Re: Personnel Contamination Events

[jack bell <bellstar@erols.com>]

DDogg76615@aol.com wrote:

> I recently attended the EPRI PCE Workshop in San Jose, CA.  I am curious
> about utility industry response to a proposed change in our tracking and
> trending of personnel contaminations at nuclear power plants.  Currently, we
> all track PCEs at different levels and have different levels of response.
> The new draft for the EPRI PCE guideline may recommend an industry tracking
> level of 5000 ccpm (as measured with a 'pancake' GM probe).  This level
> corresponds to 50,000 dpm at most utilities using a standard 10% efficiency.
> Detectable contamination levels on personnel may require trending by use of a
> logbook or similar.  Whenever possible, detectable contamination from
> by-product materials would be decontaminated prior to release of the
> individual.  This standardization is seen as the first step in developing a
> risk based system that would take other factors into account during
> contamination control job planning such as heat stress and other industrial
> hazards.  Any opinions?

Dan,

Pls forgive my ignorance, but what, exactly, is a "risk based system"?  (I got
lost when the term "performance based" entered the lexicon).  Also, what does
"ccpm" represent?  Wouldn't it be a good idea to include an area e.g., "100
square cm." as part of the record for comparison purposes?

How does the "log book" fit into the proposed system?  Would this be something
new?  Aren't all PCEs routinely logged?

As in past discussions of PCE recording, what is the purpose of such recording?
There are so many factors involved in PCEs that merely recording events doesn't
(in IMHO) accomplish anything other than participation in a numbers (bean
counting) game.  PCs are worn to protect workers and recording PC contaminations
as such doesn't seem to me to accomplish much unless the recording of PCEs is to
be used as a substitute for contamination surveys.  Isn't dose the defining
element of an "event"?  Shouldn't determining dose associated with PCEs and
recording this dose be paramount?

Just my own opinions.

Jack Bell, bellstar@erols

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