Pacific Northwest Laboratory ALARA report for Calendar Year 1994

This report provides summary results of the Calendar Year (CY) 1994 As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) Program performance at the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL). This report includes data regarding performance in the area of personnel exposures to radiation, skin contaminations, control of contaminated areas, minimization of radioactive waste, and control of radioactive releases. In CY 1994: (1) The collective total effective dose equivalent to PNL employees during 1994 was 55 person-rem. The Field Dosimetry Services of the Radiological Control Department, Technical Support Section, projected that no PNL employee`s dose would exceed 2 rem based on dosimeters processed during the year; no worker actually exceeded the projection-by the end of CY 1994. The maximum dose to any individual was 1.11 rem. (2) There were 34 instances of skin and personal-clothing contamination events for PNL employees during 1994. Eighteen of these contamination events occurred at the 324 Building; eleven occurred at the 325 Building; two occurred in the 327 Building; one occurred in the 326 Building; one occurred in the 3708 Building; and one occurred in the RTL Building. (3) PNL facilities contained 12 Airborne Radioactivity Areas, and 60 Contamination Areas and High Contamination Areas. The area of the Airborne Radioactivity Areas was 383 m{sup 2}(4125 ft{sup 2}). The area of the Contamination Areas was 5290 m{sup 2}(56,947 ft{sup 2}). The area of the High Contamination Areas was 266 m{sup 2}(2863 ft{sup 2}). (4) PNL disposed of 10.5 m{sup 3}(371 ft{sup 3}) of compacted low level waste. Also disposed was 423 m{sup 3} (14,949 ft{sup 3}) of noncompacted low level and mixed waste that was not subject to volume reduction. The total radioactivity of the disposed waste was 1217 Ci. (5) PNL facilities released 165.2 Ci of noble gas, 3.0E-5 Ci of airborne particulate radioactive material, and 12.2 Ci of tritium to the environment