On September 2, 1993, radiation protection personnel at Hanford discovered that an employee exceeded the lifetime control level on radiation dose equivalent established by the Radiation Control Manual, Article 212. This article established an administrative limit of N rem, where N is the age of the worker. The employee was involved in a plutonium inhalation incident in 1979 and received a lung disposition that resulted in an effective dose equivalent of 44 rem. Facility personnel report that the employee is 36 years old and is no longer an active radiological worker. Although the administrative limit was exceeded, the regulatory limit was not.
As part of corrective action, radiation protection personnel established an annual limit of 200 mrem for the worker. This will allow his lifetime dose to approach his age in rem within ten years. In addition, radiological records are being reviewed to identify any other employee who may exceed the administrative control level. (ORPS Report RL--PNL-325-1993-0020)
In OE Weekly Summary 93-2, NS reported a similar incident when Hanford radiation protection personnel disclosed that five workers exceeded their administrative control limit. Hanford management implemented the new administrative control on January 1, 1993. Prior to implementation, site personnel reviewed radiological records to determine if any employee was expected to exceed the new limits. Facility personnel reported as part of the September 2nd event the record associated with this employee was inadvertently overlooked at that time.