A method and an apparatus for its practice to render radioactive earth materials such as NORM and TENORM more suitable for disposal, includes detecting the level of radioactivity in such earth materials as well as detecting the specific energy of radiation to identify specific isotopes within the earth materials. The radioactive earth materials are diluted with appropriate materials suitable for disposal. Preferably, the radioactivity of the diluted material is monitored to assure the resulting mixture is suitable for the disposal intended.