Worker Exposure Risk Analysis of Hagan Threaded Closure Container Drops at Los Alamos National Laboratory

Year
2016
Author(s)
Paul Smith - Los Alamos National Laboratory
Timothy A. Stone - Los Alamos National Laboratory
Jonathan G. Teague - Los Alamos National Laboratory
Austin D. Brown - Los Alamos National Laboratory
Tristan Karns - Los Alamos National Laboratory
Abstract
The Department of Energy (DOE) Nuclear Materials Packaging Manual M441.1-1 lays out the requirements for worker dose protection from airborne contamination hazards as an exposure of no more than 5 rem committed Effective Dose Equivalent (CEDE) per year. Hagan Threaded- Top Standard Nuclear Material Containers have been put into question of whether or not they are capable of maintaining a seal sufficient enough to prevent a facility worker from an exposure greater than the M441.1-1 requirement. Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) of San Antonio, TX with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) investigated the structural integrity of Hagan containers to identify a per container size Release Fraction (R) that would better represent the population that is stored at LANL. The integrity tests were intended to give a clear picture of what the risks are of storing these legacy containers. The results found in this investigation will be applied directly to the analysis presented in Consequences of Nuclear Material Container Spills – Worker Risk [Ref1], which is specific to the facility training that is provided by Los Alamos National Laboratory.