Michael:
I believe the reference to a reduction of more than 60 rem over a 10 year period refers to person-rem. In other words, over a 10 year period, a facility may be expected to reduce the total exposure received by all of their workers, by more than 60 rem.
Jim
>>> "Michael Mokrzycki" <Michael_Mokrzycki@ap.org> 02/05 9:16 AM >>>
Question (not for anything I'm working on for publication, just for my own
curiousity):
>>Mr. Tritch also emphasized that the RI-ISI offers significant health
safety benefits. ``Because the RI-ISI methodology is so
focused, workers can reduce by up to 75 percent the number of
inspections they must perform in radiological areas when
compared to traditional inspection methodology,'' he said.
``Therefore, RI-ISI can easily reduce cumulative dose rates by 60
REM or more over a 10-year period.''<<
I thought radiation workers are limited to 5 rem per year.
OK, full disclosure -- if someone were to tell me there's widespread
disregard for the 5 rem limit, I would be tempted to write about it. I have
a hard time imagining that could be the case, though. And from reports of
Abnormal Occurrences that I recently reviewed going back about 20 years, I
recall very few involving overexposures to reactor workers, with most
involving TMI-1. (If a worker exceeded the 5-rem limit, that would be an
AO, no?)
Mike Mokrzycki
absolutely my opinions only, not those of my employer,
The Associated Press
Sandy Perle <sandyfl@earthlink.net> on 02/04/99 07:43:39 PM
Please respond to radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu
To: Multiple recipients of list
<radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
cc: (bcc: Michael Mokrzycki/TheAP)
Subject: U.S. NRC Approves Westinghouse Risk-Informed,
In-Service Inspedction
Thursday February 4, 11:32 am Eastern Time
SOURCE: Westinghouse Electric Company
U.S. NRC Approves Westinghouse Risk-Informed, In-Service
Inspection
Company First to Offer Approved Generic Methodology to Enhance
Safety, Reduce Costs; Virginia Power Set to Implement Program
During Upcoming Refueling Outage
PITTSBURGH, Feb. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- The United States Nuclear
Regulatory Commission has approved Westinghouse Electric
Company's Risk-Informed, In- Service Inspection (RI-ISI)
methodology for nuclear plant piping systems, meaning that
Westinghouse can now market this methodology to virtually every
operating commercial nuclear power plant in the world.
In its formal notification of approval, the NRC described RI-ISI as a
program that ``can enhance overall safety by focusing inspections
of piping at high-safety-significant locations and locations where
failure mechanisms are most likely to be present, and by improving
the effectiveness of inspection components...''
Westinghouse estimates that its RI-ISI, the first methodology of its
type to be approved by the NRC for generic use, will pay for itself in
as little as one refueling cycle. ``Depending on the size of the plant
and degree of implementation, the Westinghouse RI-ISI program
can save a plant operator between $150,000 and $300,000 per
year,'' said Steve Tritch, Vice President and General Manger of the
Westinghouse Nuclear Services Division. ``More importantly, the RI-
ISI will make nuclear plants even safer as inspection will result in
earlier detection and correction of potential problem areas.''
Mr. Tritch also emphasized that the RI-ISI offers significant health
safety benefits. ``Because the RI-ISI methodology is so
focused, workers can reduce by up to 75 percent the number of
inspections they must perform in radiological areas when
compared to traditional inspection methodology,'' he said.
``Therefore, RI-ISI can easily reduce cumulative dose rates by 60
REM or more over a 10-year period.''
Virginia Power will be the first nuclear plant operator to employ the
Westinghouse RI-ISI during a regularly scheduled refueling
outage at Surry Unit 1. The utility also intends to make use of the
methodology at other plants, including North Anna in 2001.
Leslie Hartz, vice president of nuclear engineering and services for
Virginia Power, said RI-ISI is a good example of the
commercial nuclear power industry working cooperatively to reduce
costs and increase efficiency.
``Use of RI-ISI at Virginia Power will help us enhance plant safety
by limiting our focus to piping in safety-significant locations,''
she said. ``Using this methodology also will have the added benefit
of lowering personnel radiation exposure to workers
performing the inspections. This effort was accomplished hand-in-
hand with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.''
Under the RI-ISI approach, inspections are focused more heavily on
areas with a higher potential for failure, reducing the number of
required inspections by between 50 percent and 85 percent.
Additionally, the Westinghouse RI-ISI methodology has the
potential to eliminate 100 additional exams when compared to
other RI-ISI approaches that may be entering the marketplace.
Westinghouse first began researching RI-ISI in 1985 and led a
major research effort in cooperation with the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers in 1988. The WOG became involved in the
early 1990s. The application for RI-ISI approval was
submitted to the NRC by Westinghouse and the WOG in 1996.
Sandy Perle
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205
"The object of opening the mind, as of opening
the mouth, is to close it again on something solid"
- G. K. Chesterton -
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