ALARA Program Protects Workers and the Public

The Code of Federal Regulations cites a radiation dose limit of 5 rem per person, per year. The University of California contractual agreement says 2 rem per person per year. The Laboratory's goal, however, is to keep radiation dose levels lower than that if possible, as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA); this goal is a lot more meaningful than just one more regulation. In performing radiological work we accept the obligation to make the workplace safe with regard to radiation dose and considering the programmatic need.

The assurance that we are performing radiological work as safely as we can is set out in our Justification, Optimization, and Dose Limitation Program. The program's objective is to make sure that our radiological work is performed with the least amount of detriment to our workforce, our programs, and the public. The "linear-no-threshold" approach to radiation protection supports our current regulatory standard and is the guidance we use throughout our radiation protection program. Loosely translated, this approach assumes that there is a detrimental effect from any dose received, no matter how small. Thus, limiting dose is part of the planning of programmatic activities.

With the formation of our first ALARA committee in 1985, we made the commitment to engage in work practices that balance worker safety and programmatic needs in a single philosophy, "ALARA" (as low as reasonably achievable). The ALARA concept encompasses justification, optimization, and dose limitation to form our overall radiological work-practice philosophy.

Balancing these concepts can sometimes be like balancing a Buick and a baseball. "Justification" asks, Is there a positive net benefit? "Optimization" says that all doses shall be kept as low as reasonably achievable, economic and policy factors taken into account, and "dose limitation" says that the dose equivalent to individuals shall not exceed the limits recommended for the appropriate circumstances. These concepts applied out of balance are at least wasteful and can be damaging to a program. Applying them in balance, however, can benefit projects.

In implementing an ALARA program, management gives the workers confidence that every reasonable effort is being made to keep them safe. In addition, an ALARA program can provide management with a focal point for gathering dose information. For almost every new program that comes along, the customer wants to know what the doses will be before the program starts. By looking at dose data from similar programs in the past, we can make some basic assumptions about the doses that can be expected from new programs. We can draw conclusions between experimental processes and production processes. We can also make optimization determinations (cost-risk-benefit analysis to determine whether processes should be changed or left alone with regard to dose avoidance) from available ALARA program information.

Reporting activities and tracking trends are also functions performed by the ALARA program. We can track doses and trends on a scale all the way down to individuals or for each process, team, or group. This ability helps us make informed decisions with regard to if and/or where to spend money to minimize dose levels.

Worker participation is also crucial in meeting ALARA goals. ALARA committees provide a forum available to all employees to express concerns, submit dose-saving ideas or request information about dose. Work that meets specific dose criteria is reviewed for dose optimization before it is performed. The ALARA program assists in design reviews for new processes and can assist in the optimization of established processes. The ALARA program does all of this and provides audit information for the numerous review processes as well. If the ALARA program is healthy, if it is functioning throughout an operational program, and if it is a good program, the impact is a positive one.

A good place to begin reducing exposures is an area where doses are in the intermediate ranges. We can look for things such as radioactive material loading and housekeeping and try to find shielding opportunities that are within the dollar constraints allowed. Activities in pursuit of the ALARA goal do not have to include buying something new, reengineering, or making major programmatic changes; they can be as simple as looking at a process to make sure that nothing else can be done to minimize dose levels in that process. Examples of effective ALARA measures include a preventive maintenance program that looks at stopping dose-related problems proactively or a housekeeping policy that removes some of the sources of radiation. ALARA-driven activities that will be most beneficial arenšt those of large spending or large programmatic change, but those of spending time and money where it will be most effective. The following is just an example of how small dose changes could be contributing to your facility dose: A background increase of 0.05 mrem per hour for a working year can deliver 100 mrem per year to an individual. If a group has 40 people in it, that dose is equivalent to 4 person-rem to the group in a year. Reasonably large dose-avoidance could be gained from seemingly small changes.

We also need to look at the cost-risk-benefit aspect of the ALARA program. That is, we look at the facility dose in terms of the dollars we can spend to avoid components of that dose. The guidance we use to determine what amount of money we can use to avoid dose is Laboratory Procedure (LP) 107-16. In LP 107-16 there is a section that refers to the value of a person-rem. This guidance states that if individuals in a group have doses under two-thirds of the prestated, facility-wide, administrative control level, we can spend, on further dose-reducing measures, up to $2,000 per person-rem of dose avoided. Or if individuals in the group have doses greater than two-thirds of the administrative control level, we can spend up to $10,000 per person-rem of dose avoided.

Operating Group dose data from the commissioning of the Plutonium Facility to the present. The ALARA committee was established in 1985. Today dose optimization methods used to lower exposures are taken for granted: shielding, automation, process improvement, and the inclusion of ALARA goals in project planning

When beginning to apply ALARA approaches to a program, it is important to monitor the results. The record keeping in ALARA activities is important for audit purposes as well as proving whether the changes were worthwhile. Another important reason to monitor changes is to share successes with similar processes. A good thing to remember is that changes should be made that most constantly follow the natural course of work. Dose-saving measures that are contrary to normal work routines can be counterproductive.

In summary, ALARA is a work practice philosophy that is intended to bring a balance between programmatic needs and radiological safety. ALARA is not intended to inhibit programmatic work; rather, it is intended to assure that the work is performed within the most dose-effective and cost-effective manner possible. When applying the ALARA philosophy to a specific task, it is necessary to look not only at the specific task but also to look globally at how changes will effect the entire system. The figure shows historical dose data for the Operations Group.

This article was contributed by Bob Stokes, ESH-1.

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