Re: I-131 PATIENT WORKING AT NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

[xat@inel.gov (Alden Tschaeche)]

Howard Conrad wrote:

> We had a worker last year that had about 25 mCi of iodine and we did not
> allow access to the protected area.  First of all, he would definitely have
> set off the portal monitors at the Primary Access Point.  Secondly he was
> reading up to 800 mrem/hr on contact with his thyroid.
> 
> It took a bit more than a month for his 'dose rate' to get down to what we
> felt were acceptable levels so we did not have to worry about his
> contributing non-occupational dose to other workers dosimetry or his own.
> 
> This person was allowed to remain on-site as long as he performed tasks
> outside the protected area.  We did not see any problems with any spread of
> contamination.  He was however upset since he expected to be back within the
> protected area within a week instead of the month that resulted based upon
> the feedback he received from his physician.

So, do we now have general agreement that, when a radiation worker has
an intake of a medical radionuclide, that person is restricted from
radiological work until the radionuclide has died/been excreted to some
defined level?  If so, what is that level?

Does the restricted person still receive full pay during the restriction
period?  Do all nuclear factilities have policies that address this
issue?  Should they?  Are the policies based on safety of other workers
or on some other criteria?  What are the criteria?

Al Tschaeche xat@inel.gov