Radiation Dose Limits: Appendix B

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APPENDIX B

RADIATION DOSE LIMITS

Radiation Dose Limits AB-1

Radiation Dose Limits


The following radiation exposure or dose limits shall be adhered to as a requirement of the NSC Act, Radiation Protection Regulations; Conditions of the University Licence; and the Universitys committment to the ALARA Principle (refer to section 4.3 of the Manual). Radiation Users at U.N.B. work in controlled radiation areas for whom maximum permissible doses apply as they do for members of the public. Consequently, most exposures for Radiation Users must fall within the Public Dose Limits.* Some Radiation Users have been authorized as Nuclear Energy Workers (NEWs). The University recognizes that setting a dose limit is equivalent to specifying a maximum acceptable level of risk. Nevertheless, it is considered unacceptable to expose workers to the full extent of the limit if a lower dose can be reasonably achieved (ALARA principle). * Note: The exposure limits for undergraduate students is one-half of the Public Dose Limit.

Definitions
ALI or annual limit on intake is the activity, in becquerels, of a nuclear substance that will deliver an effective dose of 20 mSv during the 50-year period after the substance has been taken into the body of a person 18 years or older, or during the period beginning at intake and ending at age 70 after it is taken into the body of a person less than 18 years old. E means the portion of the effective dose, in millisievert a) received by a person from sources outside the of body; and b) received by and committed to the person from the sources inside of the body, measured directly or from excreta. (E) Effective dose is the sum of the products, in sieverts, obtained by multiplying the equivalent dose of radiation recieved by and committed to each organ or tissue as set out in column 1 of Schedule 1 in this section of the manual. Equivalent dose means the product, in sieverts, obtained by multiplying the absorbed dose of radiation as set out in column 1 of Schedule 2 in this section of the manual. I is the activity, in becquerels, of any nuclear substance that is taken into the body, excluding the radon progeny and the activity of other nuclear substances accounted for in the determination of E. Rn is the average annual concentration in the air, in Bq per m3 , of radon 222 that is attributable to a licensed activity. RnP is the exposure to radon progeny in working level months. I/ALI is the sum of the ratios of I to the corresponding ALI.

AB-2 Radiation Dose Limits

Effective Dose Limits


Person Period Effective Dose (mSv) 50 100 4 1 1 0.5

Nuclear Energy Worker, (a) One-year dosimetry period including a pregnant nuclear energy worker (NEW) (b) Five-year dosimetry period Pregnant nuclear energy worker Members of the Public UNB Radiation Users Undergraduate students Balance of the pregnancy One calendar year One calendar year One calendar year

For NEWs, the effective dose shall be calculated using the following formula and expressed in millisieverts: E + 5 RnP + 20 I ALI

For pregnant NEWs, the effective dose shall be calculated using the following formula and expressed in millisieverts: I E + 20 ALI For UNB Radiation Users and Members of the Public, the effective dose shall be calucluated using either of the following formulas and expressed in millisieverts: Rn I E+ + 20 60 ALI E + 4 RnP + 20 I ALI

Occupancy Factor
The permissible radiation dose rate in Sv/h at any location depends upon the occupancy factor. The maximum dose rate for full occupancy is calculated using the following equation: 40 h / wk 50 wk / yr = 2000 h / yr

Radiation Dose Limits AB-3

Maximum Hourly Effective Dose at Full Occupancy


NEWs Radiation Users Non-Radiation Users and Members of the Public 3 Sv/h (0.3 mrem/h) or 50 mSv/yr (5 rem/yr) 2.5 Sv/h (0.25 mrem/h) or 1 mSv/yr (100 mrem/yr) 2.5 Sv/h (0.25 mrem/h) or 1 mSv/yr (100 mrem/yr) 1.25 Sv/h (0.125 mrem/h) or 0.5 mSv/yr (50 mrem/yr)

Undergraduate Students

Rarely, would UNB Radiation Users be subject to working a full occupancy. Therefore, hourly effective dose can be extrapolated to a maximum of 200 Sv per hour.

Equivalent Dose Limits


Organ or Tissue Person Nuclear Energy Workers Lens of an eye UNB Radiation Users Undergraduate Students Nuclear Energy Workers Skin UNB Radiation Users Undergraduate Students Nuclear Energy Workers Hands and feet UNB Radiation Users Undergraduate Students One calendar year One calendar year 50 25 Members of the Public One calendar year One calendar year One-year dosimetry period One calendar year 50 25 500 50 Members of the Public Members of the Public Period One-year dosimetry period One calendar year One calendar year One calendar year One-year dosimetry period One calendar year Equivalent Dose (mSv) 150 15 15 7.5 500 50

AB-4 Radiation Dose Limits

Schedules - Radiation Protection Regulations


SCHEDULE 1 Organ or Tissue Weighting Factors Item Organ or Tissue 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Gonads (testes or ovaries) Red bone marrow Colon Lung Stomach Bladder Breast Liver Oesophagus Thyroid gland Skin1 Bone surfaces All organs and tissues not listed in items 1 to 12 (remainder organs and tissues) collectively, including the adrenal gland, brain, extra-thoracic airway, small intestine, kidney, muscles, pancreas, spleen, thymus and uterus2,3 Whole body Weighting Factor 0.20 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.01 0.01 Column 1 Column 2

13.

0.05

14.
1 2

1.00

The weighting factor for skin applies only when the skin of the whole body is exposed. When the equivalent dose received by and committed to one of these remainder organs and tissues exceeds the equivalent dose received by and commited to any one of the organs and tissues listed in items 1 to 12, a weighting factor of 0.025 shall be applied to that remainder organ or tissue and a weighting factor of 0.025 shall be applied to the average equivalent dose received by and committed to the rest of the remainder organs and tissues. Hands, feet and the lens of an eye have no weighting factor.

Radiation Dose Limits AB-5

SCHEDULE 2 Radiation Weighting Factors (or Quality Factors, QF) Item Type of Radiation and Energy Range 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Photons, all energies Electrons and muons, all energies1 Neutrons2 of energy < 10 keV Neutrons2 of energy 10 keV to 100 keV Neutrons2 of energy >100 keV to 2 MeV Neutrons2 of energy > 2 MeV to 20 MeV Neutrons2 of energy > 20 MeV Protons, other than the recoil protons, of energy > 2 MeV Alpha particles, fission fragments and heavy nuclei Weighting Factor 1 1 5 10 20 10 5 5 Column 1 Column 2

9.

20

1 2

Excluding Auger electrons emitted from nuclei bound to DNA. Radiation weighting factors for these neutrons may also be obtained by referring to the continuous curve shown in Figure 1 on page 7 of the 1990 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection, ICRP Publication 60, published in 1991.

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