ML20043B989
| ML20043B989 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Vermont Yankee File:NorthStar Vermont Yankee icon.png |
| Issue date: | 05/22/1990 |
| From: | Ronald Bellamy NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | Murphy W VERMONT YANKEE NUCLEAR POWER CORP. |
| References | |
| RTR-NUREG-CR-4884 NUDOCS 9006010150 | |
| Download: ML20043B989 (2) | |
Text
m MAY 2 21990
)
i p
Docket tlo. 50-271 L
Vermont Yankee. Nuclear Power Corporation l-ATTN:
Mr.. Wa rren P, ' Murphy
- Vice' President-and Manager of Operations.
RD 5, Box 169 Ferry Road Brattieboro, Vermont-.05301-4 4
Gentlemen:
Subject:
INTERPRETATION OF BIDASSAY MEASUREMENTS;L ASSESSMENT OF INTAKE!
In accordance with the attached information, Region 1 Reactor licensees are-advised.that assessing intakes of radioactive' materiala using bioassay data sho'uld be based on'the best data and models available for that purpose.
. i Licensees are no longer restricted to the assessment methodology in ICRP Publication'2 in determining compliance'with'10 CFR 20Lintakerlimits, Licensees may use improved and' generally accepted methodologyisuch as provided.'
in recent ICRP Publications and NUREG/CR-4884.
i
. Sincerely,
- r r
1
.\\
A aid R.,Bellamy, Chief J
Facilities Radiological Safety
- and. Safeguards Branch
- Division of Radiation:Safet/'
and Safeguards-
Attachment:
LJCunningham Letter, " Draft'NRC Information'. Notice,
!1
' Interpretation of Bioassay Measurements; Assessment of-Intake'".
dated March 14, 1990' b
i l
[
'0FFICIAL RECORD COPY MULTI ~' TRS - C014.0.0 f
05/08/90f h
9006010150 900522 g=-
r. I-
.. - t ~ -,'
PDR ADOCK 05000271 o
P PDC 3 /g; s
h
-j
'i Vermont ~ Yankee Nuclear. Power Corporation 2_
At4Y g 2 7999 cc: w/ attachment:
l J. Weigand, President and Chief Executive Officer.
J. Pelletier, Plant Manager J. DeVincentis, Vice President, Yankee Atomic Electric Company L. Tremblay, Licensing Engineer, Yankee Atomic Electric Company i_
I J. Gilroy,. Director, Vermont Public Interest Research Group, Inc.
l-Vermont Yankee Hearing Service List Publ.ic Document Room (PDR)
Local Public Document Room (LPDR)
Nuclear Safety Information Center (NSIC)
NRC' Resident. Inspector State of New Hampshire, SLO Designee State of Vermont, SLO Designee Commonwealth of Massachusetts, SLO Designee bcc w/ attachment:
Region I Docket Room (with concurrences)
M. Perkins, DRMA (w/o enc 1) o R. Bellamy, DRSS R. Blough, DRP J. Johnson, DRP i
G. Grant, SRI - Vermont Yankee-H. Eichenholz, SRI - Vermont-Yankee M. Conner, SALP Reports Only K. Abraham, PA0 (20) SALP Report and (2) A11' Inspection Reports l
J. Caldwell, NRR M. Fairtile, NRR l-L. J. Cunningham, NRR J. D. Buchanan, NRR l
t
?
I 5
OFFICIAL RECORD COPY MULTI ~ LTRS - 0015.0.0 05/08/90
e
~
m
'.)
.. p3 Rf G
,7f a n/lg 2-UNITED STATES
'(
.y g
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION e
wp. a wAsmucrow, o. c. 20sss e
er..+
.Mr. ch 14,'1990 liEh0RAkDUM FOR: Those on the Attached List FR0lb LeMoine J. Cunningham,-Chief Radiation' Protection Branca Division of. Radiation Protection and Emergency Preparedness Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
SUBJECT:
DRAFT NRC INFORMATION NOTICE, " INTERPRETATION OF B10 ASSAY MEASUREMENTS;. ASSESSMENT OF INTAKE" in a July 13, 1988 memorandum,1 informed you. that we.had decided not to. issue the enclosed draft-information notice which'had been prepared ~after resolution of NRC headquarters and: regional office comments on earlier 4 rafts.
(Note:
The technical centacts have been updated on the' enclosed copy of the.draf t.' )
A primary reason for this oecision was that a regulatory guide endorsing:the use of huREG/CR-4884, " Interpretation of Bioassay Measurements,":was<to have been-issued within a few months and we intended to have that guide ' incorporate the message in the enclosea draft information notice concerning the incorrect
" position" in Information Notice No. 82-18. That regulatory. guide' has not' been issued and, although the guide is still under. development, we do not' expect it L
to be issued in the near future.
We have reconsidered issuing the enclosed draft notice; however, we again have decided not to do so primarily because thel regulatory guide: incorporating the information is still planned and because the importance of the information con-tained in the-enclosed draft is below the current' threshold!of importance-suf-ficient to warrant issuance of an NRC information notice.
Nowever, to make this information available to the public, we are-placing a copy of this memo--
L randum enclosure in the public document room.
Therefore, you are free to trans-mit copies to licensees if you so desire.
eM e J. Cunningha, Chief Rad ation Protection Branch
-Div.ision-of. Radiation Protection and Emergency Preparedness Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Enclosure:
Sub act Information Notice CONTACT: John D. Buchanan, NRR
. m 492-.LO97 6
f is g
)
G en.twe n n' LCl!TED STATES i
M L.
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSIOP
- 0FFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION t i WASHINGTON. D.C.
20555 1
L June _ xx,1988 NRC INTOTMATION NOTICE NO. 88-XX:
INTERPRETATION OF 810 ASSAY MEASURENINTS; ASSESSMENT OF INTAKES l
Addressees:
i All nuclear p:wer reactor facilities holding an operating license or a con-struction permit, research and test reactors, fuel facilities, and Priority I material ifcensees.
Background and
Purpose:
This information notice is. intended to correct an NRC position in Information Notice 82-18 (Reference 1) that was in conflict with the NR9 staff position-s published in several regulatory guides. The NRC position in Infomation Notice 82-18 indicate.: that, for p~urposes of determining compliance with the 10 CFR Part 20 in:Cv. limits, only the methodology of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP)' Publication 2 (Reference 2) can be used in assessing intakes of-radioactive material using bioassay data. ' Another purpose of this 1988 information nctice is to call attention to a comprehsnsive new manual prepared for the NRC that can be used to compute intakes from both in vivo and in vitro bioassay measuremeh'ts, ' Interpretation of Bioassay-Easurements? TERIG/CR-4084).
It is expected that recipients will review the-information in this information nottee for applicability to their programs.
However, suggestions contained in this information notice do not' constitute NRC requirements; therefore, no specific action or written response is required.
Discussion:
The NRC staf f position with respect to bioassay is presented in NRC Regulatory Guides 8.9, 8.11, 8.20, 8.22, and 8.26.
In general, the position is that assessment of individual intake using bionssay data should be based on the best data and models available for that purpose.
IE Information Notice 82-18, " Assessment of Intakes of Radioactive Material by Workers," issued in 1982, pointed out that the present NRC limits on intake are based on ICRP Publication 2 and concluded with the NRC position:: "The NRC will continue to use the ICRP Pubitcation 2 methodology in detemining coup 11ance with 10 CFR 20 until the revision of 20 CFR 20 has been published as a final' rule."
DRAFT 1
r
-e i
.--w-.-.
... - ~,, -.,
e
-ww--*w
.---u=+wu.e-*.,
w-w--e-e..-+
w w -w -w w
-e* w---m-*-w
<-e*
wee-
?4 1f IN 88 XX
'd June xx, 19E8 Page 2 of 3 l
The NRC staff now recognizes that this position in Information Notice 82-18 (2) is incorrect in is: plying that only ICRP Publication 2 can 63 used for L
assessing bicassay data to determine compliance with 10 CFR Part 20 and (2) conflicts with the NRC staff position expressed in relevant regulatory guides. Although ICRP Publication 2 provides the basis for currant 30 CFR l
Part 20 limits on intake (based on long-term, chronic exposures), it does not always provide sa adequate basis for assessing individual intake because it does not provide inforraation on body content or excreta following single (acute) intake or information applicable to an individual differing from the
- standard man' defined in ICRP Publication 2.
This it. adequacy is recognized in ICRF Fublications 10 and 10A (References 3 and 4), which are endorsed in Regulatory Guide 8.9 and which are mentioned in Information Notice 82-18 as being used by the NRC to evaluate bioassey data to determine compliance with regulatory requirements, f
The NRC staff became aware of the problem with the NRC pos11; ion in Information Notice 82-18 as a result of reviews and discussions during itsdraftstage) of a draft report, " Interpretation of Bioassay Measurements' (Reference 5),
s prepared by Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) under an NRC contract. This report (which was published in July 1987) is a comprehensive manual that, for the first time, provides information on how to compute intakes from both in vivo and in vitro bioassay measurements and contains tables for the interpretation cf l
bioaTsay results, in terms of intake, for several hundred nuclides. This manual conforms to the positions in existing regulatory guides, and the computed intake retention fractions in the report have been verified by comparison with results generated by other computer models using the same set of assumptions (REMEDY andDOSEDAY/DOSEYR). The use of this report, with its straightforward method-clogy, could help licensees avoid the difficulties associated with the use of the methodology in ICRP Publication 2.
for comment, a draft regulatory guide that would The NRC plans to issue,for use in assessing intakes of radioactive material endorse the BNL report from the results of bioassay measurements.
In the interim, use of this report for the interpretation of bicassay measurements is consistent with the regula-tory positions in existing regulatory guides on bioassay; therefore, the report may be used for this purpose. Of course, the limits on intake.given in 10 CFR 20.103 and based on ICRP Publication 2 continue to apply until they are changed in a revision of 10 CFR Part 20. Furthetsore, to the extent it is applicable, ICRF Publication 2 may continue to be used for assessing intakes of radioactive material for comparison with the intake limits of 20 CFR Part 20.
O HAFT
-l
IN 88-XX i
June ax, 1988-Page 3 of 3
+
No specific action or written res >onse'is reqvfred by this inforination notice.-
If you have any questions-about t)is matter please contact the regional administrator of-the appropriate regional office or this-office, l
Charles E. Rossi Director Division of Operational Events Assesseent Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation John.O. Buchanat?
ush NRR 8ctedard 6 8ecoNSj RAS Technical Contacts:-4iliiWiiEEliiityO 0 (301) 492-Qp ypg pg
, NMSS (301) 492-3422 4
J l
References (1) IE Information Notice 82-18,
- Assessment of Intakes of Radioactive Material l
by Workers," June II,1982.
(2) ' Report of Comittee II on Permissible Dose-for Internal Radiation,"
Recomendations of the International romission on-Radiological Protection, ICRP Publication 2,1959.
(3) ' Report of Comittee IV on Evaluation of Radiation Doses in Body Tissues l
from Internal. Contamination due to Occupational Exposure," Recommendations I
of the International Consnission on Radiological Protection, ICRP Publication 10,1968.
l l
(4) "The Assessment of Internal Contamination Resulting from Recurrent or Prolonged Uptakes; A Report of ICRP_ Cossnittee 4," Recomendations of the i
International Comission on Radiological Protection, ICRP' Pub 11 cation 20A, 1969.
4 (5) Edward T. Lessard, Xia Yinua, Kenneth W. Skrable, et al.,)' Interpretation of Bioassay Measurements," NUREG/CR-4884 (8NL-NUREG-52063, July 1937.
Attachment:
List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices e
i 1
n
.