*image for conceptual reference only

Overly conservative results can significantly increase the costs associated with packaging, transporting, and disposing of the waste. Current methods for characterizing low-level radioactive waste rely on rough approximations that often lead to overly conservative results. To reduce cost and determine disposition alternatives, more accurate methods are necessary. The current regulatory guidance for characterizing Dry Active Waste (DAW) is hardly representative and the inaccuracies of this method are compounded by the practice of compositing the swipes over time prior to analysis. This leads to an underestimation of short-lived radionuclides, which are typically found in low-level radioactive waste (LLRW).  When dose-to-curie conversion techniques are utilized and hard-to-detect radionuclides are estimated using scaling factors relative to Co-60 or Cs-137, underestimating the short-lived gamma emitters results in an overestimation of the hard-to-detect radionuclides, as well as Co-60 and Cs-137, since the majority of the dose rate is attributable to these two radionuclides. Reliable and efficient real-time radionuclide concentration data is crucial during the processing of nuclear waste at commercial power plants.