ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the terms Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) and Technologically Enhanced Natural Radioactive material and discusses the origins of NORM in the oil industry and state where it is most often encountered. It examines several NORM radionuclides of primary concern in the oil and gas industry and explores the parent nuclides of radium and radon. Radon can be produced either dissolved in produced fluids or mixed with natural gas. The radioactive elements from which NORM originates were incorporated into the earth’s crust when the earth was created. From a regulatory standpoint, NORM is not being controlled unless it has been “technologically enhanced.” NORM becomes a problem when it is incorporated into the scale and sludge that are deposited inside equipment associated with oil and gas production. There are a number of other NORM radionuclides, including uranium-235 and its radioactive daughters and radioactive isotopes of potassium.
