Argon-41 ALARA, or reduction of argon-41 released from the OSTR by use of a nitrogen purging system for the rotating rack facility

During a generally concurrent era, the NRC began emphasizing the concept of keeping all radiation doses and releases of radioactivity to the environment 'as low as reasonably achievable' (ALARA). In much the same way as the physical security regulations were expanded, the ALARA idea was defined for a number of different NRC licensee categories, but the underlying principle remained the same, namely, reduce occupational doses and releases of radioactivity. In keeping with this NRC policy (i.e., regulatory requirement), the OSTR staff conducted a study of the argon-41 production sites throughout the facility, with the idea of minimizing the production without increasing the potential for higher occupational doses to the staff. The reduction in argon-41 production and release should, after a full year's implementation, result in the 41.68 curie value documented for the past reporting year (July 1, 1980 through June 30, 1981) being cut to about 9 curies per year. This value is based on the fact that the LN purging system was used about the last four months of the stated reporting period. From a dose commitment standpoint, this should reduce the maximum projected annual dose in the unrestricted area under the worst case hypothetical conditions from the currently estimated 1.04 mrem per year to about 0.23 mrem per year