[en] This is a book review of The Health Physics and Radiological Health Handbook. The author discusses the highlights of this near-encyclopedic compendium on Health Physics. He stresses that in spite of an abundance of typographical errors, that it is a very good and complete reference tool

[en] Research efforts were designed to examine the feasibility of a centralized processing facility for low level radioactive waste materials. The scope of the proposed facility was to provide a regional commercial processing service to medicine and biomedical research institutions who are unable to perform waste processing or treatment for themselves. The results of a literature search has provided an extensive description of low level wastes on a national basis. Sufficient information is now available concerning waste types, physical and chemical forms, radionuclide types and quantities, and volumes on a regional basis to support the operation of a reprocessing facility. Specifically, the total low level biomedical waste volume generated in the US during 1980 was approximately 660,000 cu ft. Commercial reprocessing operations which could handle approximately 81% of this volume and achieve a gross effective volume reduction ratio of 4 to 1 (including materials totally disposed of by the reprocessor) would be supported by a 15 million dollar annual industry. New technologies exist which are not currently used in commercial operations. There is an excellent potential for their use to provide an increase in the volume reduction rates on a cost effective basis. Current volume reduction rates of 3-5:1 could be increased to 10:1

[en] The annual quantities and types of radioactive materials released from three operating nuclear electric generating facilities and a nuclear fuels-reprocessing facility are presented and discussed. The period of interest spans the years 1969 to 1972 with some additional data for those facilities operating before 1969. Release quantities have been well controlled, considering the nature and vintage of the operations. Presented are the results of environmental surveillance relying most heavily on the activities of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Observations at Indian Point 1 and at Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., have led to the discovery of several facility-related radioisotopes in environmental media. These two facilities are of comparatively early vintage, have produced slightly larger amounts of waste materials, and have been the subject of more comprehensive studies than others in the state. Dose consequences to hypothetical persons and to populations within 50 miles of the facilities are addressed. It should be stressed that all individual doses presented are hypothetical. Doses via the drinking-water and cow's-milk pathways are particularly conservative. In each case these hypothetical doses are at least an order of magnitude or more greater than the known worst case. No excessive exposure levels are known to have existed. All operations resulted in postulated exposure levels well within applicable regulations or guidelines generally being a small percentage of these values. Population doses have been surprisingly consistent through the period of interest. They are insignificant in comparison to the dose to the population of the state from natural or medical sources. (U.S.)

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