Re: Emergency Doses Allowed

["J. J. Rozental" <josrozen@netmedia.net.il>]

At 03:12 PM 6/3/98 -0500, you wrote:
>     Steve,
>     
>     I have never seen "limits" for these activities. What I have seen is 
>     "guidance" with recommendations, but I don't believe the NRC or any other 
>     regulatory agency has ever codified emergency limits. 

===========================

ICRP 60, page 52 (225) states:

In addition to the exposures resulting directly from the accident, there
will be exposures of emergency teams during emergency and remedial action.
Even in serious accidents, these can be limitred by operational controls.
The doses incurred are likely to be higher than in normal situations and
should be treated separately from any normal doses. Emergencies involving
significant exposures of emergency teams are rare, so some relaxation of the
controls for normal situations can be permitted in serious accidents without
lowering the long-term level of protection. This relaxation should not
permit the exposures in the control of the accident and in the immediate and
urgent remedial work to give effective doses pf more than about 0.5 Sv
excepted for life-saving actions, which can rarely be limited by dosimetric
assessments. The equivalent dose to skin should not be allowed to exceed
about 5 Sv, again except for life saving. Once the emergency is under
control remedial work should be trated as part of the occupational exposure
incurred in a practice.

It is also important to observe in ICRP 60

page 28 (113)

Dose limits do not apply in case of intervention

page 32 (131)

The dose limits recommended by the Commission are intended for use in the
control of practices. The use of these dose limits, or any other
pre-determined dose limits, as the basis for deciding on intervention might
involve measures that would be out of all proportion to the benefit obtained
and would then conflict with the principle of justification. The Commission
therefore recommends against the application of dose limits for deciding on
the need for, or scope of, intervention. Nevertheless, at some level of
dose, approaching that which would cause serious deterministic effects, some
kind of intervention will become almost mandatory.


J.J. Rozental <josrozen@netmedia.net.il>
Israel
 




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