ISOE Information System on Occupational Exposure: An Overview

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ISOE Information System on Occupational
Exposure An Overview

• Brian Ahier, Ted Lazo (ISOE Joint Secretariat ,
  OECD Nuclear Energy Agency)

2007 Asian Regional ALARA Symposium
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ISOE Context

• ... the exchange and analysis of information on
  individual and collective radiation doses to the
  personnel of nuclear installations and to the
  employees of contractors, as well as on
  dose-reduction techniques, is essential to
  implement effective dose-control programmes and
  to apply the ALARA principle...
• (ISOE Terms and Conditions)

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ISOE Objective

• To provide a forum for radiation protection
  professionals from both utilities and regulatory
  authorities to share world-wide dose reduction
  information and operational experience and
  coordinate international cooperative projects to
  improve the optimisation of worker radiological
  protection at nuclear power plants.

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ISOE Background

• Launched in 1992 by the OECD-NEA
• Participation of IAEA since 1993
• 15 years of operation and experience
• A comprehensive resource for optimising exposure
  management by collecting and sharing data and
  experience, benchmarking, analyses, and
  networking through symposia, meetings and
  internet.
• Promoted and sponsored by NEA and IAEA

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ISOE Programme

• A global occupational exposure data collection,
  analysis and experience exchange network
• worlds largest occupational exposure DB for
  commercial NPPs
• A global information exchange programme for
  sharing dose reduction and work management
  information and experience
• ISOE products support
• dose trend analyses and benchmarking,
• technique comparisons, and
• technical analyses that
• facilitate the application of ALARA and good
  work management in local radiation protection
  programmes.

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ISOE Membership

• Since 1992, membership and detail of data have
  increased as benefits of participation became
  widely known
• Official members (2006)
• 69 Utilities in 29 countries
• 333 operating reactor units
• 40 shutdown units
• 26 Authorities in 25 countries
• 4 Technical Centres manage the technical
  operations, support, data collection analyses

Trends in Number of Participating Reactors
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ISOE Structure A Closer Look
ISOE Steering Group ISOE Bureau
NEA Committee on Radiation Protection and Public
Health
Joint NEA IAEA Secretariat
Specialised Working Groups
Global Membership
Asian Members
Asian Technical Centre (JNES)
European Members
European Technical Centre (CEPN)
North American Members
North American Technical Centre
Members from Non-OECD Countries
IAEA Technical Centre
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ISOE Products
ISOE Databases
Worlds largest database on occupational
exposure data from nuclear power plants
Technical Analyses
Detailed studies and analysis on current issues
in occupational radiation protection
Technical Support
Worldwide response to special requests
voluntary benchmark visits
Annual Reports
Yearly overview of exposure trends and ISOE
achievements
ISOE Symposia
A forum for discussing occupational exposure
management issues
ISOE Network
An international information exchange website on
ALARA resources for ISOE members
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ISOE Databases
Worlds largest database on occupational
exposure data from nuclear power plants

• Based on annual collection of occupational dose
  data from all members
• Includes information on occupational exposure
  levels and trends at
• 481 units in 29 countries (404 operating 77
  shutdown or decommissioned)
• Available to all members for dose trends
  analysis, benchmarking, etc.
• Distributed annually on CD, and
• Routinely updated on ISOE website
• Maintained by ETC

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ISOE Databases

• Data types include
• Dose information for operating units, e.g.,
  annual collective doses for normal operations,
  maintenance/ refuelling/ unplanned outages
• Dose information for units shut down or being
  decommissioned.
• Plant-specific information pertinent to dose
  reduction
• RP related information for specific operations,
  procedures, equipment or tasks

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ISOE Databases
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Technical Analysis
Detailed studies and analysis on current issues
in occupational radiation protection

• ISOE data and experience provide an ideal basis
  for studies and analyses on issues in operational
  RP such as doses related to certain jobs and
  tasks (e.g., refuelling, steam generator
  replacement, etc).
• Technical Centre Information Sheets Detailed
  studies and analyses on current issues in
  operational radiation protection
• Recent topics regional dosimetric results,
  trends in outage duration, surveys on practices
  regarding internal contamination management.
• Working Group on Data Analysis (WGDA) Identifies
  and reports on various technical analyses of the
  ISOE data, experience or issues relating to
  operating and decommissioned reactors.
• Recent topics decommissioning, update of Work
  Management in the Nuclear Power Industry,
  benchmarking aspects for positive RP outcomes

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Technical Support
Worldwide response to special requests
voluntary benchmark visits

• Members are supported in their day-to-day
  operations by the four ISOE technical centres
  (Asia, Europe, North America, IAEA)
• Rapid response to special technical requests
• ISOE programme expanded in 2005 into organising
  voluntary site benchmarking visits for RP and
  dose reduction information exchange among
  members, supported by the technical centres
• Activities are coordinated with the ISOE WGDA to
  maximise benefit to all ISOE members.
• The information arising from these visits is made
  available to the ISOE membership through the ISOE
  network.
• Facilitates the exchange of practical information
  between ISOE regions.

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Annual Reports
Yearly overview of exposure trends and ISOE
achievements

• Information on levels and trends of average
  annual collective dose at the reactors covered by
  the database
• Special data analyses and dose studies
• Information on principal events in member
  countries
• Outage experience reports
• Symposia summaries
• Other ISOE activities

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ISOE Symposia
A forum for discussing occupational exposure
management issues

• Since 1997, annual International ALARA Symposium
• Large forum for world-wide information and
  experience exchange in ALARA implementation and
  exposure management
• Participation of contractors and vendors
• Rotates through all ISOE technical centre
  regions
• 2006 Europe gt 2007 North America gt 2008 Japan gt
  2009 IAEA gt
• Regional Symposia organised to
  meet local needs
• Proceedings published or posted
  on ISOE Network

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ISOE Network
An international information exchange website on
ALARA resources for ISOE members

• ISOE Network (www.isoe-network.net) Information
  exchange website on dose reduction resources for
  ISOE members.
• Portal for ISOE info exchange
• ISOE database
• Data analysis available
• Data entry coming
• Library of ISOE products
• Address book
• RP manager forum
• Search and links
• BUT Registration is required!
• Currently 400 registered users
• Contact your NC and NEA (brian.ahier_at_oecd.org)
  for user account

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A resource for ISOE Members!
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More functions and content after login!
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ISOE Products Meeting User Needs
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Strategic Planning

• Working Group on Strategic Planning (2005-2006)
• Looked strategically towards ISOE future and
  considered how it could be modified to improve
  its usefulness to users
• Identified focus areas
• User Needs and Products
• Information Exchange
• Operations and Organisation
• Improvements to better meet user needs as
  identified through strategic analysis and direct
  survey of end users

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ISOE User Survey

• ISOE user survey was developed as a bottom-up
  process to collect feedback from all ISOE
  end-users.
• Conducted between April-June 2006 to better
  characterise user needs
• 54 completed questionnaires were received (about
  180 member units and 14 members authorities).
• Results were analysed for significant findings

ISOE
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ISOE User Survey

• How has ISOE improved your ALARA performance?
• Benchmarking, info exchange, motivation and
  promotion of ALARA
• What ISOE product or service brings the greatest
  benefits?
• Reports, database, symposia
• What other ISOE products or information would
  improve dose management or regulatory involvement
  in ALARA Programme Review?
• Contacts between participants, discussion forums,
  user surveys on practices
• Main conclusions users are happy with ISOE, but
  would like to see evolution towards even more
  usefulness and value
• Exchange of information/experience is of
  significant interest to the users.
• ISOE Network will become increasingly important
  in reaching end users, improving information
  exchange, increasing the value of ISOE products.
• Results available on ISOE Network

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Summary

• Unique value important combination of global
  occupational dose data, dose reduction
  experience, analyses, information exchange and
  common forum of utilities and regulators.
• ISOE has proved successful in helping radiation
  protection experts to better manage occupational
  exposures at nuclear power plants.
• ISOE will continue to build on its experience and
  user feedback to make it a primary information
  source on exposure management for the
  occupational RP community

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Looking Forward

• ISOE will continue to facilitate the sharing of
  experience, and the building of linkages between
  ISOE members worldwide to develop a global
  approach to ALARA work management.

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www.isoe-network.net