Chapter 16
Working Safely in a Radiological Area
While we saw in Chap. 2 that radiation is not as dangerous as most believe, it can
still pose a risk of both short-term (deterministic) and long-term (stochastic) health
effects if workers do not take adequate precautions. It is important that those working
in any radiological area be able to evaluate the risks that are present and that they take
precautions to minimize their risks and subsequent health effects. Report #161 of the
National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements [4] offers a thorough
summary of radiation safety practices in response to a number of incidents that might
result in the contamination of personnel. Rather than simply repeat what is in this
(and other) reports, it seems more appropriate to summarize the most relevant points
and to add additional considerations that are relevant to working on the site of a
radiological and nuclear interdiction and attack; radiation safety precautions that are
specific to the aftermath of a nuclear attack will be discussed in Chap. 18.
16.1 General Radiation Safety Good Work Practices
There are some radiation safety work practices that are common to most situations,
including both routine and emergency situations. Briefly, these are [5]:
• Time—minimize the amount of time spent in the Hot Zone in general, and in
areas with high dose rates in particular. This can be accomplished through
– Pre-planning and briefing each entry so that each person understands the
objectives, their specific tasks, the location of hot spots, and other relevant
information about the entry.
– Practicing complex tasks prior to entry if possible.
– Working quickly, but not hastily.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
P. A. Karam, Radiological and Nuclear Terrorism,
Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69162-2_16
183
Working Safely in a Radiological Area
While we saw in Chap. 2 that radiation is not as dangerous as most believe, it can
still pose a risk of both short-term (deterministic) and long-term (stochastic) health
effects if workers do not take adequate precautions. It is important that those working
in any radiological area be able to evaluate the risks that are present and that they take
precautions to minimize their risks and subsequent health effects. Report #161 of the
National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements [4] offers a thorough
summary of radiation safety practices in response to a number of incidents that might
result in the contamination of personnel. Rather than simply repeat what is in this
(and other) reports, it seems more appropriate to summarize the most relevant points
and to add additional considerations that are relevant to working on the site of a
radiological and nuclear interdiction and attack; radiation safety precautions that are
specific to the aftermath of a nuclear attack will be discussed in Chap. 18.
16.1 General Radiation Safety Good Work Practices
There are some radiation safety work practices that are common to most situations,
including both routine and emergency situations. Briefly, these are [5]:
• Time—minimize the amount of time spent in the Hot Zone in general, and in
areas with high dose rates in particular. This can be accomplished through
– Pre-planning and briefing each entry so that each person understands the
objectives, their specific tasks, the location of hot spots, and other relevant
information about the entry.
– Practicing complex tasks prior to entry if possible.
– Working quickly, but not hastily.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
P. A. Karam, Radiological and Nuclear Terrorism,
Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69162-2_16
183