Change Rooms

DOE-STD-1128-98

Guide of Good Practices for Occupational Radiological Protection in Plutonium Facilities

low-level contamination areas. The space provided should be sized to accommodate the

expected work force.

C.4.4.1 Change Rooms

Change rooms should be available for both men and women, with lockers to

support the anticipated number of workers and support personnel. Change rooms

should include facilities for storing and dispensing clean protective clothing, a

well-defined ventilated area near the exit from the controlled area for the temporary

storage of potentially contaminated clothing, and adequate shower facilities. The

clean side of the change room should be easily separable from the potentially

contaminated side of the room.

Space for step-off pads and radiation-monitoring survey equipment should be

provided for personnel and equipment leaving the controlled portion of the change

room.

Liquid wastes from potentially contaminated showers should be routed to the liquid

radioactive waste system or to a holding tank that may be sampled before the waste

is released.

The ventilation system should be designed to prevent the spread of contamination

from the controlled to the uncontrolled portion of the room.

C.4.4.2 Personnel-Decontamination Room

A personnel-decontamination room (or station) should be provided for each

plutonium facility. It should be located near or in the change rooms. A

decontamination room with the capability to decontaminate male and female

personnel simultaneously should be considered. The use of installed partitions or

curtains should be considered for this purpose. An adequately equipped

decontamination room should have communications equipment, a workbench with

a cabinet for decontamination supplies, an examination chair, a sink, and showers.

Both the sink and showers should be connected to a holding tank for sampling or

routed to the process waste. The room should contain equipment for performing

nasal irrigations and initial surveys of nasal swipes.

C.4.4.3 Health Physics Laboratory Office

Health physics personnel in a plutonium facility should be assigned laboratory

office space at or near the exit from the process area into the controlled area. As a

rule of thumb for determining space needs, one radiation protection technologist

should be available for every 10 radiation workers. Space should be included for

the readout of radiation-protection instrumentation, preparation of radiation

protection records, counting equipment, and storage of portable instruments.

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