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ST 4.3 –
Gestión de residuos radiactivos
SAFE MANAGEMENT OF SMOKE DETECTORS CONTAINING
RADIOACTIVE SOURCES
Salgado, Mercedes
1
; Berdellans, Ania
1
*; Benítez, Juan
1
; Castillo, R. A.
1
;
Hernández, J. M.
1
; Pirez, Carlos
2
; Soto, Pedro
2
1
CPHR. Cuba.
2
Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (CNEA). Argentina.
* Responsible author, email: a.berdellans@gmail.com
Ionic smoke detectors contain radioactive sources that could be Am-241, Pu-238, Pu-239,
Kr-85, etc. According to Cuban regulations (Resolution 96 /2003 of the Minister of Science
Technology and Environment), smoke detectors, once become disused, should be managed as
radioactive waste. For this reason, disused smoke detectors should be transferred to the Centre
for Radiation Protection and Hygiene, the organization responsible for radioactive waste
management in the country. More than 20 000 smoke detectors have been collected by the
CPHR and stored at the Centralized Waste Management Facility. There are 28 different models
of smoke detectors of different origin. They contain between 18 – 37 kBq of Am-241 or between
0.37 - 37 MBq of Plutonium or around 37 MBq of Kr-85. The safe management of ionic smoke
detectors consists in dismantling the devices, recovering the radioactive sources and
conditioning them for long term storage and disposal. The rest of non-radioactive materials
should be segregated (plastic, metal and electronic components) for recycling. A technical
manual was developed with specific instructions for dismantling each model of smoke detector
and recovering the radioactive sources. Instructions for segregation of non-radioactive
components are also included in the manual. Most of smoke detectors contain long lived
radioactive sources (Am-241, Pu-238, Pu-239), so especial attention was given to the
management of these sources. A methodology was developed for conditioning of radioactive
sources, consisting in encapsulating them for long term storage. The retrievability of the sources
(sealed capsules with radioactive sources) for future disposal was also considered. A
documented procedure was elaborated for these operations. These activities were carried out
within the framework of a Bilateral Collaboration Project between the Centre for Radiation
Protection and Hygiene of Cuba and the Atomic Centre Ezeiza from the National Commission of
Atomic Energy of Argentina.