Day One - Main ConferenceWednesday, 21 October 2026

You are radioactive right now. So is your coffee, your granite countertop, and the person sitting next to you. Naturally occurring radioactive material — NORM — has been part of life on Earth since the planet cooled, and for most of human history nobody lost sleep over it. Then came the shale boom, the investigative journalists, and a collective media decision to use the word radioactive as a headline without ever mentioning how much radioactivity was actually involved.

This presentation traces twenty-five years of NORM coverage — from the radioactive filter socks illegally dumped in North Dakota, to radium in Pennsylvania waterways, to the Texas whistleblower whose jaw allegedly dissolved from drilling mud exposure on a site that later became an elementary school playground — and asks the question almost none of the original stories asked: compared to what?

Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of NORM's media history, practical tools for communicating radiation risk to general audiences, and a new appreciation for the banana — nature's most underused unit of radioactive measurement.

The Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors Part N working group finalized draft revisions to the suggested state regulations for licensure of NORM. The draft regulations are a stark departure from previous versions but should promote the regulatory flexibility required of states and stakeholders. This presentation will provide an overview of that regulatory framework, discuss feedback received from industry and where we go from here.

The N13.53 standard is intended to provide general guidance and normative criteria for the control and release of TENORM (e.g., U-238 series, Th-232 series, and K-40). The standard applies to industries or activities not already covered by existing regulations. Activities considered by the standard include mining and beneficiation of ores, processing ore materials, and feedstock used in manufacturing consumer and industrial products. Finally, the control of occupational exposures associated with TENORM is covered.

NORM/TENORM management in North America sits at the intersection of evolving regulation, operational risk, and legal exposure. This session brings together regulatory, legal, and compliance perspectives to examine recent state and federal developments, liability and litigation trends, and practical pathways to manage risk while maintaining workable, defensible compliance strategies for industry.

Key takeaways:

• Regulatory landscape—What’s changed and what’s coming:
• From regulation to liability:
  o Where compliance gaps turn into legal exposure
  o Worker, public, spill, and environmental liability considerations
  o Lessons learned from recent and legacy NORM/TENORM cases
• Understanding regulatory, operational, and reputational risk
• CERCLA, RCRA and radiation regulation—where they collide?
• Finding a reasonable path to compliance: Engaging regulators effectively

Explore the fundamentals of NORM in upstream operations, linking reservoir chemistry and brine composition to radium scale and sludge formation. Learn how to identify high‑risk assets, minimise scale at source, and balance treatment versus disposal. Gain practical strategies for regulatory compliance, operational safety, and cost control across asset lifecycles effectively.

Key takeaways:

• Reservoir chemistry and brine composition
• Factors driving radium scale and sludge formation
• Reducing scale build-up at source
• Treatment vs disposal decision-making and cost control

Explore FPSO decommissioning via case study, highlighting NORM management insights, examining lessons learned, emerging challenges and innovative approaches. Gain practical, cost‑effective strategies and best practices for safely removing NORM from contaminated pipes, equipment and FPSO units, improving compliance, efficiency and outcomes across offshore oil assets.

Key Takeaways:

• Early characterisation and inventory of NORM hotspots on FPSOs reduces scope creep and schedule risk.
• ALARA-based radiation protection, continuous monitoring and competent crews are essential for safe execution.
• Segregation at source and targeted decontamination significantly cut waste volumes and disposal costs.
• Integrate NORM tasks into P&A and topsides removal to avoid critical-path delays and overruns.

Record U.S. oil and gas production is driving a parallel surge in produced water volumes, while tighter disposal capacity, induced seismicity concerns, and increasing pressure to conserve freshwater are accelerating the need for safe, economic beneficial reuse.

This presentation will quantify the scale of the produced water challenge, outline the key NORM management considerations that can affect reuse pathways, and provide a focused update on emerging regulatory frameworks and industry initiatives shaping practical reuse options.

Downstream refineries and pipeline operations face elevated NORM and mixed wastes. Licensed contractors, surveyors and cleaners must navigate regulatory oversight, with higher disposal costs and litigation exposure than the production side.

Key takeaways:

• Elevated NORM and mixed waste are increasingly identified in downstream pipelines and refineries, often trickier to manage than on the production side.
• Regulatory oversight drives stringent handling, higher disposal costs and heightened litigation risk, especially for mixed wastes.
• Licensed surveyors and site-wide cleaning programmes are essential; major operators require comprehensive downstream compliance.
• Case studies impacting service providers and waste generators.

As global demand for these strategic resources intensifies amid energy transition initiatives, the industry faces distinctive radiological management challenges due to the frequent co-occurrence of thorium and uranium in rare earth deposits. Residual wastes containing NORM at mining and/or processing sites may require assessment, management and/ or control for long term rad and environmental protection purposes. This presentation covers the growing need of critical minerals, regulatory compliance and monitoring tools along with control of radiation exposure to workers and public environment from NORM associated with REE & minerals sector.

Key takeaways:

• Understanding how thorium and uranium concentrate across mining, beneficiation, and processing stages, and where NORM profiles typically emerge in residues, tailings, and process streams.
• Practical approaches to assessing and controlling NORM‑bearing wastes for long‑term radiological and environmental protection at operating and legacy sites.
• Navigating applicable mining, environmental, and radiation regulations for REE and critical minerals projects, including monitoring, reporting, and stakeholder engagement.
• Implementing fit‑for‑purpose monitoring tools and exposure controls to manage occupational and public radiation risk without compromising project viability or timelines.

Rare earth element processing concentrates naturally occurring radionuclides at specific stages, creating distinct radiological and exposure challenges. This technical deep dive walks through REE process streams to show where NORM accumulates, typical U‑238 and Th‑232 decay vectors, radon and thoron emission points, and the operational controls required to manage worker and off‑site dose effectively.

Key takeaways:

• Understanding how beneficiation, cracking, leaching, and separation steps drive radionuclide partitioning into solids, residues, and tailings.
• Typical U‑238, Th‑232 series and K‑40 signatures in REE ores and process streams, and how equilibrium and disequilibrium affect measurement and risk assessment.
• Identifying key emission points for Rn‑222, Rn‑220 (thoron) and contaminated dust, and their implications for occupational and off‑site dose modelling.
• Applying containment, ventilation, water balance, residue conditioning and materials handling controls to manage NORM, reduce releases, and meet regulatory expectations without constraining plant performance.

USGS critical minerals mapping provides a powerful spatial framework for understanding geological potential, co‑occurring hazards, and siting constraints. This case study demonstrates how USGS datasets are applied to evaluate project location, anticipate environmental and radiological considerations, and support early engagement with regulators and stakeholders—reducing uncertainty and downstream permitting and development risk.

Key takeaways:

• Understanding the scope, resolution, and limitations of USGS datasets, including geology, mineral systems, geochemistry, and associated environmental indicators.
• How spatial data informs early‑stage site selection, infrastructure planning, and avoidance of sensitive or high‑risk areas before capital is committed.
• Using mapping outputs to anticipate potential permitting challenges, including co‑occurring NORM, legacy mining impacts, land use constraints, and stakeholder concerns.
• How integrating USGS mapping into feasibility and planning improves decision quality, strengthens regulatory dialogue, and lowers the risk of redesign, delays, or opposition later in the project lifecycle.

More than six decades of uranium mining and milling have left a complex legacy of waste rock, tailings, and residual contamination. This panel examines how historical practices, strategic national interests, and evolving regulatory frameworks shape today’s oversight of uranium sites. Panellists will explore current challenges, remediation expectations, and what effective governance must look like as nuclear energy, SMRs, and critical minerals re‑emerge as strategic priorities.

Key Takeaways:

• How historic uranium exploration, mining, and milling—often conducted outside civilian regulatory frameworks—created long‑term environmental and radiological challenges distinct from other mining sectors?
• What renewed interest in uranium for SMRs and microreactors means for new mining activity, environmental impact, and regulatory readiness over the next decade?
• How NEPA and state reviews intersect with NORM and uranium governance, including legacy permits versus modern standards, 11e.(2) byproduct material boundaries, and coordination among BLM, DOE, NRC/Agreement States, and environmental authorities?
• Managing water scarcity, sensitive habitats, cultural and indigenous sites, and improving risk communication around radiological versus chemical hazards through transparent monitoring and engagement.
• Identifying concrete next steps for operators, regulators, and laboratories—assigning ownership, timelines, and inputs to support remediation progress and inform ongoing standards development, including N13.53 revisions.

The session will host 6 roundtables with unique discussion topics. An industry moderator will be appointed on the day to facilitate each session, and attendees can join one session only. Discussions will run for 30 minutes, and the findings of the discussion will be summarized and presented by each moderator. Registration is free and will happen during the morning registration.