Washington Administrative Code
Title 246 - Health, Department of
RADIATION
Chapter 246-247 - Radiation protection-Air emissions
Section 246-247-030 - Definitions, abbreviations, and acronyms

(1) "Abatement technology" means any mechanism, process or method that has the potential to reduce public exposure to radioactive air emissions. Abatement control features include automatic mechanisms and administrative controls used in the operation and control of abatement technology from entry of radionuclides into the ventilated vapor space to release to the environment.

(2) "Administrative control" means any policy or procedure that limits the emission of radionuclides.

(3) "ALARA" means as low as reasonably achievable making every reasonable effort to maintain exposures to radiation as far below the dose standards in this chapter as is practical, consistent with the purpose for which the licensed activity is undertaken, taking into account the state of technology, the economics of improvements in relation to the state of technology, the economics of improvements in relation to benefits to the public health and safety, and other socioeconomic considerations, and in relation to the utilization of nuclear energy, ionizing radiation, and radioactive materials in the public interest. See WAC 246-220-007.

(4) "As low as reasonably achievable control technology" (ALARACT) means the use of radionuclide emission control technology that achieves emission levels that are consistent with the philosophy of ALARA. ALARACT compliance is demonstrated by evaluating the existing control system and proposed nonsignificant modifications in relation to applicable technology standards and other control technologies operated successfully in similar applications. In no event shall application of ALARACT result in emissions of radio-nuclides that could cause exceedance of the applicable standards of WAC 246-247-040. See the definition of ALARA in this section. Note that ALARACT is equivalent to, but replaces, RACT in the June 23, 2007, version of chapter 173-480 WAC.

(5) "Annual possession quantity" means the sum of the quantity of a radionuclide on hand at the beginning of the calendar year and the quantity of that radionuclide received or produced during the calendar year.

(6) "Best available radionuclide control technology" (BARCT) means technology that will result in a radionuclide emission limitation based on the maximum degree of reduction for radionuclides from any proposed newly constructed or significantly modified emission units that the licensing authority determines is achievable on a case-by-case basis. A BARCT compliance demonstration must consider energy, environmental, and economic impacts, and other costs through examination of production processes, and available methods, systems, and techniques for the control of radionuclide emissions. A BARCT compliance demonstration is the conclusion of an evaluative process that results in the selection of the most effective control technology from all known feasible alternatives. In no event shall application of BARCT result in emissions of radionuclides that could exceed the applicable standards of WAC 246-247-040. Control technology that meets BARCT requirements also meets ALARACT requirements. See WAC 173-480-030 and 246-247-120.

(7) "Committed effective dose equivalent" (CEDE) means the sum of the products of absorbed dose from internally deposited radionuclides and appropriate factors to account for differences in biological effectiveness due to the quality of radiation and its distribution in the body of reference man over a fifty-year period.

(8) "Construction" means fabrication, erection, or installation of a new building, structure, plant, process, or operation within a facility that has the potential to emit airborne radionuclides. Construction includes activities of a permanent nature aimed at completion of the emission unit, such as pouring concrete, putting in a foundation, or installing utilities directly related to the emission unit. It does not include preliminary activities such as tests to determine site suitability, equipment procurement and storage, site clearing and grading, and the construction of ancillary buildings.

(9) "Decommissioning" means actions taken to reduce or eliminate the potential public health and safety impacts of a building, structure, or plant that has permanently ceased operations, including, but not limited to, actions such as decontamination, demolition, and disposition.

(10) "Emission unit" means any single location that emits or has the potential to emit airborne radioactive material. This may be a point source, nonpoint source, or source of fugitive emissions.

(11) "Facility" means all buildings, structures, plants, processes, and operations on one contiguous site under control of the same owner or operator.

(12) "Fugitive emissions" are radioactive air emissions which do not and could not reasonably pass through a stack, vent, or other functionally equivalent structure, and which are not feasible to directly measure and quantify.

(13) "Indication device" means any method or apparatus used to monitor, or to enable monitoring, the operation of abatement controls or the potential or actual radioactive air emissions.

(14) "License" means a radioactive air emissions license issued by the department with requirements and limitations listed therein. Compliance with the license requirements are determined and enforced by the department. The license will be incorporated as an applicable requirement in the air operating permit issued by the department of ecology or a local air pollution control authority when the department of ecology or a local air pollution control authority issues an air operating permit.

(15) "Maximally exposed individual" (MEI) means any member of the public (real or hypothetical) who abides or resides in an unrestricted area, and may receive the highest TEDE from the emission unit(s) under consideration, taking into account all exposure pathways affected by the radioactive air emissions.

(16) "Modification" means any physical change in, or change in the method of operation of, an emission unit that could increase the amount of radioactive materials emitted or may result in the emission of any radionuclide not previously emitted. This definition includes the cleanup of land contaminated with radioactive material, the decommissioning of buildings, structures, or plants where radioactive contamination exists, and changes that will cause an increase in the emission unit's operating design capacity. This definition excludes routine maintenance, routine repair, replacement-in-kind, any increases in the production rate or hours of operation, provided the emission unit does not exceed the release quantities specified in the license application or the operating design capacity approved by the department, addition of abatement technology as long as it is not less environmentally beneficial than existing, approved controls, and changes that result in an increase in the quantity of emissions of an existing radionuclide that will be offset by an equal or greater decrease in the quantity of emissions of another radionuclide that is deemed at least as hazardous with regard to its TEDE to the MEI.

(17) "Monitoring" means the measurement of radioactive material released to the ambient air by means of an in line radiation detector, or by the withdrawal of representative samples from the effluent stream. Ambient air measurements may be acceptable for nonpoint sources and fugitive emissions.

(18) "Nonpoint source" is a location at which radioactive air emissions originate from an area, such as contaminated ground above a near-surface waste disposal unit, whose extent may or may not be well-defined.

(19) "Notice of construction" (NOC) is an application submitted to the department by an applicant that contains information required by WAC 246-247-060 for proposed construction or modification of a registered emission unit(s), or for modification of an existing, unregistered emission unit(s).

(20) "Point source" is a discrete, well-defined location from which radioactive air emissions originate, such as a stack, vent, or other functionally equivalent structure.

(21) "Potential-to-emit" means the rate of release of radionuclides from an emission unit based on the actual or potential discharge of the effluent stream that would result if all abatement control equipment did not exist, but operations are otherwise normal. Determine the potential-to-emit by one of the following methods:

(22) "Replacement-in-kind" means the substitution of existing systems, equipment, components, or devices of an emission unit's control technology with systems, equipment, components, or devices with equivalent, or better, performance specifications that will perform the same function(s).

(23) "Routine" means:

(24) "Sealed source" means radioactive material that is permanently bonded or fixed in a capsule or matrix, or radioactive material in airtight containers, designed to prevent release and dispersal of the radioactive material under the most severe conditions encountered in normal use and handling.

(25) "Significant" means the potential-to-emit airborne radioactivity at a rate that could increase the TEDE to the MEI by at least 1.0 mrem/yr as a result of a proposed modification.

(26) "Total effective dose equivalent" (TEDE) means the sum of the dose equivalent due to external exposures and the CEDE due to internal exposures.

(27) "Uranium fuel cycle" means the operations of milling uranium ore, chemical conversion of uranium, isotopic enrichment of uranium, fabrication of uranium fuel, generation of electricity in a nuclear power plant that uses uranium fuel, and reprocessing of spent uranium fuel, to the extent that these operations solely support the production of electrical power for public use. Excluded are mining operations, waste disposal sites, transportation of any radioactive material, and the reuse of recovered nonuranium special nuclear and byproduct materials from the cycle.