A Contingency Plan for Catastrophic Loss of Bioassay Services.

The catastrophic loss of direct or indirect bioassay services can severely impact a site or facility's radiation protection program. While highly unlikely, circumstances such as fire, hurricane, other extreme weather conditions, unanticipated events, or contractual business decisions could result in the loss of either the onsite or offsite measurement capabilities for direct or indirect radiobioassay services. The process and elements that need to be addressed in obtaining alternate or replacement bioassay services can be described in relatively simple terms, but can be very complex and time consuming to implement.

Excreta Sampling as an Alternative to In Vivo Measurements at the Hanford Site.

The capabilities of indirect radiobioassay by urine and fecal sample analysis were compared with the direct radiobioassay methods of whole body counting and lung counting for the most common radionuclides and inhalation exposure scenarios encountered by Hanford workers. Radionuclides addressed by in vivo measurement included 137Cs, 60Co, 154Eu, and 241Am as an indicator for plutonium mixtures. The same radionuclides were addressed using gamma energy analysis of urine samples, augmented by radiochemistry and alpha spectrometry methods for plutonium in urine and fecal samples.

Carbon-14 bioassay for decommissioning of Hanford reactors.

The production reactors at the U.S. Department of Energy Hanford Site used large graphite piles as the moderator.

Case study: three acute 241Am inhalation exposures with DTPA therapy.

Three workers incurred inhalation exposures to Am oxide as a result of waste sorting and compaction activities. The exposure magnitudes were not fully recognized until the following day when an in-vivo lung count identified a significant lung deposition of Am in a male worker, and DTPA chelation therapy was initiated. Two additional workers (one female and one male) were then identified as sufficiently exposed to also warrant therapy.