Occupational Radiation Exposure at Commercial Nuclear Power Reactors and Other Facilities 2022: Fifty-Fifth Annual Report (NUREG-0713, Volume 44)
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Publication Information
Manuscript Completed: October 2024
Date Published: October 2024
Prepared by:
T.A. Brock
D.A. Hagemeyer*
D.B. Holcomb*
ORAU*
1299 Bethel Valley Road, SC-200, MS-21
Oak Ridge, TN 37830
T.A. Brock, NRC Project Manager
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
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Abstract
This report summarizes the occupational exposure data maintained in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Radiation Exposure Information and Reporting System (REIRS) database. The bulk of the information in this report was compiled from the 2022 annual reports submitted by five of the seven categories1 of NRC licensees subject to the reporting requirements of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 20.2206, "Reports of individual monitoring." Because there are no geologic repositories for high-level waste currently licensed and no NRC-licensed low-level waste disposal facilities currently in operation, this report considers only five categories. The annual reports submitted by these licensees consist of radiation exposure records for each monitored individual. These records are analyzed for trends and presented in this report in terms of collective dose and the distribution of dose among the monitored individuals.
Annual reports for 2022 were received from a total of 166 NRC licensees from the five categories included in this report. The summation of reports submitted by the 166 licensees indicated that 134,177 individuals were monitored, 57,636 of whom received a measurable dose (dose that is reported as a positive value; see table 3-1). When adjusted for transient individuals, there were actually 107,070 unique individuals monitored, 47,547 of whom received a measurable dose (see section 5).
The collective dose incurred by these individuals was 6,537 person-rem (65,370 person-millisieverts [mSv]), which represents a less than 1 percent increase from the 2021 value (see table 3-1). The 2022 collective dose is 10 percent lower than the 5-year average of 7,229 person-rem (2017–2021), which is not a statistically significant change.2 The small increase in collective dose in 2022 was due to increases in four categories: spent fuel storage licensees (139 percent increase), fuel cycle licensees (28 percent increase), industrial radiography licensees (22 percent increase), and manufacturing and distribution (M&D) licensees (1 percent increase). However, the collective dose incurred by commercial nuclear power reactor licensees, which comprises the majority of occupational dose for NRC licensees, decreased (4 percent decrease) in 2022. When compared to the 5-year average of collective dose for each licensee category, only fuel cycle and M&D had statistically significant changes in dose. The changes for the remaining three categories were not statistically significant.
The number of individuals receiving a measurable dose increased by 2 percent from 2021 and was 8 percent below the 5-year average but was not statistically significant. When adjusted for transient individuals, the average measurable dose of 0.14 rem (1.4 mSv) was lower in 2022, compared to 0.16 rem (1.6 mSv) in 2021, and is not statistically significant when compared to the 5-year average. The average measurable dose is defined as the total effective dose equivalent divided by the number of individuals receiving a measurable dose.
In calendar year 2022, the average annual collective dose per reactor for light-water reactor (LWR) licensees was 55 person-rem (550 person-mSv). This is a 3 percent decrease from the value reported for 2021 (table 4-3) but is not statistically significant when compared to the 5-year average. The total outage hours at commercial nuclear power plants increased from 2021 to 2022. The collective dose for the LWR licensee category decreased 218 person-rem (2,180 person-mSv) from 5,303 person-rem (53,030 person-mSv) in 2021 to 5,085 person-rem (50,850 person-mSv). The average annual collective dose per reactor was 100 person-rem (1,000 person-mSv) for the 31 boiling-water reactors (BWRs) and 32 person-rem (320 person-mSv) for 61 pressurized-water reactors (PWRs). The BWR 2022 value is 7 percent lower than the 5-year average annual collective dose per BWR reactor and is not a statistically significant decrease. The 2022 value for PWR licensees is 2 percent higher than the 5-year average annual collective dose per PWR reactor and is not statistically significant when compared to the 5-year average. One PWR, Palisades, closed in 2022, bringing the number of operational LWRs to 92.
There were 22,646 individuals monitored at two or more licensees during the monitoring year. The assessment of the average measurable dose per individual is adjusted each year to account for
the reporting of a measurable dose for transient individuals by multiple licensees. The adjustments to account for transient individuals are noted in the footnotes for the applicable figures and tables on the commercial nuclear power reactors.
1 Commercial nuclear power reactors and test reactor facilities; industrial radiographers; fuel processors (including uranium enrichment facilities), fabricators, and reprocessors; manufacturing and distribution of byproduct material; independent spent fuel storage installations; facilities for land disposal of low-level waste; and geologic repositories for high-level waste. There are currently no NRC licensees involved in low level waste disposal or geologic repositories for high-level waste.
2 This report presents additional statistical comparisons in section 2.2.
Page Last Reviewed/Updated Tuesday, November 05, 2024