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Radioactive Materials Transportation and Incident Response

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Radioactive Materials Transportation and Incident Response RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS TRANSPORTATION AND INCIDENT RESPONSE U.S. Department of Energy Transportation Emergency Preparedness Program Q&A About Incident Response 04/12 QA Phone Number Radio Frequency Law Enforcement ____________________________________ RADIOACTIVE Fire ___________________________________________ MATERIALS Medical ____________________________________________ TRANSPORTATION AND INCIDENT RESPONSE State Radiological Assistance ___________________________ Local Government Official ______________________________ Local Emergency Management Agency ___________________ State Emergency Management Agency ___________________ HAZMAT Team ______________________________________ Water Pollution Control ________________________________ CHEMTEL (Toll-free US & Canada) 1-800-255-3924 _________ CHEMTREC (Toll-free US & Canada) 1-800-424-9300 _______ CHEMTREC (Outside US) 1-703-527-3887 ________________ National Response Center (Toll-free US & Canada) 1-800-424-8802 ____________ In Washington, D.C. 1-202-267-2675 _____________________ Military Shipments (DoD) Call Collect 1-703-697-0218 _______ Other: ______________________________________________ Other: ______________________________________________ QQ&A About Incident Response NOTES TABLE OF CONTENTS What is radiation?.................................................................................... 2 ______________________________________________ What is radiation exposure? .................................................................... 3 ______________________________________________ How can I detect radiation?..................................................................... 4 How is radiation measured? .................................................................... 4 ______________________________________________ Is it safe to be around sources of radiation? ........................................... 5 ______________________________________________ How can I keep radiation exposure low? ................................................ 6 What guidance is available for emergency responders? ........................ 6 ______________________________________________ What should I know about alpha, beta, and gamma radiation? .............. 7 ______________________________________________ What is radioactive contamination? ........................................................ 9 How can I work safely around contamination? ....................................... 9 ______________________________________________ Is contamination possible? .................................................................... 11 ______________________________________________ How do I survey for contamination? ...................................................... 10 What do the markings and labels on packages of radioactive material ______________________________________________ indicate? ................................................................................................ 13 How much radioactivity is in a package? .............................................. 15 ______________________________________________ What do the placards for shipment of radioactive material indicate? ... 16 ______________________________________________ What types of radioactive material packages am I likely to encounter? 18 Is a package breached? ........................................................................ 20 ______________________________________________ What do I do if I am the first to arrive at an accident scene? ............... 21 ______________________________________________ What are some guidelines for incident command? ............................... 22 How is a control line established? ......................................................... 24 ______________________________________________ What are general guidelines for responding to a fire? .......................... 26 ______________________________________________ What are general guidelines for responding to a spill or a leak? .......... 27 What are the guidelines for emergency medical management? ........... 28 ______________________________________________ How can I tell if a person is contaminated with radioactive materials? 29 ______________________________________________ How do I use radiation detection instruments? ..................................... 30 Who responds to an accident involving a shipment of radioactive ______________________________________________ material? ................................................................................................ 39 How are nuclear weapons transported and what do I do in the ______________________________________________ event of an accident? ............................................................................ 40 ______________________________________________ Glossary ........................................................................................................... 42 Who should be called for assistance in transportation accidents ______________________________________________ involving radioactive materials?...................................................................... 46 Where can I get more information about the transportation of ______________________________________________ radioactive materials? ..................................................................................... 47 INTRODUCTION Radioactive materials are among the many kinds of hazardous substances emergency responders might have to deal with in a transportation accident. Because strict packaging requirements are used in the shipment of radioactive materials, accidental spills or releases of these substances seldom occur. Very few emergency responders have ever had to deal with transportation accidents involving radioactive materials, and these accidents will continue to be rare occurrences. Nevertheless, it is prudent for you, as an emergency responder, to know your role in responding to such an accident should one occur in your community. Like most emergency first responders, you might have questions about these accidents and your involvement in them. This booklet was written to answer questions most frequently asked by fire fighters, law enforcement officers, and emergency medical services personnel. The booklet is not intended as a substitute for the US Department of Transportation (DOT) Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG) for hazardous materials incidents. Remember that some radioactive materials can also be chemically hazardous. Use the Emergency Response Guidebook and the appropriate guide during any transportation accident involving a hazardous material. Note that words appearing as italics text with an underline are defined in the glossary at the end of this booklet There is a "background" of What is radiation? natural radiation in our QA environment. It comes Radiation is energy that comes from a source and travels through from cosmic rays some material or through space. Light, heat, and sound are types of and from naturally radiation. The kind of radiation discussed in this booklet is called ionizing occurring radioactive radiation because it can produce charged particles (ions) in matter. materials contained in the earth and in living things. Ionizing radiation is produced by unstable atoms. Unstable atoms differ from stable atoms because they have an excess of energy or mass or both. Unstable atoms are referred to as radioactive atoms. In order to reach stability, these atoms give off, or emit, the excess energy or Natural background radiation exposure. mass in the form of particles or rays. These emissions are called radiation. The kinds of radiation are electromagnetic (like light) and particulate (i.e., mass given off with the energy of motion). Gamma radiation and X-rays are examples of electromagnetic radiation. Beta QA What is radiation exposure? and alpha radiation are examples of particulate radiation. Ionizing Radiation exposure or irradiation occurs when all or a part of the body radiation can also be produced by devices such as X-ray machines. is exposed to radiation from an radioactive source. Radioactive material used in medicine, research, and industry Exposure to radiation alone does not make a person radioactive. Radiation from Various Sources Natural Background Radiation n US Average, 100 mrem/yr (1 mSv/yr) Natural Radioactivity in Body Tissue According to NCRP n 50 mrem/yr (.5 mSv/yr) Report 160, the average Annual Dose Air Travel Round Trip (London-New York) in the United States Irradiation occurs when a person is exposed n 4 mrem (.04 mSv) from Natural and to penetrating radiation. This can occur from Man-made Sources a variety of radiation sources. Commonly Chest X-ray encountered sources include those used in n 10 mrem per test (.1 mSv per test) is Approximately 620 mrem medical and industrial applications. The photos above and to the right (clockwise CT Scan of Abdomen/Pelvis from top) show packages containing n 1,000 mrem per test (10 mSv per test) radiopharmaceuticals, a box containing radioactive sources used in research, and Radon in the Home a soil density gauge used for testing the n 200 mrem/yr (variable) (2 mSv/yr) compaction of soil. Radiation is often measured in units of microR (µR) or milliR (mR) per hour. Typically, background radiation Is it safe to be around sources of radiation? levels range from to 0 µR/hour. QA Too much radiation exposure can be harmful. The degree of radiation injury depends on the dose of radiation received. In general, the higher the dose, the greater the severity of early effects
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