Internal Dose Control After an Incident

DOE-STD-1121-98

guides for immediate medical care, decontamination, monitoring, and the longer-term follow-

up response

provisions for periodically reviewing, updating, and rehearsing the emergency action plan

Since the elements of this plan may be documented in various operating manuals, the overall

program, including the interrelationships, should be summarized in one document with appropriate

direction to the location of the various elements (e.g., use of a response tree).

The site occupational medicine personnel should prepare a summary of the therapeutic measures, by

radionuclide, that are maintained for the site and the targeted time from intake to treatment. These plans

should be reviewed and updated as necessary.

In general, medical treatment (e.g., DTPA [diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid] therapy) should be

available to internally contaminated individuals within a few hours of the detection of the exposure (see

Section 10).

8.3.3 Internal Dose Control After an Incident

Before a worker is allowed to return to radiation work following a potential intake, the worker's

exposure status should be evaluated. This evaluation should include consideration of the uncertainty

associated with early assessments of internal dose, the dose received from external exposures during the

year, and the committed effective dose equivalent for the year from all prior intakes. Temporary

restrictions or limitations from radiation work should be considered if the work could interfere with the

internal dose assessment (e.g., if additional intakes of the radionuclide of interest could occur).

Additional guidance is provided in Section 10.