Bulk Survey for Release (BSFR) Program Roger Fenner Department of Environment and Conservation Division of Radiological Health Presentation to Solid Waste Advisory Committee July 5, 2007 1

Is The BSFR Protective of Human Health and the Environment? Main Objective Is The BSFR Protective of Human Health and the Environment? 2

SWAC Terminology BSFR Tennessee Department Of Environment And Conservation Approval Process For BSFR Programs Radiation In Our Lives Conclusion/Comments

TERMINOLOGY rem A Measurement Of The Biological Effective Dose Risk Of Suffering From Health Effects Following Exposure to Radiation.

TERMINOLOGY A rem Is A Relative Large Number For The Amounts And Types Of Radiation Exposures We Will Be Discussing, Therefore We Need To Define Two Other Terms To More Appropriately Fit Our Purposes For This Meeting.

For Our Purposes It Is Easier to Remember That: TERMINOLOGY The millirem (mrem) Is 1/1000th Of A rem. For Our Purposes It Is Easier to Remember That: 1000 mrem Are Equal To 1 rem

For Our Purposes It Is Easier To Remember That: TERMINOLOGY The Second Term Is The microrem (rem) A microrem (rem) Is 1/1000th Of A mrem For Our Purposes It Is Easier To Remember That: 1000 rem Are Equal To 1 mrem

TERMINOLOGY 1000 rem = 1 mrem

TERMINOLOGY WARNING Do Not Let Yourself Be Confused If We Are Talking About Exposure Rates. 1 mrem/hr Is Still Equal To 1000 rem/hr AND 1 mrem/yr Is Still Equal To 1000 rem/yr

TERMINOLOGY The Last Term I Want to Introduce Is The Term Used To Discuss How Much Radioactivity Is in Any Type of Material Including BSFR Material. It Is The Term For What We Refer To As Activity. picoCurie (pCi)

TERMINOLOGY 1 picoCurie Is Equal To 0.037 Radioactive Decays (Disintegrations) Every Second.

picoCuries per gram (pCi/g) TERMINOLOGY For Our Purposes We Are Concerned With How Many Decays Per Second Are Associated With Each Gram Of Material. So We Will Talk About picoCuries per gram (pCi/g)

Three Terms To Remember TERMINOLOGY Three Terms To Remember mrem rem pCi/g

BULK SURVEY FOR RELEASE? BSFR What Is BULK SURVEY FOR RELEASE?

EXTREMELY LOW LEVELS OF BSFR BSFR Is A Term Used to Refer To A Licensed Process That Has Been Approved By The Tennessee Department Of Environment And Conservation (TDEC) To Allow The Disposal Of Materials With EXTREMELY LOW LEVELS OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL In Class I Landfills

Example Of BSFR Materials Soils Resins Concrete Wood Asphalt Paper, Plastic, Clothing

State Regulations For Protection Against Radiation BSFR State Regulations For Protection Against Radiation (SRPAR) Rule 1200-2-5-.121

METHOD FOR GRANTING APPROVAL OF ALTERNATIVE DISPOSAL PROCEDURES BSFR METHOD FOR GRANTING APPROVAL OF ALTERNATIVE DISPOSAL PROCEDURES

BSFR This Regulatory Authority Is The Same As Provided For In NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (NRC) TITLE 10 CFR 20.2002

BSFR Applications Are Reviewed And Evaluated Based On 5 Criteria As Per This Regulation.

BSFR 1. The Description Of The Waste To Be Disposed, Including The Physical And Chemical Properties. 2. Manner And Conditions Of Waste Disposal.

BSFR 3. Analysis And Evaluation Of Pertinent Information About The Environment Of The Disposal Site.

BSFR 4. Analysis And Procedures To Ensure That Doses Are Maintained As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) And Within The Dose Limits In SRPAR.

BSFR 5. The Nature And Location Of Other Potentially Affected Licensed And Unlicensed Facilities.

BSFR How Does BSFR Work?

BSFR 1. Material Is Analyzed At Each Generator’s Site For The Chemical Constituencies And To Identify Each Radionuclide And Its Activity (pCi/g). 2. The Material Is Then Shipped According To U.S. Department Of Transportation (USDOT) Regulations To A Processor.

BSFR 3. At The Processor Each Package Is Analyzed Again To Verify The Radionuclides And Their Associated Activities (pCi/g). 4. This Analysis Allows The Processor To Determine If The Material Meets The Predetermined Limits Authorized In Their Radioactive Material License For BSFR Disposal.

BSFR 5. If The Material Meets The Predetermined Licensed Authorized Limits And The Container Surface Dose Rate Limits And Does Not Meet The USDOT Definition For Radioactive Material It Is Then Shipped To The Preauthorized Landfill.

BSFR 6. At the Landfill The Material Goes Through A Final Check. Only After It Passes The Final Check Is It Disposed In The Landfill.

How Does TDEC Evaluate A Request For Alternative Disposal? BSFR How Does TDEC Evaluate A Request For Alternative Disposal?

BSFR The Request Is Analyzed By The Licensing Staff The Same As Any Other Application. Which Includes: Qualification Of Management and Health Physics Personnel Adequacy Of Their Radiation Safety Program (Procedures, Instrumentation, Facility, Training, Etc.)

COMPUTER MODEL RESRAD Is A Computer Program Used To Evaluate The Potential Doses From Radioactive Material In The Ground

Has Undergone Extensive COMPUTER MODEL Has Undergone Extensive Review Benchmarking Verification And Validation

COMPUTER MODEL USERS OF THE MODEL U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) U.S. Department Of Energy (USDOE) DOE Contractors

COMPUTER MODEL U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers (USACE) Industrial Firms Universities Foreign Government Agencies And Institutions (France, Spain, Germany, Russia, Taiwan, Belgium, Croatia, Malaysia, Czech Republic, Canada, and Japan)

COMPUTER MODEL What Does The Computer Model Take Into Consideration? RESIDENT FARMER SCENARIO

COMPUTER MODEL

COMPUTER MODEL

Additional Safety Factors Added By COMPUTER MODEL Additional Safety Factors Added By TDEC

COMPUTER MODEL 1. 1 mrem/yr TDEC Limit VS 25 mrem/yr NRC Limit

COMPUTER MODEL 1 mrem/yr Dose. 2. TDEC Models The Landfill As Containing Uniformly Distributed BSFR Material Producing A 1 mrem/yr Dose.

COMPUTER MODEL 42

COMPUTER MODEL 3. TDEC Has Limited Disposal Of Materials At BFI Middle Point To No More Than 5% Of The Total Waste Received.

COMPUTER MODEL 4. TDEC Models For No Clean Cover Soil Placed Between The Resident Farmer And The Waste

COMPUTER MODEL

COMPUTER MODEL 5. For The Unsaturated Zone Area We Only Give Credit For The Clay Liner And The Soil Buffer. (No Credit Is Given For The Plastic Liner.)

COMPUTER MODEL 6. Assume All Waste Is Present At The Concentration Limit On The Day The Site Is Closed.

COMPUTER MODEL These Additional Safety Factors Decrease The 1 mrem/yr Designed Dose Limit For Middle Point Significantly

RADIATION IN LIFE

RADIATION IN LIFE Legislated Radiation Dose Limits For TDEC, NRC, AND ALL AGREEMENT STATES

GENERAL PUBLIC DOSE LIMITS RADIATION IN LIFE GENERAL PUBLIC DOSE LIMITS Dose Limit For A Member of the General Public (TEDE) 100 mrem/yr Dose Limit For Release Of A Licensed Facility For Unrestricted Use (NRC and some Agreement States) 25 mrem/yr

GENERAL PUBLIC DOSE LIMITS RADIATION IN LIFE GENERAL PUBLIC DOSE LIMITS Dose Limit To A Member Of The General Public Allowed In Any One Hour 2 mrem Dose Limit For The Resident Farmer Scenario From Materials Disposed At Middle Point Landfill 1 mrem/yr

RADIATION IN LIFE Occupational Radiation Dose Limits 500 mrem/yr Occupational Dose Limit For Minors 500 mrem/yr Occupational Dose Limit For Adult 5000 mrem/yr

RADIATION IN LIFE In the United States, the Annual Estimated Average Effective Dose Equivalent From Radiation Is 360 mrem Per Adult. This Is Broken Down As:

SOURCE DOSE (mrem/yr) PERCENT OF TOTAL Natural Radon 200 55% Cosmic 27 8% Terrestrial 28 Internal 39 11% Total Natural 300 82% Artificial Medical x-ray Nuclear Medicine 14 4% Consumer Products 10 3% Other Occupational 0.9 <0.3 Nuclear Fuel Cycle <1 <0.03 Fallout Miscellaneous Total Artificial 63 18% Total Artificial and Natural 360 100%

Natural Background in USA Atlantic & Gulf Coastal Plain- 305 mrem/yr Middle America- 325 mrem/yr Rocky Mountain Plateau- 345 mrem/yr Denver Colorado- 365 mrem/yr Population (weighted average) 309 mrem/yr

RADIATION IN LIFE Human body You Are Made Up Of Chemicals, And It Should Be Of No Surprise That Some Of Them Are Radionuclides, Many Of Which You Ingest Daily In Your Water And Food. Here Are The Estimated Concentrations Of Radionuclides Calculated For A 154 Pound Adult :

Human Body Natural Radioactivity in the Nuclide Total Mass of Nuclide found in the Body Total Activity of Nuclide found in the Body Daily Intake of Nuclides Uranium 90 micro g 30 pCi 1.9 micro g Thorium 30 micro g 3 pCi 3 micro g Potassium 40 17 mg 120,000 pCi 0.39 mg Radium 31 pg 2.3 pg Carbon 14 22 ng 100000 pCi 1.8 ng Tritium 0.06 pg 600 pCi 0.003 pg Polonium 0.2 pg 1000 pCi ~ 0.6 fg (or 0.0006 pg)

RADIATION IN LIFE

RADIATION IN LIFE FOOD Every Food Has Some Small Amount Of Radioactivity In It. The Common Radionuclides In Food Are Potassium 40 (40K), Radium 226 (226Ra) and Uranium 238 (238U) And The Associated Progeny.

Natural Radioactivity in Food Potassium (pCi/kg) Radium 226 (pCi/kg) Banana 3,520 1 Brazil Nuts 5,600 1,000 - 7,000 Carrot 3,400 0.6 – 2 White Potatoes 1 - 2.5 Beer 390 --- Red Meat 3,000 0.5 Lima Bean raw 4,640 2 - 5 Drinking Water 0 - 0.17

NATURAL RADIOACTIVITY IN BUILDING MATERIALS RADIATION IN LIFE NATURAL RADIOACTIVITY IN BUILDING MATERIALS Common Building Materials And Their Estimated Levels Of: Uranium, Thorium and Potassium

Material Uranium Thorium Potassium pCi/g Granite 1.7 0.22 32 Sandstone 0.2 0.19 11.2 Cement 1.2 0.57 6.4 Limestone Concrete 0.8 0.23 2.4 Sandstone Concrete 0.3 10.4 Dry wallboard 0.4 0.32 By-product gypsum 5.0 1.78 Natural gypsum 4 Wood - 90 Clay Brick 3 18

Flight Duration (hours) Calculated Cosmic Ray Doses to a Person Flying in Subsonic and Supersonic Aircraft Under Normal Solar Conditions Route Subsonic Flight at 36,000 ft Supersonic flight at 62,000 ft Flight Duration (hours) Dose per Round Trip mrem Los Angeles-Paris 11.1 4.8 3.8 3.7 Chicago-Paris 8.3 3.6 2.8 2.6 New York-Paris 7.4 3.1 2.4 New York-London 7.0 2.9 2.2 Los Angeles-New York 5.2 1.9 1.3 Sydney-Acapulco 17.4 4.4 6.2 2.1

RADIATION IN LIFE Chest X-ray 2 mrem Heart Catheterization (Skin Dose) 45000 mrem Radiation Machine Therapy (Localized & Fractionated) 6,000,000 mrem Thyroid Dose to Treat Graves Disease 10,000,000 mrem Dose to the Rest of the Body From the Treatment of Graves Disease 20,000 mrem

That Fluctuation Equates A Difference of CONCLUSION While Sitting In This Room Today The Dose Rate Has Fluctuated Between 2 rem/hr and 6 rem/hr That Fluctuation Equates A Difference of 40 mrem/yr

Is The Equivalent Of Receiving CONCLUSION 0.1 rem/hr Is The Equivalent Of Receiving 1 mrem/yr

CONCLUSION