Control and Monitoring of Airborne Contamination - doe-hdbk-1113-98_reaffirm_2005

DOE-HDBK-1113-98

Radiological Safety Training for Uranium Facilities

Module 104 Internal Dose Control

Control and Monitoring of Airborne Contamination

Uranium contamination is relatively dense (heavy) so it is not easily

stirred up into the air and quickly settles out when disturbed. Therefore, it

is unlikely that significant airborne contamination will result from normal

activities (such as walking) in areas contaminated with uranium. It is

possible for airborne contamination to result from activity that vigorously

disturbs the surface, such as sweeping, grinding, welding, and direct, high-

volume air flow. Failure to control airborne contamination could result in

inhalation of the contamination and spread of contamination to other

areas.

Control of airborne contamination should include:

an evaluation of activities that are likely to cause contamination to

become airborne,

engineered controls such as installed or portable ventilation with High

Efficiency Particulate Air filtration systems (HEPA systems) to

remove contamination from the air at a point as close to the source as

possible,

physical barriers (e.g., pipes, gloveboxes, etc) and pressure differential

zones,

use of alternate work activities or equipment that is less likely to

generate airborne contamination,

air sampling to track airborne contamination levels, and

using respiratory protection to minimize internal dose of the worker.