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Environmental Services
Oil and gas production and processing operations can cause naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM), often referred to as LSA (Low Specific Activity), to accumulate at elevated concentrations in production streams. The NORM forming in these streams is at levels which present a challenge to the oil and gas industry, particularly for compliance with the legislation governing waste disposals.
The primary radionuclides of concern are Radium and daughters and increasingly Lead-210, that originate from the decay of uranium and thorium naturally present in the subsurface formations from which oil and gas are produced. The wastes most likely to be contaminated with NORM include scale, sludge and produced water.
To ensure legislative compliance with the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 and the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999, we can provide fast, accurate data on the radioactivity of your samples. Using the latest Gamma Spectroscopy Instrumentation, we can report the activity for Radium and daughters, and Lead-210, with limits of detection as low as 0.02 Becquerel per gram allowing assessment of Total Activity of the samples. All our results are traceable to National Standards.
In addition we can determine other properties of NORM contaminated material including characterisation of scale samples, percentage water and hydrocarbons, giving you information you may need to satisfy the Special Waste Regulations 1996.