Radiation Protection and the Management of Radioactive Waste in the Oil and Gas Industry VIENNA, 2010 TRAINING COURSE SERIES40 RADIATION PROTECTION AND THE MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY TRAINING COURSE SERIES No. 40 The following States are Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency: AFGHANISTAN GHANA NORWAY ALBANIA GREECE OMAN ALGERIA GUATEMALA PAKISTAN ANGOLA HAITI PALAU ARGENTINA HOLY SEE PANAMA ARMENIA HONDURAS PARAGUAY AUSTRALIA HUNGARY PERU AUSTRIA ICELAND PHILIPPINES AZERBAIJAN INDIA POLAND BAHRAIN INDONESIA PORTUGAL BANGLADESH IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF QATAR BELARUS IRAQ REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA BELGIUM IRELAND ROMANIA BELIZE ISRAEL RUSSIAN FEDERATION BENIN ITALY SAUDI ARABIA BOLIVIA JAMAICA BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA JAPAN SENEGAL BOTSWANA JORDAN SERBIA BRAZIL KAZAKHSTAN SEYCHELLES BULGARIA KENYA SIERRA LEONE BURKINA FASO KOREA, REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE BURUNDI KUWAIT SLOVAKIA CAMBODIA KYRGYZSTAN SLOVENIA CAMEROON LATVIA SOUTH AFRICA CANADA LEBANON SPAIN CENTRAL AFRICAN LESOTHO SRI LANKA REPUBLIC LIBERIA SUDAN CHAD LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA SWEDEN CHILE LIECHTENSTEIN SWITZERLAND CHINA LITHUANIA SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC COLOMBIA LUXEMBOURG TAJIKISTAN CONGO MADAGASCAR THAILAND COSTA RICA MALAWI THE FORMER YUGOSLAV CÔTE D’IVOIRE MALAYSIA REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA CROATIA MALI TUNISIA CUBA MALTA TURKEY CYPRUS MARSHALL ISLANDS UGANDA CZECH REPUBLIC MAURITANIA UKRAINE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC MAURITIUS UNITED ARAB EMIRATES OF THE CONGO MEXICO UNITED KINGDOM OF DENMARK MONACO GREAT BRITAIN AND DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MONGOLIA NORTHERN IRELAND ECUADOR MONTENEGRO EGYPT MOROCCO UNITED REPUBLIC EL SALVADOR MOZAMBIQUE OF TANZANIA ERITREA MYANMAR UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ESTONIA NAMIBIA URUGUAY ETHIOPIA NEPAL UZBEKISTAN FINLAND NETHERLANDS VENEZUELA FRANCE NEW ZEALAND VIETNAM GABON NICARAGUA YEMEN GEORGIA NIGER ZAMBIA GERMANY NIGERIA ZIMBABWE The Agency’s Statute was approved on 23 October 1956 by the Conference on the Statute of the IAEA held at United Nations Headquarters, New York; it entered into force on 29 July 1957. The Headquarters of the Agency are situated in Vienna. Its principal objective is “to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world’’. RADIATION PROTECTION AND THE MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA, 2010 COPYRIGHT NOTICE All IAEA scientific and technical publications are protected by the terms of the Universal Copyright Convention as adopted in 1952 (Berne) and as revised in 1972 (Paris). The copyright has since been extended by the World Intellectual Property Organization (Geneva) to include electronic and virtual intellectual property. Permission to use whole or parts of texts contained in IAEA publications in printed or electronic form must be obtained and is usually subject to royalty agreements. Proposals for non-commercial reproductions and translations are welcomed and considered on a case-by-case basis. Enquiries should be addressed to the IAEA Publishing Section at: Sales and Promotion, Publishing Section International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna International Centre PO Box 100 1400 Vienna, Austria fax: +43 1 2600 29302 tel.: +43 1 2600 22417 email: [email protected] http://www.iaea.org/books For further information on this publication, please contact: Radiation Safety and Monitoring Section International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna International Centre PO Box 100 1400 Vienna, Austria email: [email protected] RADIATION PROTECTION AND THE MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY IAEA, VIENNA, 2010 TRAINING COURSE SERIES No. 40 ISSN 1018-5518 © IAEA, 2010 Printed by the IAEA in Austria May 2010 FOREWORD The oil and gas industry, a global industry operating in many Member States, makes extensive use of radiation generators and sealed and unsealed radioactive sources, some of which are potentially dangerous to human health and the environment if not properly controlled. In addition, significant quantities of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) originating from the reservoir rock are encountered during production, maintenance and decommissioning. The oil and gas industry operates in all climates and environments, including the most arduous conditions, and is continuously challenged to achieve high efficiency of operation while maintaining a high standard of safety and control — this includes the need to maintain control over occupational exposures to radiation, as well as to protect the public and the environment through proper management of wastes that may be radiologically and chemically hazardous. The oil and gas industry is organizationally and technically complex, and relies heavily on specialized service and supply companies to provide the necessary equipment and expertise, including expertise in radiation safety. This training manual is used by the IAEA as the basis for delivering its training course on radiation protection and the management of radioactive waste in the oil and gas industry. Enclosed with this manual is a CD-ROM that contains the presentational material used in the training course, the course syllabus and additional notes for course presenters. The course material is based principally on IAEA Safety Reports Series No. 34 Radiation Protection and the Management of Radioactive Waste in the Oil and Gas Industry, published by the IAEA in 2003. The training course is aimed at regulatory bodies; oil and gas field operators and support companies; workers and their representatives; health, safety and environmental professionals; and health and safety training officers. A pilot training course was held in the Syrian Arab Republic in 2000 as part of the development of Safety Reports Series No. 34. Following the publication of that report in 2003, a consultants meeting was held to start the drafting of the material for this training manual. Further training courses were held in Nigeria in 2003, Indonesia in 2004, and the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and Qatar in 2006. Experience gained in presenting these training courses enabled the course content to be refined and the drafting of this training manual to be finalized in a further two consultants meetings in 2008–2009. Particular acknowledgement is made of the contributions made by J. van der Steen and R. Wheelton. The IAEA officer responsible for this training manual was D.G. Wymer of the Division of Radiation, Transport and Waste Safety. CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Background ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Objective .......................................................................................................................... 1 1.3. Scope ................................................................................................................................ 2 1.4. Structure ........................................................................................................................... 2 1.5. The IAEA and relevant safety-related publications ......................................................... 3 2. RADIOACTIVITY AND RADIATION ............................................................................... 6 2.1 Basic atomic and nuclear structure.................................................................................... 6 2.1.1. Atoms and nuclei..................................................................................................... 6 2.1.2. Elements.................................................................................................................. 6 2.1.3. Isotopes.................................................................................................................... 8 2.1.4. Notation................................................................................................................... 9 2.1.5. Prefixes.................................................................................................................... 9 2.2. Radioactivity .................................................................................................................... 9 2.2.1. Chart of radionuclides .................................................................................................... 10 2.2.2. Radioactive decay and half-life...................................................................................... 10 2.2.3. Quantities and units........................................................................................................ 10 2.2.4. Decay chains .................................................................................................................. 12 2.3. Radiation ........................................................................................................................ 14 2.3.1. Ionization............................................................................................................... 14 2.3.2. Alpha radiation...................................................................................................... 15 2.3.3. Beta radiation ........................................................................................................ 15 2.3.4. Gamma radiation................................................................................................... 16 2.3.5. Neutron radiation..................................................................................................