1. 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

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

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

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

5. 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.

6. 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

7. 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

8. TERMINOLOGY
1000 rem = 1 mrem

9. 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

10. 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)

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

12. 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)

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

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

15. 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

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

17. State Regulations For Protection Against Radiation
BSFR
State Regulations For Protection Against Radiation
(SRPAR)
Rule

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

25. BSFR
How Does BSFR Work?

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. 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.

29. 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.

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

31. 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.)

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

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

34. 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

35. 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)

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

37. COMPUTER MODEL

38. COMPUTER MODEL

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

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

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

42. COMPUTER MODEL 42

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

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

45. COMPUTER MODEL

46. 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.)

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

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

49. RADIATION IN LIFE

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

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

52. 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 mrem/yr

53. 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

54. 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:

55. 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%

56. Natural Background in USA
Atlantic & Gulf Coastal Plain mrem/yr
Middle America mrem/yr
Rocky Mountain Plateau mrem/yr
Denver Colorado mrem/yr
Population (weighted average) mrem/yr

58. 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 :

59. 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
pCi
1.8 ng
Tritium
0.06 pg
600 pCi
0.003 pg
Polonium
0.2 pg
1000 pCi
~ 0.6 fg
(or pg)

60. RADIATION IN LIFE

61. 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.

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

63. 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

64. 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

65. 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

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

67. 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

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

69. CONCLUSION