Technician Staffing and Qualifications

DOE-STD-1136-2004

Guide of Good Practices for Occupational Radiological Protection in Uranium Facilities

member at the uranium facility should have a minimum of three years of radiological control experience

in the operation of uranium facilities.

Technician Staffing and Qualifications

Recommendations for minimum entry- level requirements for RCTs are given in the RCS and the

Radiological Control Technician Training Program. They include a high school education or equivalency

and knowledge of certain scientific fundamentals. If a two-year degree in nuclear technology or an

equivalent discipline is locally available, completion of such a program should be encouraged.

Where possible, the RCTs and other members of the radiological control staff should have a

minimum of one year's experience working at a uranium facility. Such experience is an important

prerequisite to allow them to work unsupervised. Personnel hired without such experience should work an

internship of six months under the leadership of a qualified RCT or supervisor with experience in that

facility. RCTs should be encouraged to pursue registration by the National Registry of Radiation Protection

Technologists.

Training Staff Qualifications

All training instructors and materials should meet the requirements of DOE Order 5480.20A

Ch.1. The RCS provides additional guidance. Each uranium facility should develop performance-based

training that reflects radiological conditions present at the facility. This training should be monitored to

ensure that site-specific, worker-performance-based measures, and practical factors are included in the

uranium training.

Health Physicist Training Involvement

Facility health physicists should have comprehensive knowledge of all of the material on uranium

radiation safety included in the training programs for radiation workers and RCTs. In addition to the

previously discussed RCT training material, DOE has developed several other radiation safety training

courses and qualification standards which may provide useful information. These documents include:

DOE-HDBK-1113-98, Radiological Safety Training for Uranium Facilities (DOE 1998c)

DOE-HDBK-1130-98, Radiological Worker Training (DOE 1998d)

DOE-HDBK-1131-98, General Employee Radiological Training (DOE 1998e)

DOE-STD-1107-97, Knowledge Skills and Abilities for Key Radiation Protection Positions at

DOE Facilities (DOE 1997)

Staffing Levels

At le ast one professional health physicist is recommended to be on the staff of each major

uranium facility as a full-time employee.

There is no rule of thumb for determining the number of RCTs needed for a given uranium

facility.

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