Design Objectives - Continued

DOE-STD-1128-98

Guide of Good Practices for Occupational Radiological Protection in Plutonium Facilities

-- Individual worker dose should be ALARA and less than 500 mrem/y;

-- discharges of radioactive liquid to the environment are covered by the provisions of DOE

Order 5400.5 (DOE, 1993c) and should not degrade the groundwater;

-- control of contamination should be achieved by containment of radioactive material;

-- efficiency of maintenance, decontamination and operations should be maximized;

-- components should be selected to minimize the buildup of radioactivity;

-- support facilities should be provided for donning and removal of protective clothing and for

personnel monitoring, where appropriate; and

-- a neutron quality factor of 20 should be used for design purposes.

The DOE Standard, Radiological Control, also states that facilities currently under construction

should be evaluated and the above criteria applied where practicable. The manual strongly

discourages locating lunch rooms or eating areas, restrooms, drinking fountains, showers and

similar facilities and devices and office spaces within Radiation Areas, High and Very High

Radiation Areas, Contamination and High Contamination Areas, Airborne Radioactivity Areas,

Radioactive Material Areas, or and Radiological Buffer Areas.

The specific facility design chosen depends on the quantity and form of plutonium that will be

used. Some simple processes involving very small quantities of unsealed plutonium can be carried

out safely in well-designed and adequately filtered open-faced hoods such as those found in a

general radiochemistry facility. The specific quantity that can be handled in this manner depends

on the complexity of the process and the specific form of the material. Any use of unsealed

plutonium should be reviewed by the facility's safety personnel, and the feasibility of the proposed

use should be established based on the form of the material to be used, the work to be performed,

and the engineered and administrative controls to be employed. Based on experience, if the

quantity of plutonium is 100 mg or more, the process should be performed in a plutonium facility.

The application of these guidelines to specific proposals for the modification of existing facilities or

the construction of new facilities requires that judgments be made based on detailed information

about the facility, its use, quantities of plutonium involved, operations to be performed, degree of

need for operating continuity during and/or after postulated accidents, and the potential impact on

surrounding facilities and the public. For some facility modifications, the engineering criteria

outlined here may be modified or reduced if administrative requirements are increased. A

cost-benefit analysis should be performed to make this decision.

The primary goal of the design objectives is to keep the plutonium confined in its intended place

(i.e., capsule, hood, glove box, etc.), both during normal operations and under accident conditions.

Of equal importance is consideration of the human factors in design that promote efficiency and

ease of operation. Additional design criteria may be necessary in considering the requirements for

decontamination, decommissioning, and dismantling (discussed in Section 10.0) of the facility

when it no longer is needed.

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