Patent Number: 043575412
Section: summary

The present invention relates to an apparatus for the temporary radiation-protected reception of radioactive waste of relatively short half-life. Radioactive isotopes which have a relatively short half-life of, for instance, a few hours are frequently used as indicators for diagnostic purposes in hospitals and other medical establishments. At present, 99m-Tc and 113-In are in particular use, in addition to 18-F, 123-I and 132-I. Such isotopes are generally administered by means of disposable hypodermics which contain a solution containing the corresponding isotopes. For reasons of environmental protection, the hypodermics used and other materials possibly employed, such as cotton pads, etc., which come into contact with the radioactive solution, may not simply be placed in ordinary rubbish; rather, they must be stored with radiation protection until the radioactivity fades to a safe level, over the period of a few days to a week. If radiation-protected containers are set up for the radioactive wastes of the said type which are produced each day, then the waste-filled containers must be emptied each day or replaced by an empty container, and the waste which has accumulated or the filled containers must be stored in safe manner for the required decay time, with strict monitoring of the date on which the waste was produced. This is annoying and results in a considerable loss of time. Furthermore, there is the danger that, despite the monitoring, new radioactive wastes may enter into containers in which waste has already been present for a few days or that containers will be emptied prematurely into the general rubbish. The object of the present invention is to create an apparatus for the temporary radiation-protected reception of radioactive wastes of relatively short half-life, which makes it possible, in a simple manner and without a large amount of time or space being required, to separate the periodically produced radioactive waste in accordance with the time of its origination, store it with radiation protection without further manipulation for the required period of time, and thereupon collect it for normal removal. In order to achieve this object, the invention comprises a plurality of vertical tubes, each adapted to receive a bag. The tubes are regularly spaced about the periphery of an assembled unit which is rotatable about a central vertical axis. The assembly is in a completely enclosed housing having a radiation protection jacket. A bottom plate of the housing prevents the bags from falling out of the tubes. The bottom plate and a top cover plate of the housing are each provided with an opening corresponding to the cross-sectional area of one tube. The opening of the top plate is adapted to be closed by a radiation protection lid. A reception container for the bag is adapted to be placed below the opening of the bottom plate. The openings in the top and bottom plates are offset so that when one of the tubes in the peripheral row is below the opening of the top plate, the last tube in the direction of rotation from said one tube is above the opening in the bottom plate. Maintenance of the apparatus of the invention is thus limited to turning the arrangement of tubes in the direction of rotation through the angle between two adjacent tubes, for instance at the end of each workday or at the start of the following workday and at the same time inserting a bag into the empty tube which now appears under the opening of the top plate. Upon this further rotation, the waste-filled bag in the tube, which is furthest away in the direction of rotation from the accessible tube, automatically drops through the opening of the bottom plate into the reception container for radioactive unobjectionable waste after it has spent the required period of time in radiation-protected position as a result of the individual daily rotations through the said angle.