Answer to Question #1686 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

Category: Policy, Guidelines, and Regulations

The following question was answered by an expert in the appropriate field:

Are there any regulations (or guidance) in the United States which detail necessary arrangements for control of contamination at personnel access points to areas where unsealed radioactive materials may be present? (What we in the UK would refer to as "barrier areas" or "changerooms.")

Both the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the US Department of Energy (DOE) have information on this topic.

At the NRC, its regulations contained in 10 CFR Part 20
have no specific regulations or criteria for permissible contamination
levels in the workplace. However, the NRC regional offices have
reasoned that the skin-dose equivalent limits for skin dose indirectly
require controls for materials outside restricted areas, require
posting of radioactive materials areas, and require attention to
resuspension and inhalation. In addition, NRC Regulatory Guide 1.86
provides a criterion of 5,000 dpm/100 cm², removable, as a detection limit to determine whether things, like people, need to be decontaminated or released. NRC Regulatory Guides
8.8, 8.18, Rev. 1, and 8.38 also provide guidance. NRC's NUREG 1736,
October 2001, prepared by NMSS, provides guidance for interpreting Part
20. See Section 3-84 for "Optimization" of contamination. NUREGs can be
found at either the NRC Web site or through the NRC's document retrieval system, ADAMs.

As far as the DOE guidance, its regulations at 10 CFR 835.1102
"Control of Areas" contain the basic DOE requirements intended to
prevent the spread of contamination outside of contaminated areas. 10 CFR 835
contains the requirements for posting contaminated areas. DOE
implementation guide DOE G 441.1-9 "Radioactive Contamination Control"
provides acceptable methods for establishing and implementing a
contamination-control program that meets the requirements in 10 CFR
835. The DOE implementation guides can be found on the DOE Web site. DOE Standard DOE-STD 1098-99 "Radiological Control"
contains additional guidance on establishing and maintaining
radiological controls for contamination control. Much of this material
is contained in Chapter 3 (part 3, appendices 3C and 3D, and Table
3-2).

Cyndi Jones, PhD

Senior Advisor for Materials US NRC

Answer posted on March 1, 2002. The information and material posted on this Web site is intended as general reference information only. Specific facts and circumstances may alter the concepts and applications of materials and information described herein. The information provided is not a substitute for professional advice and should not be relied upon in the absence of such professional advice specific to whatever facts and circumstances are presented in any given situation. Answers are correct at the time they are posted on the Web site. Be advised that over time, some requirements could change, new data could be made available, or Internet links could change. For answers that have been posted for several months or longer, please check the current status of the posted information prior to using the responses for specific applications.