Radiation Protection and Release Prevention

Radiation Protection & Release Prevention Program
Monthly Highlights
November 2006

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

On November 8th and 9th , 2006 Mr. Paul Orlando participated in a CDC round table discussion regarding the feasibility of implementing a nation wide patient radiation dose tracking system. The round table panel consisted of experts in medical physics, university researchers, radiologists and state radiation control program managers. The CDC has been researching the feasibility of implementing such a system and conducted a one year study at Hershey Medical Center at Penn State University that involved measuring patient radiation dose from various medical fluoroscopy procedures. Fluoroscopy was chosen based on its high delivery of radiation dose to the patient.

Day one of the round table discussion began with the presentation of results from the above referenced study. The researcher discussed how labor intensive it was to determine actual patient dose for the relatively small study conducted on interventional fluoroscopic procedures performed in four fluoroscopy suites within Hershey Medical Center. The researcher presented that patient radiation dose was determined with relatively good accuracy; however, to do so was very labor intensive requiring several hours of calculations and set up for each procedure. What is more, the researcher presented that the variability in how the same procedure was performed on different patients was so great that no time saving assumptions could be made. After several others presented information and research results, the panel quickly concluded that individual patient dose could not be practically determined as the CDC had hoped.

The rest of the meeting focused on areas that the CDC should direct its research efforts regarding patient radiation dose and potential long term risks associated with medical x-ray procedures. A long list of suggested studies was developed. The most intriguing recommendation was to study the health history of individuals who received large fluoroscopy radiation dose during cardiac surgery prior to one year of age. Many suggested that there is a large known fifty year population cohort that could be evaluated now.

The Bureau of Radiological Health (Bureau) initiated new efforts to collect unpaid x-ray machine registration fees. The section has established a list of 413 facilities that owe a total of $220,040 in past due registration fees and has begun contacting facilities to advise them of their delinquency.

In November, the Bureau contacted an additional eight facilities with unpaid fees. The Bureau will continue to contact all facilities on the list in an effort to collect overdue registration fees. Facilities that do not respond to the phone call reminders will be issued enforcement actions for failing to pay required fees. To date, four administrative orders have been issued to facilities that have ignored the phone call reminders.

3. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Region I Joint Exercise Scheduling Conference

On November 27 - November 30, 2006, a representative of the Nuclear Emergency Preparedness Section attended the annual Regional Scheduling Conference in Annapolis, Maryland. The annual conference is attended by licensees and nuclear emergency response program officials from the states in NRC's Region I. The purpose of the conference was to coordinate exercise schedules to ensure that there are no conflicts between the states, the NRC, and the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) exercise commitments. The conference also provided a forum for federal, state, and license emergency programs to update the industry on their latest initiatives. This year's presentations included new Communication Technologies, Communications and Coordination during Security Events, and a presentation on Avian Flu and pandemic impacts on emergency planning. Discussion topics included how to improve communications and service to stakeholders through the use of electronic and web based tools. New technologies such as E-Library, Web-EOC, and web based management tools were demonstrated during several presentations.

The Radium Work Group met on November 21, 2006 to discuss Non-Transient, Non-Community Water Systems that require, or have already installed treatment systems. To reduce the burden on these small businesses, the Group decided that the systems would be regulated through the Radioactive Material License. The Bureau of Environmental Radiation staff will present this information to the Commission on Radiation Protection to request support for waiving the fee for the license.

On November 22, 2006 the RMS was contacted by the Radiation Safety Officer at Schlumberger's Princeton Technology Center (Schlumberger). They had discovered that a vial that was supposed to contain 100 Curies of tritium was empty. The vial was part of a shipment sent to them from Ontario Hydro in Canada back in September. The vial had been in storage since then, until they attempted to use it and discovered it was empty. They checked their leak test records for the shipment when it arrived in September. Those results did not show any leakage. They also leak tested the inner packaging that enclosed the vial, when thy found the vial to be empty. Those results were also negative. The stack emission data for the facility from September to the present was reviewed, but the review did not show any data that would indicate a release. Schlumberger is of the opinion that Ontario Hydro shipped them an empty vial. They had contacted Ontario Hydro, which was checking their records, as well as made notification to the NRC, since tritium is an NRC regulated material. Schlumberger was asked to keep us updated as to the results of the investigation. The NRC was contacted and confirmed they had been notified by Schlumberger. NRC said they would forward the results of any investigation.