TITLE:

ES&H Manual

 

DOCUMENT ID:

6315 Environmental Monitoring of Ionizing Radiation

 

 

1.0          Introduction

 

Jefferson Lab monitors ionizing radiation emanating from sources here.  ES&H Manual Chapter 6310 Protection from Ionizing Radiation discusses the program for minimizing risk to people when working near sources of ionizing radiation.  The Environmental Monitoring of Ionizing Radiation program ensures compliance with legal and regulatory environmental protection requirements imposed by Federal, State, and local agencies.  This includes meeting state permitting requirements under the Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) program.  ES&H Manual Chapter 8011 Environmental Monitoring Program, addresses the general site environmental monitoring program.  As the major portion of environmental monitoring involves measuring radiological effects from accelerator and physics program activities, this chapter addresses a significant portion of the environmental monitoring program requirements.

 

This chapter documents a monitoring plan to assess past, current, and future activities by measuring and monitoring radioactivity in Jefferson Lab effluents and in environmental media.  This plan takes into account the unique features of Jefferson Lab and is designed to monitor specific radionuclides which may be released due to operation of an electron accelerator and related physics experiments.

 

Information in this chapter is interrelated with requirements addressed in ES&H Manual Chapter 6310 Protection from Ionizing Radiation and ES&H Manual Chapter 8031 Groundwater Protection.  Related program and quality assurance procedures are contained in the ES&H Manual Radiation Control (RadCon) Supplement.

 

2.0          Hazard Avoidance

 

For the purposes of radiation protection, both worker exposures and effluent releases will be kept as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA).  Environmental ALARA considerations should be reviewed as part of each completely new experiment or major equipment modification.  ALARA principles address individual actions, such as performance of good housekeeping as well as engineering/experimental design modifications and use of appropriate administrative controls.  Established operating procedures and radiological control guidelines must be followed at all times.

 

Staff members involved in environmental monitoring activities will contribute towards hazard avoidance by:

 

 

3.0          Responsibilities

 

3.1            Everyone at Jefferson Lab

·       Bring concerns regarding the release or use of radioactive materials or ionizing radiation sources to the attention of the Radiation Control Group (RadCon) at ext. 7551.

·       Report evidence of water or soil contamination, especially in the vicinity of the accelerator area or monitoring wells, to your supervisor and to Environmental, Safety, Health, and Quality (ESH&Q) staff.

 

3.2            Supervisor/Subcontracting Officer’s Technical Representative (SOTRs)/Sponsor

·       Instruct employees to follow rules and written procedures concerning the release of radioactive materials to the environment.

·       Ensure that RadCon advice about radiation control is properly incorporated.

·       Ensure that systems under your control, which contain radioactive material, are properly maintained.

·       Give due consideration to any special monitoring requirements or work limitations that could have an environmental impact.

·       Ensure subcontractors follow applicable Jefferson Lab procedures and guidelines.

·       Obtain RadCon approval to have any earthwork performed within the fenced accelerator area.

 

3.3            ESH&Q Staff

·       Contact RadCon to monitor any potentially radioactive materials from within the accelerator area fence for radiological contamination prior to removing those materials from the work site.

 

3.4            RadCon Staff

·       Monitor adherence to:

o   This chapter and the ES&H Manual Radiation Control (RadCon) Supplement.

o   Requirements as defined in local, state, and federal permits and laws.

·       Monitor potentially radioactive material from within the accelerator fence for radiological contamination prior to removal from site, as necessary.

·       Provide support to monitor earthwork activities for radiological contamination as necessary within any radiological area.

·       Train staff and subcontractors per applicable Jefferson Lab procedures and guidelines before they start the job.

 

3.5            RadCon Manager

·       Monitor practices for the protection of people and the environment from ionizing radiation at Jefferson Lab.

·       Maintain health physics instrumentation used for making radiation measurements.

·       Ensure that sampling and analytical schedules are consistent with those described in this and related chapters.

·       Maintain environmental monitoring records and provide data as needed for reports.

·       Review regulatory compliance issues and take action as necessary.

·       Determine the effectiveness of the environmental radiation monitoring program and adjust as necessary.

·       Ensure that accelerator and physics program design, construction, operations, and maintenance are conducted in accordance with the ALARA principles and applicable regulations.

 

3.6            ESH&Q Reporting

·       Serve as information link to Department of Energy (DOE) and regulatory agencies.

 

Text Box: Note: refer to other roles in ES&H Manual Chapter 8011 Environmental Monitoring Program.

 

4.0          Training/Qualifications

 

The RadCon Manager is responsible for radiation monitoring and must have a thorough knowledge of radiation measurements and monitoring instrumentation, as well as with all applicable radiological regulations.

 

All environmental monitoring of radiation is performed by technicians/staff/subcontractors working under the supervision of RadCon.  Those persons must have received training for the specific task they will perform.  Depending upon task requirements, a person’s training may include:

 

 

Special training and qualifications are needed for handling samples of activated materials.  Refer to ES&H Manual Radiation Control (RadCon) Supplement Chapter 6: Training and Qualifications for handling information.

 

5.0          Program Summary

 

Monitoring the effect of ionizing radiation on the environment shall be conducted to satisfy these objectives:

 

 

Program sampling type and frequency is based on the activities conducted at Jefferson Lab. Effluent streams and environmental media conditions are characterized via standard sample collection and analytical methods.  Data summaries and exposure rates are presented in the Site Environmental Report (SER) prepared annually by ESH&Q Reporting.  Descriptions of the various environmental monitoring of ionizing radiation activities follow; procedures may be found in ES&H Manual Chapter 6315 Appendix T1 Ionizing Radiation Monitoring Procedures.

 

5.1            Air

Significant atmospheric releases of radionuclides are not expected to result from the accelerator operations and physics experiments at Jefferson Lab.  However, the facility must comply with the requirements of Title 40 CFR Part 61, Subpart H--”National Emission Standards for Emissions of Radionuclides Other Than Radon From Department of Energy Facilities”.  This regulation is also known as the radionuclide National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP).  Promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this standard limits emissions of radionuclides to the ambient air to amounts that would cause a member of the public to receive an annual effective dose equivalent of no more than 10 mrem.  RadCon oversees compliance of this program as described in ES&H Manual Chapter 6315 Appendix T1 Ionizing Radiation Monitoring Procedures.

 

Pursuant to NESHAP regulations, the EPA approved the DOE request to construct Jefferson Lab at the Newport News site on August 14, 1987.  The notification of startup of this source of radionuclide releases was provided to the EPA in January 1996.

 

5.2            External Radiation

Neutron radiation from Jefferson Lab can give rise to very low levels of radiation exposure at the site boundary.  Site boundary limits are described in the ES&H Manual Radiation Control (RadCon) Supplement Chapter 2; Radiological Standards. Active neutron monitors are used to monitor these types of radiation exposures at key locations around the site boundary.  Passive neutron fission track-etch foil detectors are also used to monitor conditions along the site boundary.

 

5.3            Water

5.3.1       Groundwater

The accelerator beam delivered to the beam dumps and elsewhere causes radiation that could activate nearby soil and groundwater.

 

Jefferson Lab has performed preoperational monitoring to establish an environmental baseline.  Baseline data was collected between September 1989 and the effective date of VPDES Permit No. VA0089320.  Monthly and quarterly sampling and analysis of groundwater was performed according to the terms of Jefferson Lab’s Virginia Pollution Abatement (VPA) permit.  Samples have been analyzed at a radioanalytical laboratory for the following radionuclides:

 

·       Total Radium

·       Sodium-24

·       Strontium-90

·       Manganese-54

·       Calcium-45

·       Cobalt-60

·       Gross Alpha

·       Cesium-134

·       Gross Beta

·       Tritium

·       Beryllium-7

·       Thorium-230

·       Sodium-22

·       Thorium-232

 

Data have been submitted to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) by the tenth of the month following each reporting period.  Sample protocols are shown in ES&H Manual Chapter 6315 Appendix T1 Ionizing Radiation Monitoring Procedures.  Well locations monitored are provided in ES&H Manual Chapter 8011 Environmental Monitoring Program.  A statistical analysis was also provided to the DEQ that established Jefferson Lab’s groundwater monitoring baseline for long term facility monitoring under the permit.

 

Long term facility monitoring under the terms of the Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) Permit began in mid-1996.

 

·       Sampling and analysis for each of the following radionuclides shall be done at each of the VPDES-identified wells.

 

o   Gross Beta

o   Tritium

o   Sodium-22

o   Beryllium-7

o   Manganese-54

 

·       Sampling and analysis for each of the following radionuclides shall be done at the groundwater dewatering point.

 

o   Tritium

o   Sodium-22

o   Beryllium-7

o   Manganese-54

 

Data shall be submitted to the DEQ by the tenth of the month following the permitted reporting period.  Sample protocols are the same as for preoperational monitoring.  Well locations for long term monitoring are shown in ES&H Manual Chapter 8011 Environmental Monitoring Program.

 

5.3.2       Surface Water Discharges

Since pump discharges in accelerator areas could contain low levels of induced radioactivity, effluent water will be periodically collected from the accelerator and end station dewatering sumps and analyzed for the same radioactive constituents as the groundwater samples.  Additional sumps and surface water bodies are monitored periodically.  The data are compared to the on-site groundwater limits and operations are managed to ensure that any offsite release is within applicable regulations and conditions.  Refer to ES&H Manual Chapter 6315 Appendix T1 Ionizing Radiation Monitoring Procedures for more information.

 

5.3.3       Sanitary Sewer

There are accelerator and end station areas where water can become activated from interaction with particle beams during operations.  The beam dump cooling water systems for Halls A and C are most affected by operations.  Discharge to the sanitary sewer system is the optimal path to process the small quantities of activated water involved.

 

DOE and Virginia allow discharge of 5 Curie (Ci) of tritium and 1 Ci of all other radionuclides annually to the sanitary sewer (Draft Rule 10 CFR 834, and Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Health Radiation Protection Regulations).

 

All radioactivated effluents to the sanitary sewer will be monitored for radioactivity content.  The monitoring will be used to document the quantity of radioactivity released and will be reported to the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Health, Bureau of Radiological Health, the Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD), and the DOE.  This information will also be included in the SER.

 

5.3.4       Soil

Soil may serve as a sink for radionuclides released to the environment during facility operations.  Long-term trends may be assessed by analyzing soil samples collected on the site grounds for radionuclides.  Samples may be collected periodically from selected sites at Jefferson Lab. NRC Regulatory Guide 4.5, 1986 Annual Book of American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standards, and HASL-300 will be used as guidance.  The soil samples will be analyzed via gamma spectroscopy.  The need for samples, sampling location, frequency, and type will be determined by periodically reviewing Jefferson Lab operations and the potential for radionuclide production.  If radionuclides of concern are identified at concentrations significantly greater than background, radionuclide concentration profiles will be generated by collection and analysis of surface and/or sub-surface samples.

 

RadCon staff will monitor soil in the vicinity of any controlled areas that will be disturbed in the course of construction or demolition activities.

 

·       Note that any activated soil would usually be returned to location found.

·       If this is not possible, RadCon staff would determine the proper disposal method and manage the disposal.

 

6.0          Recordkeeping Requirements

 

Effluent monitoring and environmental surveillance records will be maintained by RadCon in a form suitable for auditing.  The records will be summarized in the annual Jefferson Lab SER.

 

The Jefferson Lab SER presents the lab’s environmental compliances status and discusses ongoing programs in regards to the most recent calendar year.  For more information refer to ES&H Manual Chapter 8010 Environmental Protection Program.

 

Computer programs utilized for environmental compliance, such as CAP-88PC, will be referenced in all reports/documents which are based on these programs.

 

Records and reports will use applicable reporting and recordkeeping guidelines as outlined in regulations, permits, and other applicable guidance.

 

 

 

ISSUING AUTHORITY

CHAPTER AUTHOR

APPROVAL DATE

EFFECTIVE DATE

EXPIRATION DATE

REV.

 

 

ESH&Q Division

Vashek Vylet

12/09/03

12/09/03

12/09/06

0

 

This document is controlled as an on line file.  It may be printed but the print copy is not a controlled document.  It is the user’s responsibility to ensure that the document is the same revision as the current on line file.  This copy was printed on 3/21/2012.