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ORF Home > Environmental Protection > Waste Disposal > Radioactive Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention Guidance

Radioactive Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention Guidance

  • ​Select reagents and procedures that minimize the volume and toxicity of all  wastes. If feasible, design experiments in such a way that radioactive wastes are generated separately from chemically or biologically hazardous wastes  
  • Avoid ordering radioactive materials in quantities that exceed your intended usage
  • Non-radioactive wastes must never be mixed with radioactive wastes.  Failure to do this significantly increases the volume of wastes
  • Non-radioactive tracers and methods are available for many common assays, and procedures used in biomedical
  • Substitute with Short-lived Radionuclides where feasible
  • Reduce the activity and volumes of materials used in the experiment to decrease the amount of wastes generated
  • Replace hazardous chemical solvents with formulations not regulated as hazardous or mixed wastes
  • Limit the number of users of radioactive materials
  • Limit the number of areas where radioactive materials are used 

NIH Policy Manual 3032 ​
NIH policy on environmental management  and waste minimization​        

For more information about radioactive waste please contact the Division of Safety at (301)496-2960.​

NIH Environmental Management System (NEMS) PDF
A management tool to help improve environmental performance and provide information on the NIH Goes Greener Campaign

 

 

 

 
This page was last updated on Jun 02, 2026