A program for assuring the competence of radiation protection supervisors

Baker Hughes Incorporated is a service company providing drilling, formation evaluation and production technology to the oil and gas industry. The corporation is the combination of many innovative companies, some dating back to the early 1900s, that have developed and introduced technology to serve the global petrochemical industry. Every day in oil fields around the world, Baker Hughes engineers, geo-scientists and field service personnel apply the latest technology to find reserves, develop fields and produce oil and gas. Baker Hughes INTEQ, a division of Baker Hughes Inc., provides a range of services associated with drilling operations. A major product line utilises sealed radioactive sources to obtain real-time information on the formation being drilled. This is done by use of a technique called measurement while drilling (MWD). A nuclear MWD operation on a drilling rig involves the use of a 185 GBq Am-241/Be neutron source and a 74 GBq Cs-137 gamma ray source. INTEQ's Eastern Hemisphere operations have provided MWD services in more than 50 countries in the last 10 years, from its major support bases in the UK, Norway, Nigeria, Dubai and Singapore. Baker Hughes INTEQ takes the safety of its work with radioactive sources extremely seriously and, when developing these services, put a lot of thought into how this could be ensured. An essential factor was deemed to be the competence of the personnel providing the services at the rig site, most importantly, the radiation protection supervisor (RPS). The RPS is responsible for ensuring that the specified working procedures are observed at all times. In doing so, the RPS will ensure that the work being done with the radioactive sources proceeds in a manner which is fully compliant with the regulations for radiation protection in the country in which the work is being undertaken