Building is erected in Amazon Rainforest for storing radioactive material

The National Institute of Amazonian Research (“Inpa”) inaugurated on Tuesday (Apr. 22) in Manaus the first building in northern Brazil designed to store both radioactive waste and equipment emitting ionizing radiation, used in research by the institute.

Radioactive waste includes materials produced in hospitals, nuclear plants and research centers. After use, they cannot be disposed of as ordinary garbage, but they can occasionally be recycled.

According to Inpa, the Building for the Storage of Radioactive Material, which cost nearly $200 thousand, will work as a powerful tool in the hands of researchers, and will provide the safe stowage of this material for the time necessary to protect people as well as the environment.

The facilities are in compliance with both national and international norms, like those from the National Nuclear Energy Commission (“Cnen”) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Inpa further notes that the building has its own architecture, with specific wall widths, rounded corners, floor resistant to seeping, and special paint.

Inpa also announced that its laboratories will be referred to as Cnen-licensed Radioactive Facilities and will operate as generators of radioactive waste. The waste will be appropriately packed according the type of emission of each radioactive particle, identified, and sent to the Building for the Storage of Radioactive Material.

The facilities are expected to become fully operational in the second half of this year, as the purchase of equipment is still in its licensing phase. When the waste stored in the building reaches a certain level, they will be sent to a deposit with Cnen's authorization. In Brazil, authorized radioactive waste deposits can be found in the cities of Recife, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira