Pdf Radiation Or Contamination Monitoring
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Safety Department Imperial College London South Kensington Campus London SW7 2AZ Tel: +44 (0) 020 7594 9423 [email protected] www.imperial.ac.uk ` Ionising Radiations Code of Practice and Guidance Surface Contamination and Dose Rate Monitoring Regulation 19 of The Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 (IRR99) requires that the College where it has designated an area either controlled or supervised shall ensure that necessary steps are taken in regard to the nature and extent of the level of risk from exposure to ionising radiation, that levels of ionising radiation are adequately monitored for each area, and working conditions in those areas are kept under review. The Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010 (EPR10) also required users to monitor regularly for contamination and record the results. Each Department / Group Head is responsible for ensuring that suitable radiation and contamination monitoring is carried out in their designated areas as appropriate. The appointed Radiation Protection Supervisor (RPS) is responsible for ensuring that routine and task related monitoring is carried out in designated areas on a regular basis. This monitoring can be done by the RPS or a competent radiation user. The radiation user is responsible for monitoring their work area before and after each use and completing record sheets, acting on any high dose-rate or contamination readings and reporting them to their RPS. 1.0 Definitions A Radiation User / User is a person who is registered with the College Radiation User / User Safety Department to undertake work with ionising radiations. The College is classed as a radiation employer where it undertakes work or practices involving the use of ionising radiations. In EPR10 Radiation Employer Permits, Imperial College London (the radiation employer) is referred to as “the user”. RPA Radiation Protection Adviser RPO Radiation Protection Officer IRR99 Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 RPS Radiation Protection Supervisor EPR10 Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010 2.0 Code of Practice The College is a „radiation employer‟ and therefore has a statutory duty to ensure that levels of ionising radiations are adequately monitored in any Supervised and Controlled Areas on a periodic basis that is appropriate for its working patterns. Any department or individual radiation user working with ionising radiations shall ensure that radiation and contamination survey monitoring is done on a regular basis and the results recorded. The extent of the monitoring required will depend on the nature of the work and the findings of the risk assessment (work registration FORM J). Ref No. IRPM-IRCP-004 Page 1 of 9 Issue 1 June 2004 Issue 3 September 2009 Issue 4 July 2013 Safety Department Imperial College London South Kensington Campus London SW7 2AZ Tel: +44 (0) 020 7594 9423 [email protected] www.imperial.ac.uk Departments are responsible for ensuring that an adequate monitoring programme is in place that is able to indicate breakdowns in control or systems, and detect changes in radiation or contamination levels. Monitoring will be necessary both inside and outside the boundaries of the designated areas. The department must also ensure that all their staff are familiar with the proper use of the instruments available and know how to interpret the results. The radiation user and RPS shall consult with the College RPA or RPO so far as is necessary to ensure that the correct radiation / contamination monitoring equipment will be used. 3.0 Guidance 3.1 Imperial College Monitoring Programme Stage 1) – Task Related Monitoring is performed by the radiation user as a standard procedure especially where ionising radiation is being used regularly during a single working day. Work areas should be monitored before and after each use. Stage 2) – Routine Monitoring is carried out on a weekly or monthly basis by the RPS of the group or department to demonstrate that areas where ionising radiation is used are under constant review, correctly designated, and the Task Related Monitoring is being carried out effectively. Stage 3) – Specific Monitoring is carried out by the RPS, RPO or RPA. This will sometimes involve the use of non-standard monitoring instrumentation to interpret complex data for nuclide identification. Example applications are clearance and decommissioning surveys. Further guidance can be found for Decommissioning and clearance monitoring in IRPM-ICRP-035 (Liquid Scintillation Counting) and IRPM-ICRP-040 (Decommissioning). Ref No. IRPM-IRCP-004 Page 2 of 9 Issue 1 June 2004 Issue 3 September 2009 Issue 4 July 2013 Safety Department Imperial College London South Kensington Campus London SW7 2AZ Tel: +44 (0) 020 7594 9423 [email protected] www.imperial.ac.uk Stage 3 – Specific Monitoring Stage 2- Routine Monitoring Stage 1 – Task Related Monitoring The monitoring programme helps to ensure that all exposures are as low as reasonable practicable (ALARP). 3.2 Surface Contamination Monitoring Surface Contamination monitoring is the process whereby ionising radiations, produced by either loose (i.e. movable) or fixed (i.e. non-movable) radioactive contamination, is monitored. The potential risk of internal exposure when radioactive material is distributed over a surface is of interest. The monitoring can be undertaken by two main methods: Direct Monitoring) - Using a suitable radiation monitor to detect the presence of emissions from surfaces and objects contaminated with radioactive material. Indirect Monitoring) - A swab (wipe) is taken from the contaminated area and is then presented to a monitor in a low background area for measurement or counted in a liquid scintillation counter for a more accurate indication. See IRPM-ICRP-035 (Liquid scintillation counting). Direct monitoring is always preferred since an instant indication of the levels of contamination present is obtained. Direct monitoring may not always be possible due to the following: The contamination being as a result of a radionuclide with a very low energy that cannot be measured by most portable equipment. Tritium or is a good example. Ref No. IRPM-IRCP-004 Page 3 of 9 Issue 1 June 2004 Issue 3 September 2009 Issue 4 July 2013 Safety Department Imperial College London South Kensington Campus London SW7 2AZ Tel: +44 (0) 020 7594 9423 [email protected] www.imperial.ac.uk The radiation background in the area being too high. This situation could occur if trying to monitor for contamination in the vicinity of a radiation source. Indirect surface contamination monitoring (wipe testing) should be adopted for the above scenarios. An advantage of indirect (swab or wipe testing) monitoring is that one can determine whether the radioactive material is loose or fixed. Whilst neither is desirable, in the main, fixed contamination will always be preferable to loose. This is because loose contamination can, by definition, move around in the environment and lead to inhalation or ingestion of radioactive material. 3.3 Suitable Surface Contamination Monitors Surface contamination monitors are used to directly detect the presence of emissions from radioactive substances on surfaces and objects. Even low concentrations of such substances may present a potential internal radiation hazard. The majority of instruments used for this application detect surface emissions in terms of count rate, either units of counts s-1 or counts min-1. Some surface contaimation instruments are programmable and the user can set the likely or typical response to that specific radioisotope with a calibration factor derived from the instruments calibration data. Contact the College RPO for information if required. There are many types of contamination monitoring equipment, too many to describe in this guidance. However table „A‟ below shows some of the most commonlly used at Imperial College London. If you are unsure which surface contamination monitors to use, always consult the College RPA or RPO. Ref No. IRPM-IRCP-004 Page 4 of 9 Issue 1 June 2004 Issue 3 September 2009 Issue 4 July 2013 Safety Department Imperial College London South Kensington Campus London SW7 2AZ Tel: +44 (0) 020 7594 9423 [email protected] www.imperial.ac.uk Table A: Examples of Surface Contamination Monitors Thermo Mini 900 Thermo Mini 900 EP15 Berthold LB1210B 44A Crystal Scintillation Gas filled end window Geiger Gas filled proportional counter. Suitable for detector with a photon- Muller Tube. Suitable for most most beta, x-ray and gamma emitters. (Due multiplier. Suitable for medium energy beta emitters to the instruments wide area detector it is not most gamma emitters C-14 suitable for monitoring around piping and I-125, I-131 S-35 confined spaces). Can detect P-32, P-33, C- Cr-51 P-32 14, I-125 and Co-60. There is an extended list of radioisotopes used at Imperial College with the recommended instruments to be used for direct surface contamination monitoring in Appendix A. There are other instruments available but before purchase / use the RPO or RPA must be contacted regarding suitability. 3.4 Basic guidelines for Contamination Monitoring Regardless of which stage of the monitoring programme you are undertaking: . Make sure you have selected the correct instrument to carry out the monitoring, that it is working properly and has been calibrated. Move the instrument detector slowly over the surface you are intending to monitor. Distance from the face of the detector to the surface you are monitoring should be approximately 3mm. Try not to make contact between the probe and the surface being monitored as the probe can become damaged or contaminated. Use the audio for any initial detection indication. Once any contamination has been found, keep the detector over the area giving the highest reading and record a reading from the display. Record the instrument readings for the areas monitored as you go along. Report all readings (including background readings) on the monitoring record. Always report any contamination found and carry out appropriate cleaning procedures to reduce the level of activity as far as reasonably practicable.