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Government of India Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
Health Physics Division
Ref: HPD/PKS/ /# 7 2011 Date: August 16,2011
Sub.: Recommendation of Task Group for providing guidelines for
evaluation ofinternal dose due to actinides
The Task Group formed with reference to ORPRS/RGP/2010/06/1445,
has reviewed the existing procedures of lung counting, bioassay
monitoring and methodology of dose evaluation in case of acute as
well as chronic exposure cases. The Committee has brought out its
recommendations and provided guidelines in the form of a Manual. To
assign dose to chronic cases of < 1 mBq d"' urinary excretion of
Pu, the infrastructure of Bioassay Laboratories need to be
augmented so as to assign doses at exposure to 1/10th of an
ALI.
1. Bioassay Laboratory should have 10 alpha counters and 8
channel alpha spectrometry systems for counting of each sample for
a period of 5 days to achieve a Detection Limit of 0.2 mBq d"1 for
Type M compounds of Pu.
2. In order to evaluate dose due to acute exposure, one set of
bioassay sample needs to be collected before administration of
Ca-DTPA aerosol / 1. V.
3. The present detection limit of 1 mBq d'1 corresponds to a CED
of 6 mSv (Type M) which is not being added to the external exposure
of the individual; hence it is recommended that the external
exposure be restricted to 14 mSv a"1.
4. For effective implementation of ICRP recommendations,
Bioassay Labs, should be equipped with HR-ICP-MS.
The manual is attached herewith for implementation at
Laboratories / Facilities handling actinides. v
(P. K. Sarkar)Head, Health Physics Division
Distributions to:Director, H. S & E. G.
^/Director, NRG Director, NFG Director, NRB Director,
RC&IG
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Government of India Department of Atomic Energy
Bhabha Atomic Research centre
Manual on Internal Dosimetry of Transuranics
Report of the Task Group for Internal Dosimetry Programme for
Transuranics
Issued by
HEALTH PHYSICS DIVISION Health, Safety and Environment Group
BARC
June, 2011
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MANUAL FOR INTERNAL DOSIMETRY OF TRANSURANICS FOR OCCUPATIONAL
WORKERS
CONTENTS
1 : Introduction 1
2 : Measurement Techniques
2.1 Lung counting technique 2
2.1.1 Principle 2
2.1.2 Methodology of Lung counting
2.1.2.1 Detectors 3
2.1.2.2 Energy calibration 3
2.1.2.3 Efficiency calibration 3
2.1.2.4 Estimation of chest wall thickness (MEQ-CWT) 4
2.1.2.5 Evaluation of activity 4
2.1.2.6 Minimum Detectable activity 4
2.1.2.7 Spectrum unfolding 5
2.1.3 Pu/Am ration evaluation 6
2.1.4 Estimation of intake from lung burden measurement 6
2.1.5 Periodicity of lung monitoring 7
2.1.5.1 Routine monitoring 7
2.1.5.2 Incidental monitoring 7
2.1.6 Sensitivity of lung counting technique 7
2.2 Bioassay
2.2.1 Bioassay technique 8
2.2.2 Sensitivity of the bioassay technique and its limitations
8
3 : Analysis Procedures
3.1 Sampling and analytical procedures for bioassay
3.2 Sample collection procedure
3.2.1 Faeces
3.2.2 Urine
3.2.3 Other samples
3.3 Sample processing
3.4 Radiochemical separation
13
13
13
13
14
14
14
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3.4.1 Sample preparation 14
3.4.2 Sequential chemical separation for Urine, Faeces and other
samples 15
3.4.3 Electrodeposition 15
3.4.4 Reporting of results 15
4 : Quality Assurance Programme
4.1 Introduction 16
4.2 Intercomparison for lung counting laboratories 16
4.3 Intercomparisons among different laboratories of HPD and IDD
16
4.4 Intercomparison with IRC and IAEA 17
5 : Action Plan for Pu-Am Internal Exposure Incidents
5.1 Action plan for Pu-Am inhalation incidents 19
5.1.1 Procedure for taking nasal swabs 19
5.1.2 Flow chart of action plan 20
5.2 Action plan for Pu-Am injection incidents 22
6 : Estimation of Intake based on routine Urine analysis
6.1 Introduction 24
6.2 Recommendations 24
6.3 Dose accounting and control 25
7 : Record keeping and reporting procedures
7.1 Direct method 26
7.2 Urine analysis 26
7.3 Dose record keeping 27
Conclusions 27
Acknowledgements 27
References 27
Annexure - 1 (list of contributors) 28
Annexure - 2 (examples of dose calculation) 30
ii
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Executive Summary
Estimation of internal contamination of occupational workers to
transuranics is
undertaken based on the results of in-vivo lung counting and/or
bioassay measurements.
Head, Health Physics Division constituted a Task Group in 2010
to develop methodology and
procedures for evaluating internal doses from the measurements
in view of the complex
nature of the problem. The committee after due deliberations has
prepared this manual
featuring measurement techniques and analytical procedures for
transuranics, action plan to
deal with Pu-Am inhalation exposure cases, routine monitoring
and methodology for dose
calculation, methods to be used for dose control and accounting.
The important
recommendations for the action plan, dose assessment, control
and accounting are as follows:
A) Action plan for acute Pu-Am inhalation: 1
Suspected acute inhalation to Pu-Am aerosols is indicated by
measurement of gross
alpha activity in the nasal swab of the worker.
If alpha activity in nasal swab of the exposed worker is:
i) < 6 Bq :No further action is contemplated as the estimated
intake is < 0.1 ALI
ii) 6-18 Bq:Administer Ca DTPA by inhalation under medical
supervision in hospital. Collect a urine sample before
administering Ca-DTPA. Lay off the worker from radioactive work for
12 weeks. Carry out urine and faecal analysis as per action plan.
Estimate intake using ICRP 78/IMBA software and decide
redeployment.
iii) > 18 Bq :Administer Ca DTPA by inhalation tinder medical
supervision followed by Ca DTPA intravenous injection and lay off
worker from radioactive work for 12 weeks. Collect a urine sample
before administering Ca-DTPA. Carry out lung counting, repeat urine
and faecal analysis as per action plan and decide redeployment.
B) Action plan for chronic Pu-Am inhalation:
Routine bioassay programme is carried out to identify the
chronic cases of exposure to Pu-Am aerosols once in a year.
If urinary excretion rate of Pu-Am is :i)
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iii) >3 mBq/day:Remonitor for confirmation after two weeks
and also carry out lung counting. Further actions are to be based
on results of remonitoring.
iv) 1-3 mBq/day for three consecutive years :Carry out follow-up
monitoring at 1 month interval for 3 months. Take average of the
last three measurements and calculate intake assuming the time of
intake as 2 years ago.
C) Dose control and accounting:
The committee recommends the following for individual dose
accounting and control.
i) The Committed Effective Dose (CED), resulting from the intake
of relevant radionuclides
(fission products and actinides), in a year, by the occupational
worker should be added to
the external effective dose received by him/her in the year and
the sum of the doses
should be treated as the effective dose for the year. Similarly,
the CED, resulting from the
intake in the five year block should be added to the external
effective dose received by
him/her in the five year block and the sum of the doses should
be treated as the effective
dose for the five year block.
ii) The individual committed effective doses exceeding 20 mSv
can be distributed over n
number of years at the rate of 20 mSv/a and the individual will
be laid off for n number
of years until the total CED is assigned.
iii) The annual effective dose to an individual worker in any
calendar year during the five
year block shall not exceed the limit of 30 mSv.
iv) The cumulative effective dose for the five year block shall
not exceed lOOmSv.
The manual is intended to provide a guideline to operational
health physicists and
bioassay and lung counting laboratories engaged in evaluation of
internally deposited
transuranics. The methodology and action plan given in the
document will be reviewed after
three years.
D) A committee will be constituted by Head, Health Physics
Division to review the
computed doses for those cases of CED exceedijng 10 mSv.
E) Acute exposure intakes exceeding 1 ALI should be referred to
Head, Health Physics
Division for information and further advise regarding dose
assignment and follow
up monitoring.
iv
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MANUAL ON INTERNAL DOSIMETRY OF TRANSURANICS
1.0 INTRODUCTION:
The nuclear facilities in India that handle transuranics (mainly
plutonium), are the
spent fuel processing plants, fuel fabrication plants for
production of uranium-plutonium
mixed oxide fuel, uranium-plutonium mixed carbide fuel,
plutonium alloy fuel and the
radiochemical laboratories. Different compounds of plutonium
e.g. nitrates, TBP complexes,
oxalates and oxides are encountered in the reprocessing plants
whereas oxides, carbides,
mixed oxides and mixed carbides of plutonium and uranium are
encountered in the fuel
fabrication plants. Inhalation of air-borne plutonium is the
main route by which the
occupational workers working in these facilities may receive
internal contamination. The
possibility of injection of plutonium into the body also exists.
According to ICRP-71 (Ref. 1),
plutonium oxide, plutonium carbide, mixed oxide of
uranium-plutonium, mixed carbide of
uranium and plutonium and plutonium hydroxide belong to
absorption Type 'S and
plutonium nitrate, Pu-TBP complex and plutonium oxalate belong
to absorption Type 'M \
Engineered safety features and the work practices in these
facilities are aimed at prevention of
internal contamination. However, inherent in these operations is
the probability of
occupational workers getting exposed to air borne transuranic
particulate material giving rise
to internal exposure in addition to external exposure.
Therefore, prompt detection, estimation
of quantity of Pu present in the body and estimation of intake
is necessary. Based on this,
resulting internal dose can be calculated and used for the total
dose control (internal and
external dose). There are two methods that are normally used for
detection and estimation of
internal contamination due to plutonium/americium. One is
in-vivo lung counting which
measures low energy X or Gamma rays emitted by Pu-Am using
phoswich and/or HPGe
detectors. The second is the in-vitro urine analysis method,
where the quantity of Pu
excreted through urine is estimated. The lung counting method
does not have the sensitivity
to detect intake of 1 ALI of 239Pu. Also, it is difficult to
estimate intake from the results of
urinary analysis if the time at which intake of 239Pu occurred
is not known. In addition to this,
there is considerable diurnal variation in excretion rate of Pu
through urine. Therefore, there
was a need for addressing the above mentioned difficulties and
evolving a methodology for
estimation of internal dose due to transuranics to the
occupational workers. Hence, Head,
Health Physics Division, constituted a task group (Ref:
ORPRS/RGP/2010/06/1445 dated 13-
08-2010) to recommend, implement and oversee the internal
dosimetry programme for
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transuranics for occupational workers and to address the above
mentioned difficulties so that
a reasonably accurate estimation of internal dose could be
made.
The committee has prepared this manual to address the methods
used for detection of
internal contamination and their limitations, difficulties in
estimation of internal dose,
methodology to be adopted for estimation of internal dose,
action plan for acute and chronic
cases of internal contamination, etc. The manual is primarily
meant for operational health
physicists, internal dosimetry professionals and plant
management.
2.0 MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
2.1 Lung Counting Technique:
2.1.1 Principle:
Direct measurement of Pu-Am lung burden is based on the
detection of low energy
photons (LEPs) emitted in the nuclear transformation of 239Pu
(17 keV L X- rays of 235U) or
59.6 keV y- rays of 241Am using a phoswich detector and array of
HPGe detector systems.
The details of instrumentation and methodology are given in Ref.
2 and Ref. 3. The minimum
detection limit for pure 239Pu in the lungs is in the range of
1000 - 2000 Bq, whereas that for
241 Am is about 5-10 Bq. Quite often 241 Am is also present
along with 239Pu. Therefore, in all
laboratories, 239Pu lung burden measurement is based on
measurement of 59.6 keV y- rays of
241 Am. In this method it is necessary to know the activity
ratio of Pu/Am. It may be noted
that, if there is presence of !37Cs and other fission products
in the body, they interfere
(especially the 32 keV X- ray of 137Cs) in Pu estimation,
particularly in phoswitch detector
system. In such cases repeat lung counting has to be carried out
to quantify the contribution
from I37Cs. Also, care should be taken to ensure that there is
no external contamination on the
chest. In one case, injury to the finger tip of the worker while
handling objects contaminated
with plutonium, resulted in the injection of plutonium into the
finger tip. Part of the injected
plutonium migrated to axillary lymph nodes and lung counting
gave a false indication of
presence of 241 Am in the chest (Ref. 4). Therefore, if lung
counting shows activity, it is
necessary to ask the subject if he/she was injured at any time
while handling objects
contaminated with plutonium. If the answer is affirmative it is
necessary to investigate the
possibility of migration of plutonium from the site of injury to
the axillary lymph nodes as
was done in the case described in Ref. 4.
2
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2.1.2 Methodology of Lung Counting:
2.1.2.1 Detectors: Two types of detectors are commonly used for
the detection of Pu/Am/U
isotopes. They are: i) phoswich detector of 20.24cm diameter and
a sandwich of a 1.2 cm
thick Nal(Tl) primary and a 5 cm thick CsI(Tl) secondary
detector, ii) Array of HPGe
detectors consisting of three or more large area (> 70 mm dia
and ~ 20 mm thick) HPGe
detectors. The detectors have a 0.8 mm thick carbon entrance
window which can transmit all
photons above 10 keV energy to the active area of the detector.
For routine operations, the
59.5, 63.3 and 185.7 keV photons are used for calculation o f
241 Am, 234Th and 235U activity
respectively. Spectral information obtained from individual HPGe
detectors of the array and
the summed spectrum should be retained and the consistency of
counts distribution in
individual detectors be evaluated.
2.1.2.2 Energy Calibration: A well defined formation of peak can
only be obtained when
correct energy calibration of the detector is performed,
particularly for low level
measurements of near detection limits. The energy calibration
factor (ECF) can be fixed
preferably towards the higher side of the factor obtained from
ideal conditions. ECF is
dependent on the resolution capability (FWHM) of a radiation
detector and is generally
defined as FWHM (keV)/5 channel.
For large area HPGe detectors (example):
ECF = 0.75 keV/5 channels = 0.15 keV/channel or 0.2
keV/channel
Therefore, the 60 keV gamma energy of 241 Am should be located
at around 300th
channel in MCA to obtain proper calibration factor. The energy
linearity calibration should be
obtained and relationship be used for the identification of
unknown radionuclides
encountered in in-vivo monitoring. Care should be taken to have
same type of multi channel
analyzers and software for easy summation of the three or more
spectra of HPGe array. The
energy resolution of each HPGe detector of the array should be
nearly same so as to minimize
the line broadening after summation.
2.1.2.3 Efficiency Calibration of the Actinide Lung Monitor: The
efficiency calibration of
the system is carried out by using realistic thorax phantom viz.
LLNL or JAERI. The chest
overlay plates provided with the phantom should be used to
develop an efficiency calibration
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equation as a function of CWT. The lung sets uniformly
distributed with various
radionuclides viz. 238Pu, Nat. U, Enriched U and 241 Am in the
lungs are used to calibrate
actinide lung monitoring system. These lung sets are inserted
into the phantom and
measurements are carried out in subject monitoring position.
Photo peak area or the integral
counts obtained in relevant energy region are used to calculate
calibration factor (count/sec.
per Bq. activity) for the radionuclide.
2. 1.2.4 Estimation of MEQ-Chest Wall Thickness (CWT)The
efficiency and hence the MDA for estimating activity in the lung is
strongly affected by
the MEQ-CWT of the subject. The CWT is defined as the thickness
of the soft tissue from the
exterior surface of the chest to the pleural lining of the
lung.
MEQ-CWT = 1.427 (W/H) + 0.014 (Ch) + 0.0025 (y) -0.1562
W = Weight in kg; H = Height in cm; Ch = chest circumference in
cm and; y = age in years
The estimated MEQ-CWT is used to derive subject specific
calibration factors of the actinide
lung monitoring system.
2. 1.2.5 Evaluation of calibration factor and ActivityThe
calibration factors from the measurement of known amount of
radionuclides distributed
inside JAERI phantom for an array of three 70 mm dia. HPGe
detector used for lung
monitoring of workers at Trombay are given in following
Table.
Radionuclide EnergykeV
Calibration factor as a function of CWT cpm/kBq of nuclide*
238Pu 17 0.83515 exp (-0.03721X)241 Am 59.5 270.9329 exp
(-0.14525x)
238U Nat. U 63 36.3466 exp (-0.2614x)92.5 47.4339 exp
(-0.3122x)
235U Nat. U 185 371.11 exp (-0.253x)
x = MEQ-CWT in cm : * : these are nuclide efficiencies not
corrected for energy.
Lung activity due to 241 Am (KBq) = Am net counts(CPM)/ 270.9329
exp (-0.14525x)
2.1.2.6 Minimum Detectable Activity (MDA): The MDA is primarily
dependent on the
background count rate and the efficiency factor. The standard
deviation of background (orb) is
obtained from the average counts of background spectra of
non-radiation worker subjects of
varying body builds. The number of background subjects should be
at least 20 and the spectra
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region (energy band) considered should be equal to 3*FWHM (keV)
region. MDA at 95%
confidence level is evaluated from:
MDA - ( l ^ + 2.7)E x l x T
a b: square root of background counts (integral counts of the
selected region), T: counting time
in secs, E : efficiency fraction from fitted curve of MEQ-CWT,
I: gamma abundance fraction
(can be unity for nuclide specific efficiency).
2.1.2.7 Spectrum unfolding and area determination for activity
estimation: The simplest
way of defining a clear gamma peak at the appropriate gamma
energy of a radio-nuclide is to
check whether the selected net peak area has counts greater than
the minimum detectable
counts as per MDA equation. Care should be taken to correct for
the Compton counts or
contribution from higher energy gamma lines when difference in
gross counts of subject
spectrum and background spectrum of appropriate energy region
are taken for activity
determination. Gamma analysis software based deconvolution
techniques can be used to
distinguish the multiplets, if any observed in the spectra.
2.1.3 Estimation of activity ratio of Pu and Am:
The Pu/Am ratio depends on many factors such as fuel bum up,
period elapsed after
purification of plutonium, source that has given rise to
air-bome activity etc. The ratio can
vary by a wide margin from case to case depending on the source
of exposure. Therefore, it is
necessary to estimate this ratio especially in a fuel
reprocessing plant. In suspected cases of
inhalation incident, the nasal swab of the exposed individual
will be available normally for
Pu/Am ratio determination. Faeces of the exposed individual
should also be analysed by
radiochemical methods to determine the ratio. Average of the two
ratios should be used for
estimation of plutonium lung burden, wherever possible.
If routine lung monitoring shows detectable Am lung burden,
Pu/Am activity ratio
should be obtained from analysis of faeces to evaluate the
likely Pu intake. It is, therefore
very important to determine the Pu/Am ratio.
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2.1.4 Estimation of intake from lung burden measurement:
From the measured241 Am lung burden, Pu lung burden should be
calculated using the
Pu/Am activity ratio. If the time of intake is known, then the
intake should be calculated
using IMBA software or as per ICRP 78. For example, 1.0 Bq of
239Pu lung burden after 1
month of intake corresponds to an intake of ~ 21 Bq of 'M Type
239Pu aerosols (5 (Jin
AMAD). If the aerosol Type is 'S , it corresponds to an intake
of ~ 27 Bq 239Pu (Table - 1).
After calculating the intake, committed effective dose should be
calculated using the dose
conversion factors (DCFs) given below (Ref. 7).
Type type DCF (inhalation) DCF (ingestion)
Type M* 239Pu 3.2 x 105 Sv/Bq 2.5 x 107 Sv/Bq
TypeS 239Pij 8.3 x 10"6 Sv/Bq 9.0 x 109 Sv/Bq
If the time of intake is not known, it should be assumed that an
acute intake had
probably taken place midway between two monitoring periods as
recommended by ICRP
(Ref. 6). In the case of annual lung monitoring, the time of
intake should be assumed to be
180 days before the day of lung counting.
In the above calculations it is assumed that the Type of
aerosols to which the person
was exposed is known. As examples, plutonium nitrate and Pu-TBP
complex aerosols belong
to Type 'M whereas plutonium oxide and plutonium carbide belong
to Type 'S . Therefore,
from the knowledge of the work location of the exposed
individual or by any other means of
analysis, it is possible to infer the aerosols Type; 'M or 'S or
Mixed. The details are
required to be provided by the Health Physicist of the
plant/Head of plant at the time of
sending the personnel for monitoring.
Urinary excretion rate for Type S exposure cases will be
extremely low and below
the minimum detection limit of bioassay technique (~ 0.2 - 0.5
mBq/d) (Ref. 8). But in case
of inhalation of Type 'M aerosols, the urinary excretion rate is
well above the minimum
detection limit and hence for Type M aerosols, the intake
estimation should be based on
urinary excretion rate. It is, however, necessary that lung
counting is adopted for all
occupational workers so that exposure to Type S cases are also
identified.
It is known that plutonium nitrate aerosols belong to Type 'M \
However, in one
inhalation incident, plutonium nitrate aerosols had shown lung
retention similar to that for
Type 'S (Ref. 4). It appears that plutonium nitrate aerosols got
converted into plutonium
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hydroxide in this case. Plutonium hydroxide belongs to Type 'S .
This unexpected behaviour
was revealed by follow-up measurements. Hence, it is necessary
to have follow-up
measurement whenever Pu-Am is detected in the lung.
2.1.5 Periodicity of lung monitoring:
2.1.5.1 Routine monitoring;
The Plant Health Physicist should identify the nature of work
that has the potential for
exposure to plutonium aerosols and also the areas where such
activities are carried out. The
personnel who are required to carry out these activities and
also the personnel who are
required to work in these areas should be identified. Such
persons should be routinely
monitored once in a year. For others, the periodicity could be
greater than 1 year. However,
if these persons are engaged in any specific jobs having the
potential for internal
contamination, they also should be monitored at appropriate
time. Similar considerations
apply to urine analysis also. The tentative schedule and list of
such personnel should be sent
to the Lung counting laboratory in the beginning of the year so
as to maintain the monitoring
. periodicity of once in a year.
2.1.5.2 Incident related monitoring:
The occupational worker exposed in an
inhalation/ingestion/injection incident is
referred for lung counting immediately on the next day after the
exposure. The subsequent
repeat lung counting is based on the results of first monitoring
and is described in section 5
titled action plan for Pu-Am internal exposure incidents (flow
chart 2). The name(s) of the
exposed personnel along with details such as nature of exposure
and other relevant inputs like
chemical form of compound, particle size, date/time of exposure
should be intimated to the
analytical laboratory without any follow-up for this
information.
2.1.6 Sensitivity of lung counting technique:
The minimum detectable activity for pure 239Pu retained in the
lung is about 1000 Bq.
The corresponding intake for Type M 239Pu compound works out to
about 17241
Bq (27.6 ALI) and 15625 Bq (6.5 ALI) in case of Type S Pu one
day after the exposure.
However, when plutonium is associated with americium, with a
Pu/Am activity ratio of 3, an
intake of 0.83 ALI of Type M 239Pu can be detected one day after
exposure assuming MDA
of 10 Bq. Table 1 gives the fraction of intake retained in the
lung at various time intervals
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which can be used to calculate the intake ( ICRP-78). Table 2
summarizes the sensitivity of
lung counting technique. Lung counting retained activity
measurements data are used in
conjunction with urinary excretion data for the evaluation of
GED.
2.2 Bioassay:
2.2.1 Bioassay technique: The bioassay technique is based on
measurement of excretion
rate of plutonium through urine and faeces. From the measured
excretion rate, the body
burden and the intake are calculated using the bio-kinetic model
for plutonium. Because of
the practical difficulties involved in collection, processing
and analysis, faeces samples are
not analysed on routine basis. However, analysis of faeces is
very important in case of an
inhalation incident and also for determination of Pu/Am activity
ratio of the inhaled aerosols
and it is the only bioassay tool in case of exposure to Type S
Pu.
In case of urine analysis the worker should be instructed to
collect the urine in a clean
bottle given to him for this purpose. Urine excreted by him,
from the time of reaching home
till reporting for duty on the next day, has to be collected.
The worker should be instructed to
take bath and change all the clothing that he had worn on duty
before he starts collecting
urine. This is necessary to avoid possibility of cross
contamination of the urine sample.
Plutonium excreted in urine is co-precipitated with calcium
phosphate and separated
using anion-exchange technique and is electrodeposited on a
stainless steel disc (Ref. flow
chart 1). The Pu alpha activity deposited on disc is estimated
using a ZnS(Ag) scintillation
detector and/or alpha spectrometry using a Si surface barrier
detector.
2.2.2 Sensitivity of the Bioassay technique and its
limitations:
In a ZnS(Ag) scintillation detector type gross alpha counting
system, for a counting
time of 96 h, less than 1.0 mBq of Pu alpha activity can be
detected (details given below at
the end of this section 2.2.2). With this sensitivity, it is
possible to detect acute intake
corresponding to 3/10 ALI 239Pu Type 'M by analysing a days
urine sample for any day up
to 100th day after the day of intake. ICRP-54 has set 3/10 ALI
as the investigation level.
Acute intake of 1/10 of ALI can be detected in a single urine
sample up to 9 days after intake
(Table 3). In order to detect urinary excretion rate
corresponding to 1/10 of ALI of Type 'M
239Pu during the period of 9th day to 30th day after intake,
pooled urine sample (3 d) has to be
analysed. It is not possible to detect urinary excretion rate
corresponding to intake of 3/10
ALI of Type S 239Pu or chronic exposure cases of Type M 239Pu
aerosols at the rate of
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1/365 ALI per day in a single day sample. However, activity
corresponding to DRL for
chronic exposure to airborne 239Pu of Type M at the rate of
1/365 ALI per day with routine
monitoring of once in a year can be detected by pooling 3 days
urine for analysis and
counting in alpha spectrometry for 7 days. Table 3 gives the DRL
and urinary excretion rate
with respect to acute intake of Type M and Type S 239Pu
compounds ( ICRP-78).
MDAs at 95% confidence level for an alpha counting system with
ZnS(Ag) crystal
and alpha spectrometry system with PIPS type detector are
evaluated as follows.
, (4.65 xcr. +2.7)x24MDA = ---------- --------------- B adE x R
x T x 16
Where
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Table - 1 : DRL and Lung Retention for Type M and Type S239Pn
Acute Inhalation Case (Source : ICRP - 78)
Days after intake
d
Lung retention factorr(t)
DRL 0.1 x ALI x r(t)
(Bq)
Intake in Bq per 1 Bq of measured
retentionType M 239Pu ALI: 625 Bq
1 5.8 x 102 3.6 17.22 5.6 x 102 3.5 17.93 5.5 x 10'2 3.4 18.24
5.4 x lO'2 3.4 18.55 5.3 x lO'2 3.3 18.96 5.3 x 10'2 3.3 18.97 5.2
x lO'2 3.3 19.28 5.1 x lO2 3.2 19.69 5.0 x 102 3.1 20.010 5.0
x110'2 3.1 20.015 4.9 x 10'2 3.1 20.430 4.8 x lO'2 3.0 20.8100 2.3
x lO'2 1.4 43.5180 7.0 x 10'3 0.44 143360 1.5x1 O'3 0.09 670
Type S 239Pu ALI: 2400 Bq1 6.4 xlO-2 15.4 15.62 6.3 x 10'2 15.1
15.93 6.2 x 10"2 14.9 16.14 6.1 x 102 14.6 16.45 6.1 x 10'2 14.6
16.46 6.0 x 102 14.4 16.77 6.0 x 102 14.4 16.78 5.9 x lO2 14.2
17.09 5.8 x 10'2 13.9 17.210 5.8 x 10'2 13.9 17.215 5.0 x 102 12.0
20.030 3.7 x 10'2 8.9 27.0100 2.2 x 10'2 5.3 45.5180 1.7 x 10'2 4.1
58.8360 . 1.5 x 10'2 3.6 66.7
Measured lung burdenIntake = ------------------------------
Lung retention factor
10
-
Table - 2: Sensitivity of lung counting technique
Exposure to Days after exposure
Estimated 239Pu intake in Bq for MDLType M Type S
PurePlutonium
1 17241 (27.6 ALI) 15625 (6.5 ALI)
5 18868 16393
30 20833 27027
180 142857 58823
Pu-Am (Pu:Am activity
ratio) = 3
1 517(0.83 ALI) 469(0.20 ALI)
5 566 492
30 625 811
180 4286 1765
Pu-Am (Pu:Am activity
ratio) = 10
1 1723 (2.76 ALI) 1563 (0.65 ALI)
5 1887i 1640
30 2083 2703
180 14287 5883
Note: a) Minimum detection limit (MDL) for pure 239Pu taken as
1000 Bq and for that of 241Am as 10 Bq.
b) Lung retention factor are taken from Table 1.
11
-
Table - 3: DRL and Urinary Excretion Rate for Type M and Type S
__________ 239Pu Acute Intake Case (Source : ICRP -
78)__________i
Days after intake
d
Daily urinary excretion rate
e(t)
DRL 0.1 x ALI x eu (t)
(mBq)
Intake in Bq per 1 mBq of measured
excretionType M 239Pu ALI: 625 Bq
1 2.3 x 10-4 14.4 4.32 1.3 x 10"* 8.1 7.73 7.8 x 10'5 4.9 12.84
5.3 x 10-5 3.3 18.95 3.9 x 10'5 2.4 25.66 3.0 x 105 1.9 33.37 2.4x1
O5 1.5 41.78 2.0 x 10-5 1.25 50.09 1.7 x 105
( 1.1 58.810 1.5 x 10s 0.94 66.715 1.1 xlO'5 0.63 91.030 9.5
xlO6 0.59 105100 6.1 x lO 6 0.38 164180 5.0 x 10'6 0.31 200360 3.5
x lO'6 0.22 285
TypeS 239Pu ALI: 2400 Bq1 2.3 x lO6 0.55 4352 1.4 xlO-6 0.34
7153 8.3 x 107 0.20 12054 5.9 x 10'7 0.14 17005 4.5 x 10'7 0.11
22206 3.7 x 10'7 0.089 27007 3.1 x lO7 0.074 32258 2.7 x 10'7 0.065
37009 2.4 x 10'7 0.058 415010 2.3 x lO7 0.055 435015 1.8 x 107
0.043 555030 1.7 x lO7 0.041 5900100 1.6 x lO'7 0.038 6250180 1.55
x 10'7 0.037 6450360 1.5 x 10'7 0.036 6650
Measured urinary excretionIntake = ----
----------------------------
Daily urinary excretion rate
12
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3.0 ANALYSIS PROCEDURES
3.1 Sampling and Analytical Procedures for Bioassay
The most important bioassay samples for estimating the intake of
transuranics are
urine and faeces. Sometimes nasal swab is also analysed for
radionuclide content. In case of
transuranics, analyses of faecal sample during the initial
period is essential, particularly after
planned operations and suspected exposures.
3.2 Sample collection procedure:
3.2.1 Faeces:
Generally, morning void faeces is collected in a wide mouthed
polyethylene bag
covered by a second polyethylene bag which is wrapped in a paper
envelope. The name of
the person and other details are written on the envelope.
Analysis of a faeces sample gives the
amount of insoluble radionuclide inhaled/ingested. In case of
persons engaged in power
reactor fuel reprocessing, determination of Pu/Am ratio in the
faecal sample is very
important since on most of the occasions Am concentration in
urine is not detectable even
when Pu is detected. The analysis of faecal samples is required
whenever an investigation of
incidental exposure is undertaken or on a case by case basis for
personnel handling insoluble
compounds or for establishing the Pu/Am excretion ratio.
3.2.2 Urine:
The radionuclide excreted in urine represents the soluble
portion of the inhaled /
ingested radionuclide. Generally, overnight 16 h urine sample is
collected after the working
hours, preferably at the residence of the worker to avoid
contamination. The sample is
collected in a 1.2 litre plastic bottle with double cap. The
bottle is carried in a suitable cloth
bag with a handle to facilitate easy carrying to the laboratory.
The collection of complete 16 h
urine sample should be ensured either from the volume of the
sample or by analyzing
creatinine content in Labs where the methodology is
standardized. The sample should be
rejected and repeat sample requested if there is a doubt on the
complete sample collection.
13
-
3.2.3 Other Samples:
Nasal swab on filter paper is sometimes analysed to confirm that
inhalation exposure
has taken place. Rough estimate of inhalation intake can also be
made from this analysis.
3.3 Sample Processing:
Faecal sample is dry ashed in a fumehood. The dry weight and the
ash content with **
respect to wet weight are recorded. In case the presence of
241Am is expected, the
homogenised faecal ash is directly counted in a gamma
spectrometer. (241Am has a gamma
energy of 59.5 keV; 35.9% intensity).
Urine from the plastic bottle is transferred to a 2 litre
beaker, acidified with HN03
and given a serial number. The details of the sample and the
name of the person and date of
sampling along with the case history of exposure is written in
the register maintained. Urine
sample is, generally wet ashed with H20 2 + HN03.
3.4 Radiochemical Separation:
The analyses of urine and faeces for Pu and Am are carried out
as follows:
3.4.1. Sample Preparation:
3.4.1.1. Faeces:
The faecal ash with added tracers (242Pu, 243Am) is fused with
fusion mixture in a
stainless steel dish over a burner carefully till the whole mass
melts and reaction is
complete. Fusion mixture is in the proportion of 5:1:1 of NaOH :
NaN03 : NajCO^ The
fused mass is cooled, leached with distilled water and the
residue is dissolved in
HNO, and evaporated to dryness. The evaporated residue is
dissolved in 8N HNOs and
taken for ion exchange separation of plutonium and americium (
flow chart 1 ).m
3.4.1.2. Urine:
To the acidified urine, 50 mg of Ca carrier and standard 242Pu
& 243Am tracers are
added. The urine is wet ashed with 30% H20 2 (10-15 ml) and HNO,
till the colour of urine
becomes pale yellow by heating over burner or hot plate. About
200 mg of hydroxylamine
hydrochloride and 2 ml of concentrated orthophosphoric acid is
added to urine. Calcium
phosphate is precipitated by adding ammonia with constant
stirring. A little excess ammonia
14
-
is added to ensure complete precipitation. The content of the
beaker is allowed to settle
preferably overnight. The precipitate is centrifuged, washed
once with distilled water,
dissolved in HN03 and evaporated to dryness. The evaporated
residue is dissolved in 8N
HN03 and taken-up for ion exchange separation of plutonium and
americium.
3.4.2 Sequential Chemical Separation for Urine, Faeces and other
bioassay samples:
The sequential radiochemical separation given in flow chart-1
(page 18) for urine is
applicable to other bioassay samples also.
3.4.3 Electrodeposition:
Both separated plutonium and americium are electrodeposited in
ammonium sulphate
medium. To the evaporated sample 0.3 ml of H2S04 is added and
allowed to fume over a
burner. The solution is cooled and 1 ml of 2N H2S04 is added
slowly. A few drops of methyl
red indicator is added and 1:1 NH4OH is added drop wise until
the colour of methyl red turns
yellow. The solution is acidified with drop wise addition of 2N
H2S04 until the colour just
turns red. The solution is transferred to an electrodeposition
cell fitted with a 2.5 cm dia
stainless steel planchet (cathode) with 2 ml of distilled water
washing. Electrodeposition is
carried out at 300 mA current for 2 h. At the end of
electrodeposition the solution is made
strongly ammonical with the addition of 1:1 NH4OH before
switching off the current.
The stainless steel planchet is washed, flamed and taken for
alpha counting and subjected to
alpha spectrometry.
3.4.4 Reporting of results:
The results of urine samples are expressed as mBq/day with
standard uncertainty. The
16 h (overnight) sample activity is corrected for one days
sample. In case of hospitalized
personnel it is possible to collect 24 h urine sample. The
normalization process can also be
made from the Urine Creatinine content after establishing the
variations within a group of
healthy persons. The technique will be more useful for rejecting
the sample if the Creatinine
concentration is too low. Faecal sample results are expressed as
Bq/sample with standard
uncertainty. Counting time of sample should be chosen in such a
way that the degree of
uncertainty should not be more than 30% for samples near the
detection limit and should not
be more than 10% for samples having activity concentration of 5
times the detection limit.
15
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4. QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAMME
4.1 Introduction:
Quality assurance in analytical/radiochemical procedures is an
important aspect of
internal exposure monitoring and serve to assure the accuracy of
dose estimates being made.
Quality assurance experiments are conducted for both direct
(lung counting) and indirect
(bioassay) methods. The laboratories of Health Physics Division
(HPD) regularly participate
in intercomparison exercises at least once in a year at either
national and/or international
levels. Samples used in bioassay intercomparisons are generally
of urine and faeces but at
times samples of tissue and/or of other biological origin are
also analysed. A brief account of
intercomparisons carried out is given in the following
paragraphs.
4.2 Intercomparison for lung counting laboratories :
The lung counters of IDS (HPD, BARC), Health Physics Laboratory,
Tarapur and
Environmental Survey Laboratory (Kalpakkam) were calibrated with
standard thorax
phantom developed by Lawrence Livermore Laboratories, USA. They
were also calibrated
using JAERI phantom representing chest of Asian reference man.
The calibration factors for
different chest wall thickness of subjects were derived for both
239Pu and 241 Am. It is
recommended that the calibration should be carried out using
realistic phantom representing
thorax of Indian reference man. Intercomparison exercise of
measuring241 Am in lung should
be carried out at least once in two years and records
maintained.
4.3 Intercomparisons among different laboratories of HPD:
i) Three sets of urine samples spiked with 239Pu and 241 Am and
supplied by IAEA in
an intercomparison exercise were analyzed using standard
radiochemical analysis procedures
(2001/2002). The exercise indicated that both 239Pu and 241 Am
results were in good agreement
with reference values. [Results of the 2001/2002 intercomparison
exercise on the
determination of activity of alpha emitters in Urine samples -
R. Cruz Suarez and K. Mrabit,
IAEA, 2001/2002] (ii) Two sets of urine samples spiked with
238U, 234U and 241Ain were
analyzed at Trombay, Tarapur and Kalpakkam Labs in an
intercomparison exercise conducted
by Health Physics Division during 2005 (IDD/487/2005). Results
were in good agreement
within statistical errors. It is now proposed to analyse
bioassay samples once in two years on
periodical basis.
16
-
4.4 Intercomparison with IRC and IAEA:
The laboratories of Tarapur, Trombay and Kalpakkam have a
regular program of
analysing samples sent by International Reference Centre (IRC) a
WHO unit, France. The
bioassay laboratories obtain IAEA samples sent by the Agency's
laboratory at Seibersdorf,
Austria. The samples consist mainly of biological and
environmental materials. The
radionuclides covered are fission products as well as
transuranics. The results have been
consistently found to be in good agreement with the organisers
values. Whenever any
significant deviations were noticed, corrective measures were
taken immediately. Since the
analytical procedures and techniques are same for bioassay,
biological or environmental
samples, it can be said that the results of bioassay pass the
scrutiny of quality assurance
program at international level as well.
17
-
FLOW CHART 1
Outline of Sequential Chemical Separation of 239Pu and241 Am in
Urine Samples
Acidify + 242Pu+243Am + Ca 50 mgOxidation with H20 2 + HN03, add
Hydroxylamine hydrochloride to reduce to Pu(III), Precipitate
Ca3(P04)2.
Precipitate- 242Pu,239Pu, Supernatant- 137Cs. Count in241 Am
& 243Am. Dissolve HPGe detector Marinelli beakerin HN03
evaporate to dryness. geometry (only in case of
investigations)Dissolve in 8N HN03,adjust toPu(IV) by adding NaN02,
anionexchange separation.
Pu Am
Ion exchange resin- wash with Effluents + 8N HN03 washings
(Am)8N HNOa and 8N HC1. Elute Precipitate Ca-oxalate withwith 1.5 M
hydroxylamine hydro- oxalic acid and ammoniumchloride, evaporate to
dryness hydroxide at pH 3.5 & stir forfume off, electrodeposit
in 30 minutes.(NH4)2S04 mediumfor 2 h at 300 mA current. Countin
alpha spectrometer. Yield by i--------- ------------ 1242Pu tracer.
* *
Supernatant: Precipitate:discard destroy oxalate with HN03
+ HC104. Dissolve residue in 3N HC1. Carry out cation exchange
separation, wash column with 2N HN03.Elute Am with the 10 N HN03.
Electrodeposit in (NH4)2S04 medium for 2 h at 300 mA current, count
in Alpha spectrometer.Yield by 243Am tracer.
16 h urine sample
18
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5.0 ACTION PLAN FOR Pu-Am - INTERNAL EXPOSURE INCIDENTS
5.1 Action plan for Pu-Am inhalation incidents :
Guidelines have been framed to handle/manage suspected and
confirmed cases of
internal contamination due to inhalation of Pu-Am aerosols
primarily to assist the plant health
physicist in deciding the actions to be taken in dealing with
such cases.
The incidences leading to internal contamination due to
plutonium can be classified
into two categories namely, prompt and delayed detection.
Normally, the possibility of internal contamination is
immediately recognised by the
worker himself, his supervisor or the health physicist. The
examples of which are:
i) Loss/failure of respiratory and/or other protection equipment
while working.
ii) Spray/spillage of radioactive liquid on body parts (e.g.
face) of a worker.
iii) Sudden and unanticipated increases in air borne activity in
working areas against which
the worker lacked adequate respiratory protection.
iv) Very high facial/skin contamination.
However, at times, for some reason, the recognition of an
incident having resulted in
exposure or having had potential for exposure may get delayed.
These can be termed as
delayed category incidences.
Potential for internal contamination should be deemed to be
significant if, for example
i) Installed continuous air monitors indicate air borne activity
above 100 DAC.h. ii) Spot air
sampling shows air activity concentration above 100 DAC. In both
the above cases, it is to
be noted that the exposure would have occurred only if workers
were present in the area
during the time of increased air borne activity. Identification
of such workers, if any, will
need investigation and detailed enquiries, iii) Persons report
with high facial skin
contamination iv) Bioassay result during a routine monitoring
programme shows urinary
excretion above 3 mBq/day. (As per ICRP-78; 1 ALI of M Type
239Pu, for 360 d monitoring
interval or 180 d mid point intake)
5.1.1 Procedure for taking nasal swabs:
1. Nasal swabs should be taken as soon as the occurrence of an
incident is known /
suspected or as soon as the worker reports to the health physics
unit.
19
-
2. Nasal swabs should be taken before any facial
decontamination. If the worker has
already tried to wash his face, this fact should be noted while
taking the nasal swab and
recorded on the nasal swab sample envelope.
3. Extreme care should be taken to ensure that nasal swabs
collected are from the
nostrils and do not have any cross-contamination from the facial
skin or external
regions around the nose.
4. The procedure to take nasal swab sample is as follows. Wrap a
tissue paper or a filter
paper around the little finger and rotate it couple of times
inside the nostril. Dry it under
an infrared lamp and count in an alpha counter. Preserve the
sample with all relevant
details for subsequent detailed analysis.
List of samples to be obtained and preserved for subsequent
detailed analysis are give below:
1) Nasal swabs.
2) Filter paper samples from continuous air monitors.
3) Spot air sample filters taken immediately after the
incident.
4) Swipe samples from the location of incident, if pertaining to
the incident.
5) Ashed faecal samples.
5.1.2 Flow Chart of Action Plan:
The 'Action Plan' in the form of a chart (Flow Chart 2) is given
on page 23.
The basis and assumptions are given below:
a) Urinary excretion and faecal excretion values given in
ICRP-78 are used in formulating
the action plan.
b) In case of 5 jam AMAD Pu aerosols of Type M deposited in the
ET,, 10% of activity is
assumed to have been collected on nasal swabs. About 34% of
inhaled material is
deposited in ET1 region.
c) Experience shows that administration of Ca DTPA inhalation
increases urinary
excretion by a factor 4 to 20 in case of Type M Pu compounds. A
factor of 5 has been
used in the action plan. The urinary excretion rate one day
after intake corresponding to
1/10 ALI of 239Pu is 14 mBq/d (Table 3). This rate will be
increased by a factor of
minimum 5 by administering Ca DTPA aerosol.
d) Activity collected on the nasal swabs is used to estimate
probable intake for taking
immediate action.
20
-
Based on the above following action levels are recommended:
i) Nasal swab having < 6 Bq a- activity - No action is
contemplated.
(This would correspond to an intake of 6 Bq but 18 Bq a-
activity - administration of Ca DTPA aerosols
inhalation under medical supervision in Hospital followed by
administration of
Ca DTPA intravenously in the hospital.
iv) Urine sample of 8 hours to 16 hours duration (depending on
the convenience and
time of exposure) must be collected before the administration of
Ca DTPA
aerosols inhalation or intravenously.
In case of (ii) and (iii) mentioned above, the person should be
laid off from work in
radioactive area till the dose is assigned. The re-deployment of
the exposed individual will be
governed by the conditions stipulated in Section 6.3, which
deals with dose accounting and
control.
In those cases where Ca DTPA has been administered either by
aerosol inhalation
and/or intravenous injection, the first estimate of intake can
be made only after 3 months
because by this time the effect of Ca DTPA will reduce
considerably and urinary excretion
rate stabilize. Therefore, it is recommended that about 12 weeks
after the last Ca DTPA
administration, 16 h urine should be collected for three
consecutive days and pooled for
analysis. From the result of this analysis an estimate of intake
should be made using IMBA
software/ICRP-78.
If the estimated intake from an acute exposure is greater than 1
ALI, the matter should
be referred to Head, Health Physics Division for information and
further advice regarding
dose assignment and follow-up monitoring.
It is to be noted that if the exposure was to Type 'S aerosols
e.g. Pu02, PuC etc,
administration of Ca DTPA either by aerosol inhalation or by
injection will not have any
effect. Further, urinary excretion rate of Pu is likely to be
below the detection limit.
In case of inhalation exposure to Type 'S aerosols, following
actions are therefore
recommended.
1. Nasal swabs < 24 Bq : no action is contemplated.
This would correspond to an intake
-
2. Nasal swabs >24 Bq : Three consecutive days faecal samples
and pooled urine
samples should be analysed.
3. Lung counting should be carried out on the next day after
exposure. If activity is
detected during lung monitoring, follow-up counting should be
carried out once in 2
weeks for 6 weeks and thereafter at a periodicity of six
months.
4. Pu/Am activity ratio in nasal swabs and faeces should be
determined.
5. If lung counting does not show 241 Am, then intake should be
estimated based on the
analysis of faeces. In order to refine the intake estimate, it
is recommended that faecal
analysis at intervals of 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 8 weeks
should be carried out.
5.2 Action plan for Pu-Am injection incidents:
There is always a potential hazard of injury while working with
sharp tools even
inside glove boxes. Besides, sharp edges contaminated with
plutonium could also lead to
pricks or small cuts. In case of wounds or cuts contaminated
with Pu, bleeding should be
encouraged by pressing the wound/cut. The drops of blood should
be dried on a glass fibre
filter paper which should be subjected to alpha counting. Also
smear sample on the tools or
equipments that caused injury should be taken and analysed. This
will indicate the potential
for internal contamination.
The wound should be first washed with water and then directly
checked for
contamination. Ca-DTPA intravenous injection is recommended if
the wound shows a-
contamination >40 Bq. If the wound shows a- contamination
>150 Bq, excision of the
wound tissue is recommended.
If the tool (source of injury) shows contamination due to Pu but
blood drops and the
inflicted wound do not show any detectable contamination, the
confirmation of intake should
be obtained by analysis of urine sample collected during the
next 24 hours. Subsequent
action will depend on the results of urine analysis.
22
-
FLOW CHART-2: ACTION PLAN FOR Pu-Am INHALATION INCIDENTS
-
6.0 ESTIMATION OF INTAKE BASED ON ROUTINE URINE ANALYSIS
6.1 Introduction:
Estimation of internal dose from routine urinalysis data is
difficult because, quite
often, the time of intake is not known and there is considerable
diurnal variation in the
excretion of plutonium through urine.
In order to estimate the intake based on routine bioassay, ICRP
recommends that the
intake should be assumed to have taken place mid-way between two
monitoring dates i.e. the
date of previous and present monitoring. In plutonium handling
facilities in India, routine
bioassay monitoring for occupational workers is normally carried
out once a year. Therefore,
the time of intake should be taken as six months before the day
of annual monitoring. With
this assumption and using the IMBA software/ICRP 78, intake
estimates have to be made for
those persons whose urinary excretion rate was above the
detection limit.
6.2 Recommendations:
Recommendations for estimation of intake corresponding to
different levels of urinary
excretion of plutonium, are given below:
1. excretion rate < 1 mBq/day, they need not be considered
for dose estimation as the intake
is likely to be less than 1/3 ALI and the corresponding annual
dose < 0.6 mSv. (CED < 6
mSv).
2. excretion rate between 1 mBq/day and 3 mBq/day, caluculate
the intake based on ICRP-
78/IMBA software. Contribution to the excretion from the
previous year to be subtracted
before the evaluation of intake and CED.
3. excretion rate > 3 mBq/day, should be re-monitored for
confirmation after two weeks and
lung counting should also be carried out.
4. excretion rate between 1 and 3 mBq/day during routine
monitoring for three consecutive
years, follow-up monitoring at one month interval, for three
months, is recommended.
Average Pu excretion rate observed in the follow-up monitoring
should be used for
estimating the intake with the time of intake taken as 2 years
ago (mid point of 4 years).
The actions to be taken based on the results of repeat
urinalysis, are shown below:
Repeat ------- >AUrine ------- >BAnalysis ----- >c
24
-
A: > 3 mBq/d but reduction by a factor of about 2 compared to
earlier value, analyse
three days pooled urine after about a month. Since there is a
significant reduction in urinary
excretion rate, the intake must have taken place probably about
a month back. Therefore, take
the time of intake as one day before the day of routine
monitoring or as appropriate with
ICRP-78 excretion fraction pattern and estimate the intake using
ICRP 78/IMBA software.i
B: > 3 mBq/d and no significant reduction. This means that
the intake took place
probably a few months back. Temporarily lay off the person from
work in radiation areas.
Analyze three days pooled urine sample and estimate the intake,
taking the time of intake as
six month back.
C: If > 9 mBq/d, lay off the person from work in radiation
areas and arrange for
administration of Ca DTPA intravenously. Subsequent actions will
be based on the
effectiveness of Ca DTPA in enhancing urinary excretion as shown
in flow chart 2.
It may be noted that by ignoring excretion rate below I mBq/day,
an intake upto 0.3
ALI or the annual effective dose of 0.6 mSv is ignored. Further,
0.6 mSv is the recommended
recording level of internal dose in case of fission and
activation products (Ref. 8 :
BARC/1999/E010).
6.3 Dose accounting and control:
The committee recommends the following for the purpose of
individual dose
accounting and control:
i) The Committed Effective Dose (CED) resulting from the intake
of relevant radionuclides
(fission products and actinides), in a year, by the occupational
worker should be added to
the external effective dose received by him/her in the year and
the sum of the doses
should be treated as the annual effective dose for the year.
Similarly, the CED, resulting
from the intake in the five-year block should be added to the
external effective dose
received by him/her in the five year block and the sum of the
doses should be treated as
the effective dose for the five year block.
ii) The individual effective dose exceeding 20 mSv in either due
to an acute intake or from
an old exposure will be accounted as given below.
Let, I - intake of a radio-nuclide, X - number of lay-off years,
ALI - Annual Limit on
intake of a nuclide
In = -----ALI
25
-
When X > n, consideration for re-deployment can be made.
In case of exposure due to multiple radionuclides and external
exposure, the total
CED can be evaluated and compared to X
CEDjmSv)20mSv
l fX>n consideration for re-deployment can be made.
iii) The annual effective dose to an individual worker in any
calendar year during the five
year block shall not exceed the limit of 30 mSv.
iv) The cumulative effective dose for the five year block shall
not exceed 1 OOmSv.
7.0 RECORD KEEPING AND REPORTING PROCEDURES
7.1 Direct method:
The results of lung counting for 241 Am should be reported
routinely at monthly
intervals. The table of results should indicate the date of
counting, unique TLD No. of the
person, name of the person and241 Am content in the lung along
with its uncertainty. The
detection limit of the system has to be given as a foot note.
Generally, results are below the
detection limits except in case of personnel involved in an
incident of acute exposure. Copy
of the report should be sent to the respective Plant
Superintendent and Health Physicist.
Whenever 241 Am is detected, the probable intake of Pu should be
estimated using Pu/Am
ratio. Officer in charge of Lung counting facility should
evaluate the resulting dose due to
intake using methodology described earlier or IMBA software.
(Table 2)
7.2 Urine analysis:
Results of urine analysis should be tabulated on monthly basis
with details of TLD
Nos., date of sampling, name of the person etc. The results
should be expressed as mBq/d
excretion with associated standard error. The detection limit
should be indicated as a foot
note. Repeat urine sample should be requested whenever the
excretion level exceeds 3 mBq/d
in case of routine sample. Copy of the results should be sent to
Plant Superintendent and
Health Physicist of the facility. Results of analysis are to be
maintained in a register, stored
in PC and also as hard copies. Unique TLD No. is used to
identify the results of repeat urine
samples. Internal dose should be calculated by the Officer in
charge of bioassay laboratory
with inputs from plant Health Physicist.
26
-
7.3 Dose record keeping:
The plant health physicist should keep record of the resulting
committed effective
dose due to intake received by the individual occupational
worker. The CED should be added
to the external effective dose received by the individual during
the year and sum of the doses
should be treated as dose for the year. Copy of the individual
dose record should be sent to
Head, RPAD, BARC.
CONCLUSIONS:
1. The manual gives the methodology for assigning internal doses
using the bioassay and
lung monitoring results.
2. The action plan for routine and incident related monitoring
has been described.
3. The Committee recommends that the procedures and methodolgy
of internal dose
assessment given in the manual should be reviewed after 3 years.
The recommendations
of this document are final and binding. During this period, any
difficulties encountered in
applying the methodology should be brought to the notice of the
Head, Health Physics
Division, BARC.
4. A committee will be constituted by Head, Health Physics
Division to review the
computed doses for those cases of CED exceeding 10 mSv.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
The committee members would like to thank Dr. P.K. Sarkar, Head,
Health Physics
Division, B. A. R. C. for his keen interest in evolving a
standard procedure and critical review of the draft.
27
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REFERENCES:
1. ICRP (1995). Age dependent doses to members of the public
from intakes of
Radionuclides, Part 4, Inhalation dose coefficients, ICRP-71,
Pergamon press, Oxford.
2. Sharma R.C., Surendran T., Haridasan, T.K. and Sunta
C.M.(1989). In Vivo
Measurements of Low-Energy Photon (LEP) Emitters, Bull. Radiat.
Prot. 12 (4), pp 41-
56.
3. Sharma, R.C., Surendran, T. and Haridasan, T.K. (1999)
Monioring Intakes of Pu/Am by
External Counting: Current Status. Proceedings Health Physicists
Meet' 99, AERB,
Mumbai.
4. Surendran, T., Haridasan, T.K., Sharma, R.C. and Krishnamony
S. (1995). Experiences at
Trombay in Monitoring Actinide Intakes by Occupational Workers
by Direct External
Counting. Radiation Protection Dosimetry Vol. 59, No. 1, pp
15-24.
6. ICRP (1997), Individual Monitoring for Internal exposure of
Workers, ICRP Pub. No.
78.
7. ICRP (1995). Dose Coefficients for Intakes of Radionuclides
by Workers. ICRP
Publication 68, Annals of the ICRP, Vol. 24, No. 4, Pergamon
Press, Oxford.
8. AERB (1996), AERB Safety Manual, Radiation Protection for
Nuclear Facilities, Rev. 3.
28
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ANNEXURE-1Contributors to the manual & Members of the Task
Group:
1. Dr. A. G. Hegde Head, ESS, BARC
2. Dr. D. D. RaoHead, IDS, HPD, BARC
3. Shri R. G. Purohit Head, ORPRS, HPD
4. Shri M. D. DeshpandeO-I-C, HP Unit, PREFRE, Tarapur
5. Shri M.R. SankaranO-I-C, HP Unit, KARP, Kalpakkam
6. Dr. I. S. Singh IDS, HPD, BARC
7. Ms. Pramila Sawant IDS, HPD, BARC
8. Dr Ravi JammihaL BARC dispensary, BARC
Member
Member
V v2_
Member v
Invited Member
Member
Member Secretary
( ifg f2-0 i/
The terms and references of the Committee:
1. To recommend a consistent routine monitoring programme
comprising of bioassay and
body measurements for occupational workers and suggest an
adequate periodicity.
2. To review the sampling and analytical procedure for bioassay
and procedures for lung
counting and calibration for counting systems and bring about
uniformity in procedures
with respect to techniques, detection limits, etc.,
3. To recommend inter-comparison studies at regular intervals in
respect of above for
assuring quality of measurements.
4. To review and adopt the proposed Action Plan for suspected
internal exposure cases.
5. To evolve record-keeping procedures both at the plant and at
the Internal Dosimetry
Section at Trombay.
6. To deal with any other aspect relevant to the programme.
29
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ANNEXURE-2
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES OF DOSE CALCULATION
Example 1 (Case of Lung monitoring)
A person was sent for lung counting 3 days after suspected acute
internal exposure while carrying out maintenance work in a cell
containing plutonium oxide. The result of lung counting showed 15
Bq of 241 Am. Average activity ratio of Pu/Am in nasal swab and
faecal sample was 8.5. Calculate the intake and CED due to
plutonium.
Solution:
241 Am retained in the lung = 15 Bq. Corresponding retention of
239Pu = 15 x 8.5 = 127.5 Bq.
Measured Lung burden239Pu Intake =
--------------------------------
Lung retention factor
The lung retention factor for class S plutonium after three days
= 6.2 x 1 O'2 (Table-1)
127.5 Bqtherefore, 239Pu intake = ------------ = 2056.5 Bq
6.2 x 10 2
The corresponding CED = Intake(Bq) x Dose conversion factor
for class'S 239Pu (Sv/Bq).
= 2056.5 x 8.3 x 10'6 Sv/Bq = 17.07 mSv.
The person has to be laid off from work in radioactive area for
a period of one year. Repeat lung counting is recommended to
further refine the intake evaluation and observe the decrease or
build-up o f241 Am in the lung.
Example 2 ( Case of Acute inhalation to class M)
A person working in a cell handling plutonium TBP complex was
suspected to have been exposed to Pu aerosols and his nasal swab
showed 8 Bq of plutonium. He was given Ca- DTPA by aerosol
inhalation and repeat monitored by urine analysis. Lung counting
did not show 241 Am in the lung. The three days pooled urine sample
100 days after exposure gave 239Pu urinary excretion of 2.5 0.8
mBq/d. Calculate the intake and CED.
30
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Solution:
The stabilised urinary excretion 3 months after Ca-DTPA
inhalation administration is 2.5 0.8 mBq/d. The daily urinary
excretion rate for class 'M' Pu aerosols 100 d after exposure is
6.1 x 10'6 (Table-3) .
Measured urinary excretionTherefore, Intake =
-------------------------------------
Daily urinary excretion rate
(2.5 0.8) x 10"3 Bq/d
6.1 x lO6 /d
= 409.8 131.1 Bq
Corresponding CED = 409.8 Bq x 3.2 x 10~5 Sv/Bq
= 13.1 mSv.
The CED has to be added to external dose to get the total
dose.
Example-3 (Case of routine urine monitoring)
A routine urine sample of a subject during 2010 showed urinary
excretion of 4.5 0.7 mBq/d. Calculate the CED.
Solution:
As per recommendations of the method described in chapter 6 of
the manual for routine urine sample results of > 3 mBq/d,
(Option B): Person was re-monitored and found no significant
reduction in the excretion. He was recommended for lay off from
radiation work. 3 days pooled sample analyzed and found to have an
excretion rate of 4.1 0.7 mBq/d. The time of intake was assumed as
180 days. Previous exposure was less than detection limit.
4.1 0.7 mBq/dTherefore, Intake = ------------------------- =
820140Bq
5 x 10'6
CED - 820 (Bq) x 3.2 x 105 (Sv/Bq) - 0.0262 Sv = 26.2 4.5
mSv
The internal dose has to be added to the external dose received
during the year. Lay off should be considered as per dose
accounting procedure given in 6.3.
31