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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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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
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.”
S.N. Thomson, R. Carson, A. Ratnayake, C. Muirhead, H. Li, I. Castillo, H. Boniface, S. Suppiah, J. Robinson
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 67 | Number 2 | March 2015 | Pages 443-446
Proceedings of TRITIUM 2013 | doi.org/10.13182/FST14-T50
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
AECL is currently exposing various commercial Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) materials to both gamma (Cobalt-60 source) and beta (tritiated water) radiation to study the effects of radiation on these materials. This paper summarizes the testing methods and results that have been collected to date. The PEMs being studied range in thickness and production method. These studies provide a baseline for AECL to determine if a correspondence between gamma and beta radiation effects exists and to produce improved radiation resistant membranes.
