Health Physics Criteria for Assessing the Radiation Situation with Changing Technology at a Nuclear Fuel Cycle Enterprise

Purpose: To select and justify health physics criteria necessary and sufficient in assessing the potential hazard for the personnel and public from the implementation of the planned activity, which can lead to deterioration in the radiation situation at the nuclear fuel cycle (NFC) enterprise.

Results: To promptly assess the feasibility of carrying out an event planned at the NFC enterprise, a methodology has been developed for assessing radiation safety and protection in case of potential deterioration in the radiation situation.

Conclusion: Each planned event that may lead to deterioration in the radiation situation at a NFC enterprise should result in neither significant changes in the radiation situation nor exceeding the established health physics criteria:

• non-exceeding main dose constraints;

• non-increasing the category of potential radiation hazard of the NFC enterprise;

• non-increasing the class of work with unsealed radiation sources;

• permissible increase in the class of working conditions of the personnel based on the findings of special assessment of working conditions.

In a comparative assessment of the competitiveness of radiation technologies, potential change in the radiation situation and the cost of implementing compensatory measures should be pre-evaluated to protect the personnel and public in case of deterioration in the radiation situation following the introduction of new technologies.