DEVELOP AN INHALATION SCREENING DOSE MONITOR FOR WORKERS AT NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

AN "INHALATION SCREENING DOSE COLLAR-STANCHION MONITOR" WITHEMBEDDED MINIATURE THIN-WALL GEIGER-MUELLER RADIATION DETECTORS EVALUATES THE THYROID GLAND FOR NANOCURIE ACTIVITYINVENTORY. THE PRIMARY TECHNICAL OBJECTIVE IS TO ESTABLISH THAT THE "COLLAR-STANCHION MONITOR" WILL BE CAPABLE OF DETECTING WITHIN 15 SECONDS AND WITH 2 SIGMA CONFIDENCE AN ACTIVITY INVENTORY OF 0.7 NANOCURIES OF I-131 DOSE EQUIVALENT IN AN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT ADMINISTRATIVE AREA. THE "COLLAR-STANCHION MONITOR" IS MADE OF PLEXIGLAS AND LINED WITH LEAD. THE "COLLAR-STANCHION MONITOR" IS INVESTED WITH A NECK PHANTOM WHICH ALLOWS THE NESTING OF CALIBRATION SOURCES TYPICALLY REPRESENTATIVE OF THYROID I-131 & I-133 UPTAKE IN NANOCURIES BY RADIATION WORKERS UNPROTECTED BY BREATHING APPARATUS WHEN EXPOSED FOR ONE HOURIN VARIOUS OCCUPANCY AREAS THROUGHOUT TYPICAL U.S. BWR AND PWR PLANTS. A PROTOTYPE COLLAR-STANCHION MONITOR WILL BE PRODUCED. UPONCOMPLETION AND CALIBRATION OF THE PROTOTYPE, A CORRELATIONALANALYSIS WILL BE ENGAGED AT A NATIONAL LABORATORY TO COMPARE THE SENSITIVITY, PROCESS TIME, COUNTING TIME, MDA, CONFIDENCE LEVELS AND RELIABILITY OF THE "COLLAR-STANCHION MONITOR" WITH CHAIR-TYPE THYROID COUNTERS, EXIT WHOLE BODY COUNTING CHAMBERS, AND PROTAL MONITORS VIEWING THE CALIBRATION SOURCES.