Re:St Lucie Survey Questions

[Judd Sills <sillsj@GAT.COM>]

The following general question was posed to RADSAFERs-
    "So, here is the scene:
     
     Power Reactor, shut down for refueling.
          You are about to do a radiation survey. 
          You will use a portable instrument.
          a. what are you thinking before the survey?
          b. what criteria do you use to select your instrument?
          c. someone watches you perform your survey: what do they see?"

Here are my thoughts on the matter based upon my experience.  I hope 
that this helps out:

Thoughts prior to survey:
(1)What is the purpose for the survey that I have been asked to do?
   Is it a Pre-job survey, Initial Entry to a Room, Post-Job survey,
   Routine survey, or a combination of the above???  What type of 
   measurements that I will need to take are highly dependent on what
   the survey will be used for.
(2)What do I know about the area that I have been asked to survey???
   Do I have any recent surveys that might be indicative of hazards in
   the room??  Is there a history of a specific problem in the Room???
   Are there expected hot spots that I should be aware of before I enter?
   What is the expected exposure rate range in the area?  What are the 
   expected contamination levels in the area?  Is there a beta dose
   rate problem from contamination?...Is there a noble gas leak in the
   room that might affect the instrument(s) that I select?...Is there a 
   hot particle problem in the room?...How hard is the room to access 
   (i.e., is it difficult to get to, do I have to climb a ladder with
   my instrument(s), etc.)?...What other tasks will I need to perform 
   in the room while I am there (e.g., contamination surveys, air samples,
   prepare a new survey map sketch, perform area posting, etc.)?...Am
   I doing this alone, or will I have assistance?...What type of Protective
   Clothing or Respiratory Protective equipment am I going to have to wear
   when I do the survey?...What are the environmental conditions in the
   room that might affect me during the survey (e.g., lighting, high
   temperature, high noise, etc.)?

Criteria to choose instrumentation:
   (1)Anticipated range needed for the instrument
   (2)Suitability of the instrument for the conditions to be encountered
      so as to provide meaningful data for the survey (see the series of
      questions that I asked myself above in item # (2).
   (3)If the instrument has to be bagged for protection from contamination,
      will that adversely affect its indications or impair the ability to
      use it?
   (4)Reliability and material condition of the instrument
   (5)Availability of in-cal instrument

Somebody watches...What do they see?
    Well, I hope that they see me verify that the instrument(s) that I have
    selected are in calibration and response checked for the day, that the
    batteries check out before I leave to do the survey, that I have all my
    supplies and survey maps.  They should see me review appropriate previous
    surveys of the area and discuss the data that is required (if this is a 
    pre-job survey) with the people that need the data.  They should see me
    follow relevant protocol to enter the RCA just like anybody else that 
    works there.  They should see me enter the area with my survey instrument
    on and set on a scale that would be within the expected range of general
    area dose rates with suitable margin for unexpected high dose rates.  
    They should see me get my bearings in the room as I enter it to be sure
    that I can spot the areas of higher exposure rate or contamination levels
    that I found out about before I entered, and they would undoubtedly get
    warned of those same hazards by me BEFORE we venture into the room.  They
    would see me watch the insturment as I take initial readings to be cer-
    tain that it remains on scale, and that conditions are similar to what I
    expected (if they are significantly worse than I was expecting, I would
    need to be aware of when I was getting outside of the scope of what I 
    was asked to do and what I was prepared to do, and decide to leave the
    area and get better direction from my supervision).  They should see that
    my advance preparation has made me very efficient as I quickly collect 
    and annotate the readings that I came into the area for, and that when I
    am done, that I don't leave a mess behind me, and that I quickly exit
    the area.  They should see me do most of my documentation outside of the
    RCA in a neat, professional manner.  They should see me carefully
    review my survey to ensure that it is complete, neat, accurate, and that
    any unusual situations are noted prominently in comments on the survey
    map.  They should see me turn the survey map into my supervison in a
    timely manner after I am complete for a technical review.  They should
    also see that I ensure that copies of the survey are provided to the
    requestor, that status boards are promptly updated to reflect the most
    current radiological information for the area, that postings are changed
    wherever necessary, and that copies are filed in the RWPs that might
    be affected by the new radiological information and that any chnages to
    the RWP are promptly made (e.g., dosimetry requirements, protective
    clothing, respiratory requirements, DAC-hour tracking, etc.)
J. M. Sills, CHP
(619)455-2049
General Atomics, Room 14-152                              Fax:(619)455-3181
3550 General Atomics Court                             E-Mail:  sillsj@gat.com
San Diego, CA  92121