Radiological Health and Safety Policy - doe-std-1098-99_reaffirmed_2004

DOE-STD-1098-99

Radiological Control

Excellence in Radiological Control

June 2004

PART 1 Department of Energy (DOE) Radiological Control Standard

111 Radiological Health and Safety Policy

A key element of the Radiation Protection Guidance to the Federal Agencies for Occupational Exposure approved by

President Reagan on January 20, 1987, and a fundamental principle underlying this Standard is:

"There should not be any occupational exposure of workers to ionizing radiation without the expectation of

an overall benefit from the activity causing the exposure."

The Department of Energy is firmly committed to having a radiological control program of the highest quality. This

commitment is reflected in the DOE Radiological Health and Safety Policy reproduced at the beginning of this Standard.

112 Standard Applicability and Control

DOE has established basic standards for occupational radiation protection in Federal regulation 10 CFR part 835,

"Occupational Radiation Protection" (10 CFR 835). Section 835.101 of 10 CFR 835 requires affected DOE activities to

be conducted in compliance with a documented radiation protection program (RPP) that addresses each requirement of

that regulation. DOE's 441.1 series of Guides provide guidance for developing and implementing an RPP sufficient to

ensure compliance with 10 CFR 835. The DOE 441.1 series of Guides are primarily directed toward radiological control

organization professionals who are responsible for developing programs that will ensure regulatory compliance. The

Guides therefore tend to provide flexibility for the use of professional judgment and are more technical and general in

nature than this Standard. This Standard is primarily directed toward line management; it therefore discusses specific,

detailed measures that should be implemented by line managers as they discharge their radiological control

responsibilities. However, because both the DOE 441.1 series of Guides and this Standard discuss development and

implementation of appropriate radiological controls, there are necessarily many overlaps. As a result, in the documented

RPPs developed to ensure compliance with 10 CFR 835, most DOE facilities have committed to implementation of

certain provisions of this Standard or its predecessor, the DOE Radiological Control Manual.

The radiological control program discussed in this Standard goes beyond the scope of, and includes more details than, the

documented RPP required by 10 CFR 835. To ensure implementation of a comprehensive and coherent radiological

control program that exceeds basic requirements and provides a substantial safety margin, DOE encourages its

contractors to implement the provisions of this Standard to the extent appropriate to facility hazards and operations,

consistent with DOE's Integrated Safety Management Program. Should any conflicts arise between the site-specific

radiological control manual (based on this Standard, see Article 114), and the documented RPP, the requirements of the

documented RPP should take precedence. Such conflicts should be expeditiously resolved.

The Standard is not a substitute for regulations; it is intended to be consistent with all relevant statutory and regulatory

requirements and will be revised whenever necessary to ensure such consistency. Some of the Standard provisions,

however, challenge the user to go well beyond minimum requirements.

This Standard is a living document. DOE intends to review and update provisions on a periodic basis to incorporate

lessons learned and suggestions for improvement. The Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety and Health is

responsible for this task. Recommendations to correct or improve this Standard are encouraged and should be

processed in accordance with DOE's published guidance for providing comments on documents in the DOE

technical standards system.

This Standard will be kept current and should be entered into the contractor document control system. The Office

of Environment, Safety and Health will ensure that a current version of this Standard is maintained on the DOE

Technical Information System (TIS).

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