Personnel Contamination Control - doe-std-1136-20040097

DOE-STD-1136-2004

Guide of Good Practices for Occupational Radiological Protection in Uranium Facilities

material at the source and prevention of the generation of contamination are generally more effective and

less costly than remediation.

4.3 PERSONNEL CONTAMINATION CONTROL

Contamination control should be achieved primarily by physical design features, including

engineering controls (see the discussion above), such as containment, confinement, and ventilation control.

Only if the primary controls fail or if there is a potential for personnel contamination during an activity

are administrative controls such as protective clothing and respirators advisable.

4.3.1 Monitoring Philosophy

Although the primary hazard to personnel from uranium is from internal exposure, contamination is

also of concern because of potential skin doses. Additionally, an objective of the contamination control

program is to confine uranium contamination to production/work areas and to minimize, to the extent

practicable, any spread of contamination to areas outside the plant or to the public. Therefore, guidelines

for allowable contamination on personnel and personal clothing/shoes both inside the plant and prior to

exiting radiological areas are required. Also, a personnel monitoring program must be developed with

adequate monitoring equipment and sensitivity to provide assurance that contamination is effectively

controlled. The guidelines should be developed considering the following factors:

a. the need to prevent detectable activity from appearing outside the controlled area,

b. the degree of risk to the health of the employees, their families, and the public from

contamination removed from the plant,

c. the technical feasibility of measurement of the guide levels,

d. commitment to the policy of keeping contamination to the minimum practical level, and

e. the presence of other radionuclides due to the presence of recycled uranium contaminants or

uranium daughters.

4.3.2 Monitoring Program

Instrumentation should be provided and persons entering a uranium work station should be required to

survey themselves at established frequencies. As a minimum, workers should survey their gloves and

coverall sleeves each time they are withdrawn from a glove box (or similar containment system) and after

each glove replacement or bag-out operation.

In addition to mandatory monitoring at the exit to areas controlled for contamination, personnel

monitoring for contamination should be mandatory at the egress from controlled areas and be conducted

in a verifiable manner. Assurance should be provided that personnel are monitored prior to breaks, meals,

or exits from the plant site. Portal monitors, hand-and-shoe counters, and/or portable survey instruments

may be used for this purpose. If employees are instructed to perform self-monitoring, the equipment

should be set up in a "go/no- go" mode and employees should be clearly instructed in the required actions

to take if predetermined action levels are exceeded. Frequent audits should be performed to verify that

controls are adequate. Limiting the number of egress points and controlling personnel movement can

minimize the numbers of locations where positive control of personnel monitoring must be maintained.

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