Cost-Effectively Addressing NORM and TENORM

In this issue of The SCAffold, SC&A is proud to bring you this piece by guest contributor Cory Cook , SC&A Field Operations Manager. Cory regularly contributes to projects in a variety of environmental fields, including air quality, waste management, radiological remediation, and drinking water quality. He is experienced in the python programming language and the geospatial programs ArcGIS and QGIS. Cory is also familiar with the database systems and querying languages of SQL Server and PostgreSQL. His experience also includes soil sample management, regulatory data deliverable development, sample plan development according to Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual (MARSSIM) guidelines utilizing Visual Sample Plan (VSP), and radiation detection instrumentation.?

Many of SC&A’s radiological characterization and remediation activities are conducted across sites that have previously or are currently engaged in industrial activities. For these commercial sites, the impacts are not typically incurred due to mishandling of radioactive waste, rather, radionuclides accumulate over time as nominal site processes handle minerals and raw materials containing naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM). NORM may then collect in effluent holding ponds, waste pits, or other waste management infrastructure, creating pockets of technologically enhanced NORM (TENORM). When an operation is terminated or the site use is changed, appropriate characterization of the potential impacts from the prior operation must be undertaken to protect the future occupants of the site.?

SC&A is committed to protecting the health of workers and the public where there is potential impact in a cost-effective manner. For instance, regulatory requirements for the dose a person receives while occupying a site corresponds to radioactive?material concentrations that?vary based on the site’s intended use. In the case of redevelopment for residential use, the dose-based concentration limits are often established at near-background levels, making it difficult to distinguish contamination from the NORM present in the regional geology. For these sites, the margin for distinguishing impacted soils from undisturbed natural background can be extremely narrow, resulting in increased potential for the unnecessary and costly removal of nonimpacted soils from the site.?

At the same time, clear evidence must be provided that the site is in compliance. SC&A repeatedly meets these challenges to the satisfaction of clients and regulators alike through application of the MARSSIM-based approach to site characterization and remedial activities using advanced field measurement capabilities. Efforts to distinguish between low-level impacts and the natural background begins with a thorough understanding of the site history and appropriate scoping of expected areas of contamination. SC&A compiles this information and generates an optimized sample plan through PNNL’s Visual Sample Plan software. To characterize sites in real-time, SC&A correlates field radiation screening activities with analyte-specific gamma-spectrometry analyses. This correlation enables characterization decisions to be made on a basis approaching real time rather than have extended lag periods while awaiting laboratory results. Additionally, SC&A supplements surface soil sampling with GPS-based surveys to further characterize the horizontal distribution of radionuclides at the site and confirms vertical impact extents through subsurface soil sampling and downhole surveys of boreholes generated during sample collection activities. The combination of these methods allows for the development of a comprehensive 3-dimensional site model capable of distinguishing low-level impacts from natural background radiation.?

Understanding that radiological contamination has the potential to impact future generations, SC&A’s team of health physics professionals strive to provide regulators with clear evidence of compliance with established dose limits in a cost-effective and timely manner.??

Learn more about SC&A's radiological expertise.

Copyright 2025 SC&A, Inc., all rights reserved.