Calibration Facility Michelle Holman Health Physicist 5/12/2009 SRNS-J6700-2009-00059 2009 Health Physics Instrumentation Committee Meeting Austin, Texas 1 D O C U M E N T A T I O N & I N F O R M A T I O N S E R V I C E S 1
Health Physics Instrument Calibration Laboratory 2
Facility Background 30,000 sq. ft. Facility began routine operation in 1996 Built to meet new federal guidelines for radiation protection and instrument calibration Designed to maintain worker exposure to <20 mrem/yr (Routine workers exposure is <5 mrem/yr) One of the most advanced radiation calibration laboratories in the U.S. 3
138 Source Storage 139 - Staging Area 121A 121 Corridor 145 Corridor 122 116 150 103 C Health Physics Instrument Calibration Laboratory Layout 122 101 - Loading Dock Area 103 RME-CMC 109 101 110 150 - Vehicle Bay 102 Environmental Chambers 106 Training Conference Break Room 111 112 148 Central Counting Lab 105 Shipping & Receiving 104 Tech Lab Corridor 149 108 107 Kitchen Vending 113 114 Reception 117 147 Facility Mechanical Systems 144 - E&I Shop 142 Parts 125 127 126 Janitor 124 Women s Room 123 Men s Room 118 119 Records 146 Facility Electrical Systems 143 Area A - G 141 Repair Shop 129 Tele- Com 128 Facility Mechanical Systems 120 Tritium Calibration Corridor 121 137 Beta Beam Room 133 Foyer 130 - Operations Center 140 Well Room 135 Panoramic Irradiation Room 134 Gamma Beam Room 132 Low Scatter Room 131 X-Ray Beam Room 4
Capabilities NVLAP Certified (2006) NVLAP for Homeland Security (currently working on) Testing, calibration, and maintenance ANSI N42.17C-1989* performance testing Meets requirements for compliance with 10 CFR 835** Ability to work with actual weapons-grade plutonium and enriched uranium sources Capacity of 3,000 radiological instrument calibrations per month with full shifts (currently one shift operating 750 instruments/month) Comprehensive capabilities for instrument performance * American National Standards Institute, Performance Specifications for Health Physics Instrumentation Portable Instruments for Use in Extreme Environmental Conditions ** Code of Federal Regulations, Part 835, Occupational Radiation Protection which establishes requirements for the appropriateness of radiological monitoring instruments 5
Equipment Ten irradiator calibration systems in shielded rooms, consisting of: Radiation sources Computerized positioning systems Positioning control panel/with video of instrument readings Meet or exceed all of the safety requirement in ANSI N43.3-1993. Low Scatter Irradiator (Largest in USA) 6
Equipment (cont.) Irradiators - X-ray (narrow spectrum up to 250 kev) - Low Scatter (gamma and neutron beams) 17 rem/hr neutron 90 R/hr gamma - Gamma Beam (13,000 R/hr) - Panoramic Dosimeter (3 R/hr) - Beta Beam (20 rad/hr) - (3) Gamma Wells (8 R/hr) - Neutron Well ( 252 Cf) (150 mrem/hr) - 241 Am (500 mr/hr) Irradiation source material with NIST-traceable beams - 60 Co - 90 Sr/Y - 137 Cs - 252 Cf (bare and moderated) Numerous low-level, sealed sources for bench-top instrument calibrations - 239 Pu, 36 Cl, 241 Am, 99 Tc, etc. Equipment for performing tritium instrument calibration Gamma Beam Irradiator 7
Equipment (cont.) Two large environmental test chambers allow testing for various environmental combinations and transition times - temperature (-70 o C to 170 o C) - humidity (10% RH to 95% RH) Instrument repair shop including electronics repair and rebuild Covered loading area with a hydraulic lift allows for materials to be unloaded from ground level or tractor-trailer level in all kinds of weather Environmental Chamber 8
Summary of Instruments by Type Gamma Exposure Rate (837) Alpha Contamination (681) Beta Contamination (714) Personal Electronic Dosimeters (1488) High Range Gamma Exposure Rate (102) Misc. (Tritium, Neutron, and Specialty) (567) ARRA additional 300 Health Physics Instrument Calibration Laboratory Average calibration throughput equals 800 instruments per month 9
Irradiators on Separate Network 10
Upgrades to the Low Scatter Irradiator 11
Homeland Security Testing 12