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Investigational Levels
Good Morning:
I'm looking for two pieces of information:
1) for the purposes of an ALARA program, at what level of reported dose
do you begin investigation? For our own program I've proposed the
following action levels and wonder if they're comparable to the
levels used at other institutions:
For Whole Body, Lens of the Eye, Extremities, and Skin: 500 mrem per
quarter
For the Embryo/fetus, Occupational exposure of a minor, and Member of the
general public: 50 mrem/quarter
I've used the quarter as the time period because most of our badges are
quarterly rather than monthly badges. For the Whole Body action level I
obviously took 10% of the annual Whole Body limit and then used the
same action level for the lens, extremities and skin (even though
dose limits are much higher) simply because there is no reason to
expect that anyone working at Princeton University would get a higher
dose than the action level. Therefore a dose exceeding the action
level is worth investigating.
2) What are the circumstances for which you require bioassay for
persons using I-125 or H-3? Specifically, have you set a
trigger level in terms of activity for both volatile and nonvolatile
forms above which bioassay is required? I've proposed the following
bioassay trigger levels:
Nature of Use Form Activity
In an open room H-3 as nucleotide precursors 10mCi
HTO and any other form 100 mCi
H-3 gas in a sealed vessel 1 Ci
In a fume hood H-3 as nucleotide precursors 100 mCi
HTO and any other form 1 Ci
H-3 gas in a sealed vessel 10 Ci
In an open room As NaI or any volatile form 0.1 mCi
Bound to a nonvolatile agent 1 mCi
in a fume hood As NaI or other volatile form 1 mCi
Bound to a nonvolatile agent 10 mci
I will summarize for RADSAFE any responses I receive privately. I
greatly appreciate your help!
Regards,
Sue M. Dupre, Health Physicist
Office of Occupational Health & Safety
Princeton University
E-Mail: dupre@princeton.edu Phone: 609/258-6252