2008 ORAU Annual Report - Oak Ridge Associated Universities

33
Environmental Surveys and Cleanup Verification
Mitigating Exposure
Risks Through Regulatory
Guide Updates
Challenge: As the nuclear power industry
prepares for a resurgence due to the
increasing need for clean, alternative
energy, the NRC realized that a large
number of its regulatory guides had
become outdated. Some of the regulatory
guides originated in the early 1970s. With
hundreds of guides still referenced by
health physicists and nuclear industry
professionals, providing complete, accurate,
and up-to-date guidance presented a
considerable challenge.
Solution: Because of ORAU’s involvement
in the NRC’s Radiation Exposure
Information and Reporting System (REIRS)
and radiation protection experience at light
water reactors, technical approaches were
developed for the update of several
Division 8 regulatory guides related to
occupational radiation exposures. ORAU
provided recomendations in radiological
training and the “as low as reasonably
achievable” (ALARA) philosophy, which
establishes guidance to minimize the
sustained risk of radioactive exposure
to individuals working in the presence
of radioactive materials. Each technical
approach was then used as a basis by NRC
staff in the preparation of each updated
regulatory guide.
Verifying the Cleanup
After a cleanup contractor has completed work at a site designated for
remediation, it is not uncommon to find residual contamination in those
facilities that is greater than the acceptable release levels. Discovering
this information prior to the release of these facilities and land areas is
essential to protect the public and future users of the site or facility.
That is where independent and objective cleanup verification can make
a difference. ORAU uses its technical expertise, state-of-the-art field
instrumentation, and extensive laboratory capabilities to provide rigorous
evaluation of previously contaminated sites to ensure its customers’
environmental cleanup projects meet federal requirements for
decontamination and decommissioning. As a trusted partner, ORAU is the
primary independent verification contractor for all DOE cleanup projects
and is the only verification contractor for the NRC.
Providing Solutions in
Health Physics and Radiation Sciences
When the problem is a radiological hazard, the solution is partnering with
a team of qualified health physicists who are best equipped to prevent or
control it.
Whether it is the identification, measurement, and assessment of the
presence of radiological materials, the education of employees about
radiation exposures and how to avoid them, or the control of radiological
treatment storage and disposal facilities, ORAU provides a wide range of
health physics services and solutions. In addition, ORAU has one of the
leading industry training programs in the radiation sciences with more than
60 years of providing hands-on, laboratory-based courses focused on topics
such as radiation safety, environmental monitoring, and air sampling for
radioactive materials.
Overcoming the Challenge of Contamination in Pipes
Challenge: DOE’s K-25 Building cleanup project at the East Tennessee
Technology Park is one of the largest reindustrialization projects in the
U.S. designed to remediate more than 40 years of uranium enrichment operations.
This represents an enormous challenge, given the sheer size of the facility
(44 acres under one roof), dilapidated building conditions, and radiological
contamination of miles and miles of process piping and equipment.
Solution: ORAU performed extensive, independent reviews and data validation
on the contractor’s NDA measurements, which quantified the amount and
level of radionuclides remaining in the process piping. This involved the use
of a specialized, in situ gamma spectrometry measurement system, HMS-4,
to determine, without having to perform physical sampling, how much U-235
remained after the contractor had performed chemical decontamination of the
piping. This technology provided an alternative sampling method for piping that was
otherwise inaccessible. ORAU also performed independent laboratory analyses of
foamed process pipe samples to quantify various radionuclides, including U-234,
U-235, and U-238.
Result: ORAU’s independent verification results clearly supported the contractor’s
conclusions. The uranium deposits that were allowed to remain within process gas
equipment and pipes were found to be below the limits necessary to ensure that
a criticality accident could not occur during demolition activities. These findings
provided assurance to DOE and its stakeholders that the decontamination work
was accurate and acceptable.
Setting the Standard:
ANSI N13.59—
Site Characterization
In 2008, ORAU personnel chaired the
national standards committee to
develop the ANSI N13.59 standard,
which provides guidance for
performing characterizations of land
areas—such as soils, surface and
ground water, and vegetation—and
structures or building construction
materials, in support of decommissioning.
The scope of this standard is geared
toward radiological characterization and
can be used for its technical approach to
designing a characterization survey for
a specific objective. ORAU’s work in this
area includes extensive characterization
activities performed at former FUSRAP—or
Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action
Program—sites and at the Curtis Bay and
Hammond Depots. This experience, along
with nearly 30 years of expertise in the field
of health physics and radiation sciences,
positioned ORAU experts to provide
significant contributions toward standards
development in this area.
Result: ORAU’s recommendations
supported the NRC’s goal to equip
industry professionals with updated
guidance concerning the reduction of
occupational radiation exposures. The
technical approaches will enable the NRC
to update existing guidance on how to
mitigate radiological exposure risks in the
nuclear power industry, and will exist as a
valuable reference as new power plants are
established across the United States.