Protective Actions - doe-std-1128-98

DOE-STD-1128-98

facility SAR consequence assessment of identified hazards should be used as

a starting point for detailed EMHA plutonium consequence assessment.

Environmental monitoring capability for assessing consequences of a plutonium

release should conform to several general principles.

Procedures for measurement of airborne plutonium should provide for timely

analysis and reporting of results in units that correspond to decision criteria.

Decision points based on initial alpha screening measurements with field

instruments should account for the expected levels of radon progeny collected

on the air sample media. Alternatively, portable survey instruments capable of

performing alpha spectroscopy measurements can be used to provide rapid

isotopic analysis of plutonium collected on sample media.

Measurement of plutonium deposition should be planned and proceduralized to

yield results that correspond to those needed by the predictive models used for

emergency response. The correlation between direct or indirect radioactivity

measurements (in units of activity) and measurement methods that give mass or

concentration of plutonium in a sample should be established for standard

sample sizes, collection efficiencies, and the expected isotopic mixture(s) of

material that might be released. Information on expected isotopic mixture

should be available for converting the results of measurements made with

photon-sensitive instruments, such as the Fiddler and Violinist, into plutonium

activity per unit area.

If the potential exists for release of plutonium in conjunction with materials of

high chemical toxicity, it is generally not practical to plan on use of survey

teams to quantify concentrations in a plume. The high risk to survey personnel,

the protective equipment necessary to minimize that risk, the time needed to

prepare and deploy a team for such a survey and the limited value of the

information that could be gained all weigh against this approach to assessing

the consequence of a highly toxic release.

Continuous environmental air samples are taken around the perimeter of some

plutonium facilities for environmental reporting purposes.

Consequence assessment procedures should provide for the rapid retrieval and

analysis of sample media from any fixed samplers that may be operating in an

area affected by a plutonium release. The procedures should specify the type of

measurements to be done on those sample media, including any instrument

settings, conversion factors, or adjustments needed to produce useful results in

the shortest time possible.

(f)

Protective Actions. The Protective Action Guides (PAGs) published by the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, 1991) have been adopted by

DOE as its basic protective action criteria for planning and response. The

evacuation PAG for the early phase of a radiological incident is 1 rem

(TEDE) under normal conditions and up to 5 rem under conditions where

evacuation might pose excessive hazards to the population (adverse weather,

etc.).

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