radiation dose Archives - Oak Ridge Today

Four workers received small external doses, SNS outage started early after ‘pressure transient’

Posted at 11:52 pm July 18, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

An aerial view of the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo by ORNL)

Note: This story was updated at 12 p.m. July 19.

Four workers received small external radiation doses and a planned outage of the Spallation Neutron Source was started a few days early after an unexpected “pressure transient” in March, according to Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The low radiation dose levels (less than 25 millirem) were well below the regulatory threshold of 5,000 mrem annual exposure, which was established to protect worker safety, ORNL said in June.

The pressure transient occurred in the SNS mercury loop. When radiation was detected, ORNL staff closed off the affected area and reviewed workersâ€™ dosimeters.

“Readings showed four workers received small external doses, none more than 25 millirem,” ORNL said.

For comparison, a chest x-ray produces a radiation dose of about 6 mrem; a mammogram about 13 mrem, and a head and chest CT scan is 1,100 mrem^[1].

[Read more…]

Final notice: New class of Y-12 workers added to compensation program

Posted at 5:50 pm April 12, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A new class of workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex has been added to a federal energy employees compensation program that was established about two decades ago, officials announced Thursday.

The affected employees would have worked at Y-12 between January 1, 1958, and December 31, 1976. They would have been employees of the U.S. Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, or their contractors and subcontractors. They would have had an aggregate of at least 250 work days. That could have occurred either only through this employment or in combination with work days that meet the parameters established for one or more other classes of employees in what is known as the Special Exposure Cohort.

The notice that the new class of employees has been added to the Special Exposure Cohort was published in the Federal Register by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday. Oak Ridge Today reported in December that the class was being evaluated, based on exposure to radiation from thorium metal parts and plutonium-241 isotopes, and reported in March that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had designated the class of employees to be added. The new designation became effective March 28.

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(For members) NIOSH evaluating another class of Y-12 workers for compensation program

Posted at 2:58 pm April 8, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Federal health and safety officials are evaluating another class of Y-12 employees for a workersÂ compensation program that involves certain illnesses and work at sites that are affiliated with the U.S. Department of Energy.

The petition being evaluated now could include all laborers who fabricated or processed uranium between January 1, 1977, and December 31, 1994, in any area at Y-12. The petition was received November 1 and qualified for evaluation on March 25.

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(For members) HHS designates class of Y-12 workers to be added to compensation program

Posted at 9:05 pm March 25, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has designated a class of Y-12 employees to be added to a federal worker compensation program thatÂ involves certain illnesses and work at sites like Y-12 that are affiliated with the U.S. Department of Energy.

The employees who could be added, unless Congress says otherwise, would have worked at Y-12 between January 1, 1958, and December 31, 1976, when the plant was manufacturing nuclear weapons components during the Cold War. TheyÂ would have had an aggregate total of at least 250 work days. They could have beenÂ employees of DOE, its predecessor agencies, or their contractors and subcontractors.

Oak Ridge Today has previously reported that the workers could be added to theÂ compensation program based on exposure to radiation from thorium metal parts and plutonium-241 isotopes.

The rest of this story, which you will find only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or recent contributor to Oak Ridge Today.Â

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(For members) Y-12 class could be added to worker compensation program based on thorium, Pu-241 exposure

Posted at 6:33 pm December 28, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A new class of Y-12 employees could be added to a federal worker compensation program based on exposure to radiation from thorium metal parts and plutonium-241 isotopes between 1958 and 1976, health officials said.

The worker compensation program involves certain illnesses and work at sites like Y-12 that are affiliated with the U.S. Department of Energy.

The program is a result of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act, which was enacted in October 2000. The act includes what is known as the Special Exposure Cohort. The new class of Y-12 employees could be part of that Special Exposure Cohort.

That designation wouldÂ allow eligible claimants to be compensated without the complete reconstruction of a radiation dose or a determination of the probable cause. AÂ covered employee would have to have at least one of 22 specified cancers.

The class of employees being evaluated now would have worked at Y-12 between January 1, 1958, through December 31, 1976, when Y-12 was manufacturing nuclear weapons components during the Cold War. The employees would have had an aggregate total of at least 250 work days, according to a notice published in the Federal Register this month. The class could change, however, based upon the evaluation.

The rest of this story, which you will find only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or recent contributor to Oak Ridge Today.Â

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Spotlight: ORAU’s Abelquist authors 2nd edition of ‘Decommissioning Health Physics’

Posted at 10:42 pm October 7, 2014
By Oak Ridge Associated Universities Leave a Comment

Eric Abelquist

Revised handbook provides experienced guidance on technical issues of radiation decommissioning projects

As one of the original authors of the “Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual (MARSSIM),” Oak Ridge Associated Universities Executive Vice President Eric Abelquist released updated information on the cleanup of radioactive sites in the second edition of a new handbook geared toward those involved in characterization or remediation efforts.

Extensively revised and updated, the second edition of “Decommissioning Health Physics: A Handbook for MARSSIM Users” covers release criteria, survey instrumentation, detection sensitivity, statistics, dose modeling, and survey procedures. The handbook is published by CRC Press, a division of the Taylor and Francis Group.

Abelquist served as a member of the multi-agency committee representing the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, who produced the MARSSIM to provide guidance to federal agencies, states, site owners, contractors, and other private entities on how to demonstrate that their site is in compliance with a radiation dose or risk-based regulation, otherwise known as a release criterion. [Read more…]