Quality Assurance - doe-std-1128-98

DOE-STD-1128-98

3.8.3

Quality Assurance

Important aspects of any ALARA program are the measurement of beneficial

effects and the determination that important factors, such as economic impacts, the

time involved in accomplishing tasks, and the utilization of personnel, are being

optimized. To accomplish these objectives, it is necessary to have a written plan for

the ALARA program and high quality records of activities involving exposures to

workers, the public, and the environment. These permit comparisons with past

experiences and analysis of the recorded activities. In many cases, such studies of

the recorded activities not only confirm satisfactory execution of the work, but

reveal opportunities for future improvements.

One approach which works very well is the inclusion of an ALARA worksheet

along with the RWP. Such a worksheet should be prepared by an individual with

responsibilities for the work to be performed, a relatively detailed knowledge of the

radiological conditions, and knowledge of what is required to accomplish the task.

The worksheet should contain estimates of the time to complete the task and the

expected radiation doses that will be received. If any special engineered devices are

used to control or reduce personnel exposure, they should be noted on the ALARA

worksheet, along with any special instructions that they require. These worksheets

provide valuable information for analysis of the effectiveness of the ALARA

program for each job.

3.8.4

Technical Aspects

The technical aspects of ALARA programs include not only the standard

equipment regularly used in controlling dose to workers, the public, and the

environment, such as facility shielding, ventilation filters, installed and portable

radiation measuring instruments, but also many special devices that may be used

temporarily. Special devices can be used to provide exposure control and/or

containment when it may not be practical without them. These include temporary

shields, tents or greenhouses, portable fans, ductwork and filters, and special

fixtures to hold highly radioactive materials requiring detailed inspections, repairs,

modification, or fabrication. Such devices can permit doing difficult work at low

radiation doses, which might not be possible otherwise.

Some of these special devices may have general application and can be kept on

hand for use as needed. In some cases, devices would have to be especially

fabricated for a specific task. Since this would ordinarily have a significant effect

on the cost of doing that job, the economic aspects of doing or not doing the job

would have to be carefully evaluated.

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