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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Deep Space: The new frontier of radiation controls
In commercial nuclear power, there has always been a deliberate tension between the regulator and the utility owner. The regulator fundamentally exists to protect the worker, and the utility, to make a profit. It is a win-win balance.
From the U.S. nuclear industry has emerged a brilliantly successful occupational nuclear safety record—largely the result of an ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) process that has driven exposure rates down to what only a decade ago would have been considered unthinkable. In the U.S. nuclear industry, the system has accomplished an excellent, nearly seamless process that succeeds to the benefit of both employee and utility owner.
Duncan W. MacArthur, Krag S. Allander, John A. Bounds, J. Lee McAtee
Nuclear Technology | Volume 102 | Number 2 | May 1993 | Pages 270-276
Technical Paper | Radiation Protection | doi.org/10.13182/NT93-A34822
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Traditional alpha-particle contamination monitors are limited in usefulness because of the short range of alpha particles in air. This range limitation makes it impossible to adequately monitor for alpha-particle contamination on uneven surfaces and inside equipment. Personnel must be scanned manually, a procedure that is comparatively uncertain. The long-range alpha detector eliminates many of the difficulties associated with equipment and personnel monitoring by detecting the ions produced by the alpha particles interaction with the air, rather than detecting the alpha particle itself. The personnel and equipment monitors are described in detail, and other potential applications are suggested.
