NJDEP-Title Goes Here

Radiation Protection & Release Prevention Program
Monthly Highlights
March 2006

If you would like a hard copy of the full monthly report, including appendices, please E-mail Betty Sigafoos.

Paul Baldauf spoke at Michigan's First Critical Infrastructure Protection Conference, Securing Public Private Partnerships for the 21st Century, on March 31, 2006 in Troy, Michigan. The presentation focused on the initiatives New Jersey has taken in regards to chemical sector security. Approximately 400 public and private sector representatives attended the conference. Thor Strong, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Erick Janus, Michigan Department of Community Health, and Andy Such of the Michigan Chemistry Council also participated in the discussions. The audience was very interested in the details of New Jersey's Best Practice Standards for the chemical industry and the steps the Department is taking over the next six months to determine compliance with the Standards.

Eleven members of the Bureau of Release Prevention completed the 40 hour Physical Protection Systems Training Course, conducted in Trenton by CH2M Hill from March 27, 2006 through March 31, 2006. The training focused on the design and evaluation of security systems for use at hard targets such as chemical plants and petroleum facilities. Members of the New Jersey State Police and the County Critical Infrastructure Coordinators also attended the training. The training was provided under a grant from the Department of Homeland Security administered by the Department of Law and Public Safety.

3. The Bureau of Nuclear Engineering (BNE) Meets with PSEG Management At Artificial Island

The Assistant Director of the Radiation Protection and Release Prevention Element, the BNE Manager, and ten other BNE staff personnel met with PSEG Nuclear LLC management on March 20, 2006. Among the topics discussed were: a review of Salem and Hope Creek 2005 accomplishments and operating experience, the 2006 goals, the status of a power uprate at Hope Creek, a radiation monitoring change, security, and a review of the scope of the upcoming Hope Creek thirteenth refueling outage.

Staff also shared with PSEG the BNE's general assessment of performance at Artificial Island of the three nuclear power plants and the management for 2005. Overall, 2005 was a transition year, since PSEG management was replaced with Exelon management. The performance of all three plants was positive. The new Exelon management performed numerous upgrades and modifications, reduced the corrective maintenance backlog, and supported operations to improve plant performance. PSEG had a successful outage, which included the replacement of the reactor vessel head. Noticeable improvements in the corrective action program and safety conscious work environment were evident. PSEG implemented numerous plant security upgrades, which helped support a successful Force-on-Force inspection. Overall, we see positive developments at Artificial Island

On March 9, 006 the Bureau of Radiological Health met with the medical physicist community to discuss items of mutual interest in diagnostic medical imaging. The meeting agenda consisted of the following three topics: update on quality assurance program measurable - ESE and image quality, Computed Tomography CTDI(vol)dose averages for adult head, adult abdomen and pediatric abdomen studies and results of a Bureau pilot study comparing patient ESE using manual and automatic exposure control techniques. PowerPoint presentations and accompanying statistical data have been posted on the Bureau's website at the following link: http://www.nj.gov/dep/rpp/tec/physmed.htm .