On July 12, 2017, representatives from the Division of Radiation Safety (DRS) met with officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to sign an interagency agreement for the provision of bioassay services. A bioassay is a measurement to determine uptake in an individual of radioactive material from an accident scenario, using very sensitive radiation detection equipment calibrated to various body organs of particular relevance. The bioassay services offered at DRS include lung and stomach counting (for gamma emitters through airborne or ingestion pathways), thyroid counting (for uptake of any radioiodines) and urine analysis (for uptake of beta emitters). Access to bioassay measurements is important for NRC employees who may have been exposed to radiation during NRC inspections.
The interagency agreement was signed by Tiffany Webb from ORS’s budget office and Sandra Nesmith of the NRC’s contracts office. The agreement became necessary based on lessons learned from NRC’s response to the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident. Several NRC headquarters staff and managers travelled to Fukushima and were potentially exposed to radiation fields and radioactive contamination. The NRC does not have radioanalytical capabilities of its own and relies upon licensees to perform bioassay measurements of inspectors as needed. This is not possible for international responses.
The DRS is pleased to be able to offer this service to the NRC, whose headquarters is located only four miles north of NIH’s Bethesda campus. As a reminder, radioactive material may enter the body (and cause an internal radiation dose) through ingestion, inhalation, absorption or puncture pathways. All NIH radiation workers may benefit from obtaining a bioassay if there is ever concern that radioactive material poses an internal hazard in the workplace. Bioassays are required in certain situations involving the use of radioactive material, especially in potentially volatile form or in contamination or other accidental events.
For more information, contact the DRS at (301) 496-5774.
