Radiation protection standards

Code of Federal Regulations, Tide 40, Protection of Environment, Part 190, Environmental Radiation Protection Standards for Nuclear Power Operations, Washington, D.C., 1976. 

EPA, 1999, 40 CFR Part 197, Environmental Radiation Protection Standards for Yucca Mountain,... 

FRC (1961). Federal Radiation Council, Background Material for the Development of Radiation Protection Standards, FRC Report No. 2 (U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington). 

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). 1992. Effects of Ionizing Radiation on Plants and Animals at Levels Implied by Current Radiation Protection Standards. Technical Reports Series No. 332. IAEA, Vienna, Austria. 74 pp. 

Zach, R., J.L. Hawkins, and S.C. Sheppard. 1993. Effects of ionizing radiation on breeding swallows at current radiation protection standards. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 12 779-786. 

Albert. R.E. (1983) The acceptability of using the cancer risk estimates associated with the radiation protection standard of 5 lems/year as the basis for setting protection standards for chemical carcinogens with special reference to vinyl chloride, Report to Ministry of Labor, Occupational Health and Safety Division, Ibronto, Ontetrio, Canada (Ministry of Labor, Occupational Health and Safety Division, Ibronto, Ontario, Canada). 

Exempt Radioactive Wastes. The radioactive waste classification system in the United States does not include a general class of exempt waste (see Table 1.1). Rather, many products and materials that contain small amounts of radionuclides (e.g., specified consumer products, liquid scintillation counters containing 3H and 14C) have been exempted from requirements for use or disposal as radioactive material on a case-by-case basis. The various exemption levels are intended to correspond to low doses to the public, especially compared with dose limits in radiation protection standards for the public or doses due to natural background radiation. However, the exemption levels are not based on a particular dose, and potential doses to the public resulting from use or disposal of the exempt products and materials vary widely. 

The chemical paradigm also differs from the radiation paradigm in that there are no standards that apply to all controlled sources of exposure and all hazardous substances combined, as in radiation protection standards. Regulations for hazardous chemicals generally apply only to specific release pathways (eg., the atmosphere) or... 

Established Exemption Levels. NRC s radiation protection standards in 10 CFR Part 20 (NRC, 1991) include limits on concentrations or annual releases of radionuclides for unrestricted discharge into sanitary sewer systems, except any excreta from individuals undergoing medical treatment with radioactive material are exempt from the limits. These regulations also include an exemption for land disposal of liquid scintillation materials and animal carcasses that contain 2 kBq g 1 (0.05 pCi g-1) or less of 3H or 14C, although the exempted scintillation materials must be managed in accordance with RCRA requirements due to the presence of toluene. 

NRC regulations described above represent a case-by-case approach to establishing exemption levels for radioactive material. Although the various exemption levels are expected to correspond to low doses from use and disposal of materials compared, for example, with dose limits in radiation protection standards for the public... 

Establishing an acceptable risk or dose. There also are a number of precedents for establishing an acceptable (barely tolerable) risk or dose of substances that cause stochastic responses for the purpose of classifying waste as low-hazard or high-hazard. For radionuclides, the annual dose limit for the public of 1 mSv currently recommended by ICRP (1991) and NCRP (1993a) and contained in current radiation protection standards (DOE, 1990 NRC, 1991) could be applied to hypothetical inadvertent intruders at licensed near-surface disposal facilities for low-hazard waste. This dose corresponds to an estimated lifetime fatal cancer risk of about 4 X 10 3. Alternatively, the limits on concentrations of radionuclides in radioactive waste that is generally acceptable for near-surface disposal,... 

MILLS, W.A., FLACK, D.S., ARSENAULT, F.J. and CONTI, E.F. (1988). A Compendium of Major United States Radiation Protection Standards and Guides Legal and Technical Facts, Oak Ridge Associated Universities Report ORAU 88/F-lll (Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Oak Ridge, Tennessee). 

Taylor, L.S. Radiation Protection Standards. Cleveland CRC Press, 1971. 112 pp. 

EPA. 1988c. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental radiation protection standards for nuclear power operations. 40 CFR 190. 

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (2001) 40 CFR Part 197 public Health and environmental radiation protection standards for Yucca Mountain, NV final rule. Federal Register 66, 32074-32135. 

Bikini Atoll Rehabilitation Committee, BARC Resettlement of Bikini Atoll Feasibility and Estimated Cost of Meeting the Federal Radiation Protection Standards, Rep. No. 1, submitted to the US Congress, House and Senate Committees on Interior Appropriations, pursuant to Public Law 97-257 (15 November 1984). 

Hazardous waste that contains radioactive material (i.e., mixed waste) is regulated under both the AEA and RCRA. Under the AEA, the EPA has responsibility for setting radiation protection standards, which are implemented through DOE orders, e.g., Order 5820.2A for DOE radioactive materials (2 ). This dual regulation further complicates environmental restoration activities that involve mixed waste. 

EPA. 2001i. Environmental radiation protection standards for management and disposal of spent nuclear fuel, high-level and transuranic radioactive wastes. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Code of Federal Regulations. 40 CFR 191, Subpart A, B, and C. Http //www4.1aw.comell.edu/cfr/40p 191. htm. May 11,2001. 

Federal Radiation Council, Background Material for the Development of Radiation Protection Standards, Rep. No. 5 (1964) Background Material for the Development of Radiation Protection Standards Protective Action Guides for strontium 89, strontium 90 and caesium 137, Rep. No. 7 (1965). Both from U.S. Govt. Printing Office, Washington, DC. 

CFR190 Environmental Radiation Protection Standards for Nuclear... 

Selected Radiation Protection Standards from 10 CFR Part 20... 

DOE 5400.5, RADIATION PROTECTION OF THE PUBLIC AND THE ENVIRONMENT, which establishes radiation protection standards and program requirements to protect the public and the environment from ionizing rad i at i on. 

Radiation protection standards and solid-state dosimetry standards are referred to in published papers on the subject. The symbols for the standards are very often national and vary from one country to another. Becker (1996) describes the various standards and gives references to earlier papers on the standards. 

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