방사성동위원소인 코발트-60의 폐기 = Disposal of Cobalt-60 Radioisotope

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The Cobalt-60(^(60)Co) teletherapy unit of our hospital was installed in 1976 that was he first unit of the megavoltage radiotherapy within the Ho-Nam area. At the time of installation, the source head was shipped from the factory with the ^(60)Co source already installed in the treatment head. The Cobalt head shipping box had been considered as the package for the carriage of radioactive material. The source head arrived sealed and the average leakage radiation in the OFF position did not exceed 2 mr/hour at a distance of one meter from the source when measured as recommended in NCRP (National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements) Report No. 33. In 1997, the decision to purchase the linear accelerator was made and the space for installation of the linear accelerator was to be the treatment room of ^(60)Co teletherapy unit. It was necessary to dispose the ^(60)Co teletherapy unit out of our hospital or to move and use it for the blood irradiation or experimental study. With many reasons the ^(60)Co teletherapy unit had to be disposed.
The disposal of ^(60)Co was the most important for the disposal of ^(60)Co teletherapy unit. The ^(60)Co has the high radioactivity and is special radioisotope in aspect of radiation safety. We inquired how to dispose it and got the help from the radiation safety-related organizations. We started the disposal of ^(60)Co with the Nuclear Light IND. CO., LTD in August 1, 1997. The source head could be used for the carriage of ^(60)Co and the container for the carriage of source head with ^(60)Co was made to satisfy the criteria about radiation safety. The container with source head was transported to the KEPCO (Korea Electric Power Company), and accepted for the storage there. Therefore the disposal of ^(60)Co was finished in August 22, 1997.