Experience in the management of disused lightning rods containing sup(241)Am in a Research Institute in Brazil

Abstract

Radioactive lightning rods (RLR) were manufactured and installed in Brazil for almost two decades, before they were prohibited in 1989. Structures protected by this type of lightning preventers included residential buildings, schools, commercial and industrial facilities, among others. It is estimated that about 3.4 TBq of 241Am were used by manufacturers, and a total of 75,000 pieces with a mean activity of about 46 MBq were in the market. While only a fraction of the total has been recovered, the almost twenty thousand pieces already collected at the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute (IPEN) had their sources successfully separated from the remaining recyclable metal scrap and are now encapsulated in lead containers for final disposal.