This document addresses aspects of management of solid biomedical radioactive waste from its generation in nuclear medicine facilities to final clearance and disposal, as well as the manner to establish an effective program for biomedical radioactive waste management.


Liquid and gaseous wastes are excluded from the scope of the document, but solid waste includes spent and surplus solutions of radionuclides contained in vials, tubes or syringes. Therefore, this document should be useful for any nuclear medicine facilities dealing with in vivo medical applications of radionuclides and consequently with the waste associated with such applications.


This document provides a list of the main radionuclides used in nuclear medicine facilities and their main physical characteristics, as well as the guidance to write a radioactive waste management program for their sorting, collection, packaging and labelling, radioactivity surveys and decay storage, clearance levels, and transportation, if necessary, until their ultimate disposal or discharge. This document may also be useful as guidance for regulatory bodies.