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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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INL makes a case for eliminating ALARA and setting higher dose limits
A report just released by Idaho National Laboratory reviews decades of radiation protection standards and research on the health effects of low-dose radiation and recommends that the current U.S. annual occupational dose limit of 5,000 mrem be maintained without applying ALARA—the “as low as reasonably achievable” regulatory concept first introduced in 1971—below that threshold.
Noting that epidemiological studies “have consistently failed to demonstrate statistically significant health effects at doses below 10,000 mrem delivered at low dose rates,” the report also recommends “future consideration of increasing this limit to 10,000 mrem/year with appropriate cumulative-dose constraints.”
Decommissioning Environmental Science and Remote Technology 2021 Speaker
Since October 2021, Dr. Holahan has served as a Special Assistant in the Division of Rulemaking, Environmental and Financial Support. Prior to that she was the Director of the Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery and Waste Programs in the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards where she led the management of the NRC's program for the regulation of Decommissioning, Low-Level Waste (LLW), and Uranium Recovery functional areas in close coordination with other Federal agencies, States, and Native American Tribal Governments, licensees, and the public. From October 2017 to August 2019, she was the Director of Rulemaking where she led the NRC’s core function of rulemaking for the reactor and materials programs. From October 2014 to October 2017, Dr. Holahan served as the Director of the Office of Enforcement. She has been with NRC since 1991 and has held a variety of staff and management positions in NMSS, the Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response, and and also served as a Technical Assistant to former Chairman Meserve.
Before joining NRC, Dr. Holahan worked as a Consultant Radiation Biologist and an Assistant Professor for the University of Texas’ Health Science Center, in San Antonio. She received her Ph.D. in Radiation Biology from Colorado State University. She earned a Bachelor of Science (Honours) and Master’s Degree in Biophysics from the University of Western Ontario.
Last modified November 10, 2021, 3:54pm EST
