Special Systems and Equipment - STD-1128-98master0333

DOE-STD-1128-98

Guide of Good Practices for Occupational Radiological Protection in Plutonium Facilities

Over-pressure protection should be considered for critical items such as glove boxes, cells,

and ventilation ducts.

C.5.5 Waste

Waste from plutonium-handling facilities includes radioactive, radioactive mixed, and

hazardous (nonradioactive) materials and will be in the form of liquid or gaseous effluent

and solids packaged for shipment offsite. A principal design objective for the process

systems should be to minimize the production of wastes at the source. A principal design

objective for the waste management systems should be to provide facilities and equipment to

handle the wastes safely and effectively. The design of the facility should limit the

environmental release of radioactive, radioactive mixed, and hazardous materials to less than

the DOE and EPA regulations and ALARA. Emphasis should be placed on reducing total

quantities of effluent (both radioactive and nonradioactive) released to the environment. See

Section 8.0 for additional information on waste management.

C.6 SPECIAL SYSTEMS AND EQUIPMENT

Special systems and equipment should be incorporated in plutonium facilities to ensure the safety

of the worker and protection of the public. As a minimum, the following systems should be

included:

Air sampling and monitoring;

breathing air;

personnel monitoring;

criticality safety;

nuclear accident dosimeters; and

monitoring and alarms.

These systems and equipment plus some that may not be directly related to personnel safety and

radiation protection are discussed in the following subsections.

C.6.1 Air Sampling and Monitoring

The air-monitoring and air-sampling systems for a plutonium facility should meet the

criteria established in the Implementation Guide. Workplace Air Monitoring (DOE, 1999f).

In addition, PNL-6612, The Health Physics Manual of Good Practices for the Prompt

Detection of Airborne Plutonium in the Workplace (Mishima et al., 1988) provides

information for the design, implementation, operation, documentation, and evaluation of a

plutonium air-sampling program.

C.6.2 Breathing Air

For facility design, confinement of airborne radioactive materials should be the required

method of preventing internal deposition of radioactive particulates. However, during

operation and maintenance of the facility, situations may occur (accidents, special

maintenance, spill recovery, etc.) for which air-supplied respiratory protection is required.

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