and North Carolina), but also includes some Western states such
as Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming. TENORM waste from oil and
gas production is of greatest concern in the Gulf States, upper
Midwest, and some Appalachian states. Also, geothermal energy
production in the states of California and Hawaii is known to
generate radioactive TENORM wastes.
TENORM is generated by certain industrial activities, such as
mining, fertilizer production, and oil and gas production. Trace
amounts of TENORM may be found in some consumer products when
certain minerals are used in the manufacturing process.
The total annual generation of TENORM wastes in the United States
may be in excess of 1 billion tons. In many cases, the levels
of radiation are relatively low compared to the large volume of
material. Managing this waste presents a delimma. The cost of
disposing of radioactive waste is very high, while in many cases,
the value of the product separated from the TENORM is relatively
low. In addition, relatively few landfills or other licensed disposal
locations can accept radioactive waste. As a result, large
quantities of TENORM wastes remain at many of the thousands of
pre-1970s abandoned mine sites and processing facilities around
the nation.
Radium-226 is the principal source of human exposure to radiation
from natural surroundings. It is a decay product of uranium and
thorium and has a half-life
of 1600 years.
Radium-226 is commonly found in TENORM materials and wastes.
Concentrations in TENORM materials range from undetectable amounts
to as much as several hundred thousand picocuries
per gram (pCi/g). Typical concentrations in US soils range from
less than 1 to slightly more than 4 picocuries per gram.
