Emergency response to the uncontrolled release of tritium
- NES, Inc., Danbury, CT (United States)
A U.S. NRC licensed importer of tritium dial wristwatches was inspected by U.S. NRC staff. As a result of that inspection, the importer received a confirmatory action letter (CAL) requesting that the licensee cease operations involving watch decasing and immediately assess the tritium levels in the work area and in the workers. In response to the CAL, operations ceased and the area was isolated. An initial survey consisting of blacklight scans of areas and personnel was performed, and urine bioassay samples were collected. The following day, quantitative smear surveys of the work area indicated smearable contamination levels of up to {approximately}2000 Bq/100 cm{sup 2} on surfaces and {approximately}200 Bq/100 cm{sup 2} on personnel. Bioassay results indicated up to {approximately}35,000 Bq L{sup -1} in the worker`s urine, resulting in a TEDE of {approximately}0.1 mSv. Contamination was also found in an adjacent public cafeteria, in public rest rooms and hallways, a janitorial supply closet, and in the building`s ventilation and drain systems. Decontamination efforts were successful in removing contamination from most surfaces; however, the ceiling tiles were not amenable to decontamination efforts. The applicable release criteria for surfaces was {approximately}83 Bq/100 cm{sup 2} for removable contamination as defined in Reg Guide 1.86, and 370 Bq mL{sup -1} for liquids as defined in 10CFR20. A release survey indicated that the ceiling tiles were in excess of the release criteria. Removable activity levels on the ceiling tiles ranged from {approximately}83 to 200 Bq/100 cm{sup 2}. However, a dose assessment revealed that a total uptake of all removable activity on the tiles by one individual would have resulted in a TEDE of <0.01 mSv. The facility was released for unrestricted use based on the result of that dose assessment.
- OSTI ID:
- 393993
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9607135-; ISSN 0017-9078; TRN: 96:028676
- Journal Information:
- Health Physics, Vol. 70, Issue Suppl.6; Conference: 41. Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society, Seattle, WA (United States), 21-25 Jul 1996; Other Information: PBD: Jun 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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