Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Campus Radionuclide Air Emissions Report for Calendar Year 2014

Abstract

Operations conform to the Washington Department of Health issued Radioactive Air Emissions License-005. This report documents radionuclide air emissions that result in the 2014 highest effective dose equivalent (EDE) to an offsite member of the public, referred to as the maximally exposed individual (MEI). The report has been prepared in compliance with the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Title 40, Protection of the Environment, Part 61, National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP), Subpart H, "National Emission Standards for Emissions of Radionuclides Other than Radon from Department of Energy Facilities" and Washington Administrative Code (WAC) Chapter 246-247, "Radiation Protection-Air Emissions."Federal regulations in 40 CFR 61, Subpart H require the measurement and reporting of radionuclides emitted from DOE facilities and the resulting offsite dose from those emissions. Those regulations impose a standard of 10 millirem (mrem)/year (yr) EDE, which is not to be exceeded. Washington State adopted the 40 CFR 61 standard of 10 mrem/yr EDE into its regulations that require the calculation and reporting of the EDE to the MEI from both point source emissions and from any fugitive source emissions of radionuclides. WAC 246-247 further requires the reporting of radionuclide emissions, including radon, from all PNNL Campus sources.The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1989 revised the NESHAP regulations (i.e., 40 CFR 61, Subpart H) to govern emissions of radionuclides from DOE facilities. Those regulations are intended for the measurement of point source emissions but are inclusive of fugitive emissions with regard to complying with the dose standard.The dose to the PNNL Campus MEI due to routine major and minor point source emissions in 2014 from PNNL Campus sources is 2E-05 mrem (2E-07 mSv) EDE. The dose from all fugitive sources is 3E-6 mrem (3E-8 mSv) EDE. The dose from radon emissions is 1E-6 mrem (1E-8 mSv) EDE. No nonroutine emissions occurred in 2014. The total radiological dose for 2014 to the MEI from all PNNL Campus radionuclide emissions, including fugitive emissions and radon, is 3E-5 mrem (3E-7 mSv) EDE, or more than 100,000 times smaller than the federal and state standard of 10 mrem/yr, to which the PNNL Campus is in compliance.