Re: Investigational Levels

[gt2@ornl.gov (Gloria T. Mei)]

At 09:13 AM 10/8/96 -0500, Sue M. Dupre wrote:
>
>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
>
>
>

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G. T. Mei                      	   Email: meigt@ornl.gov
Office of Radiation Protection	   Phone: (423) 574-0188
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