Radiation Protection in Industrial Radiography: Training, and Inspection

1. Radiation Protection in Industrial Radiography:Training, and Inspection Richard van Sonsbeek Röntgen Technische Dienst bv Dept. Radiation Protection Services P.O. Box 10065 3004 AB Rotterdam The Netherlands Phone +31 (0)10 2088229 Fax: +31 (0)10 4158022 e-mail: r.van.sonsbeek@rtd.nl

2. Causes of reported accidents(IAEA, Lessons learned from accidents in Industrial Radiography, Safety Reports Series no. 7, 1998) • Inadequate regulatory control • Inadequate training • Failure to follow operational procedures • Inadequate maintenance • Human error • Equipment malfunction or defect • Design flaws • Wilful violation

3. Regulatory control in the Netherlands • Nuclear energy Act • Radiation Protection Ordinance • Specific guidelines for IR • Licenses

4. Organisation of radiation protection Requirements for sources and x-ray equipment Performance of IR on location Storage of radioactive sources Exposure of the environment Obligatory checks, registrations and reports IR license

5. Controlled area

6. Necessary Infrastructure • In the Netherlands IR is only performed by limited number of bigger companies • NDT companies must have sufficient Human Resources in order to implement a management system for radiation protection which is an inevitable condition to perform IR in a safe way.

7. Some facts about RTD • Röntgen Technische Dienst was established in 1937 • Member of RTD group of companies • 235 gamma camera’s (192Ir, 1.7 TBq) • 356 x-ray tubes (max. 320 keV) • 8 MeV linear accelerator • 100 permanent IR operators • 481,938 films exposed in 99/00

8. Training of IR operators • Expertise is condition to obtain a license • Guideline for recognition of courses on radiation protection from level 5 to level 2: subjects and objectives • IR operators: minimum level 5 • IR RPO: minimum level 4, 3, or 2 depending on size of company

9. RTD Training department • Established in 1960 • Courses on NDT methods • Courses on radiation protection, recognised by Dutch authorities • Teachers with experience in the field that are familiar with the specific radiation protection problems, and know solutions

10. Operational Procedures • Handbook Radiation Safety with basic rules • Implementation of requirements stated in the license, and other regulations

11. Important rules • During performance of IR an operator continuously shall use a good-working doserate monitor, he must consider it as his sixth sense • Operators must wear both a TLD meter, and a pendosemeter

12. Use of doserate monitor

13. Use of doserate monitor

14. Use of doserate monitor

15. Site inspections - 1 • IR is a repetitive job: risk exists that operators trust too much on their own routine, and become careless • Challenge for IR company to keep it operators alert • Unannounced workplace inspections

16. Site inspections - 2 • Performed by supervisors of operators, and independent inspectors of department Safety & Environment • Standard check list • Penalty depends on severity of violation of basic rules

17. Site inspections in 2000 • 358 site inspections performed by Operations Department during which 6 violations were found • 283 site inspections performed by Department S&E during which 18 violations were found

18. Collective dose 2000

19. Dose distribution 2000

20. Conclusion The results of the policy of RTD show that continuous effort leads to low radiation doses even for operators that work with strong radiation sources