Methodology of Personnel Exposure Calculation and Optimisation Within the Decommissioning Planning Code OMEGA

Abstract

Calculation of personnel exposure is a one of the main parameters being evaluated within the pre-decommissioning plans together with other decommissioning drivers such as costs, manpower, amounts of RAW and conventional waste and amount of discharged gaseous and liquid effluents. Alongside with manpower, the exposure is an indicator of the decommissioning process for need of staff, and quantifies impact of decommissioning on personnel from the radio hygienic point of view. At the same time it indicates suitability of individual work procedures use for decommissioning activities. For this reason it is important to estimate as precise as possible demands on personnel exposure even during preparatory decommissioning phase to quantify impact of decommissioning on personnel and eventually optimize the decommissioning process, if needed. The most appropriate way of staff exposure estimation during decommissioning preparatory phases is its calculation based on radiological and physical characteristics of equipment to be decommissioned and also quantitative and qualitative characterisation of typical decommissioning activities. On one hand, the methodology of exposure calculation should allow as much as possible realistic description and algorithmisation of exposure ways during decommissioning activities. On the other hand the calculation have to be systematic, well-arranged and clearly definable by appropriate mathematic relations. Calculation can be made by various approaches using more or less sophisticated software solutions from classic MS Excel sheets up to the complex calculation codes. In this paper, a methodology used for personnel exposure calculation and optimization implemented within the complex computer code OMEGA [1] developed at DECOM, a.s. is described.