ALARA Design Considerations

DOE-STD-6003-96

6.2.2 Worker Safety Function: Systems Controlling Operating Hazards

The worker safety function is control of operating hazards. This function is somewhat

more subtle than the other confinement of radioactive and toxic materials due to the spectrum

of potential radioactive and industrial hazards to which the facility worker may be exposed.

6.2.2.1 ALARA Design Considerations

It is DOE's policy that exposure to radiation resulting from operations be maintained

ALARA. The application of ALARA to fusion facilities has two principal divisions: occupational

exposure and public exposure. For occupational exposure, specific evaluation criteria for radia-

tion protection of the worker from ionizing radiation are provided in DOE-STD-6002-96, which

references 10 CFR 20 and 10 CFR 835. The DOE Radiological Control Manual also provides

guidance on implementing ALARA with regard to occupational exposure to radiation. For public

exposure, DOE-STD-6002-96 (Table 1) provides specific guidelines consistent with the overall

goal of ALARA.

The design of the fusion facility should have the following features to minimize worker

exposure during maintenance (routine and corrective) and decommissioning activities as well as

release to the environment:

a. choice of materials and design that minimize the activation of components and struc-

tures and eliminates the need for deep geologic burial;

b. designs that ease cut-up, dismantlement, removal, and packaging of contaminated

equipment;

c. equipment design that minimizes the accumulation of radioactive or hazardous

materials;

d. use of modular separable confinements;

e. use of localized liquid transfer systems;

location of exhaust air cleanup components at or near individual enclosures; and

g. fully drainable piping systems, including tanks.

The following techniques should be considered in the design, as applicable, in order to

facilitate decommissioning at the end of operating life. These techniques are grouped by primary

objective.

Waste volume reduction is the objective for these six techniques:

a. Use sealed nonporous insulation--Use of such insulation materials prevents the

absorption of contaminated liquids by the insulation.