[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 70 (Thursday, April 11, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Page 17728]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-8793]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Change in Proficiency Testing Standard for Processors of Personal 
Dosimeters

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of change of proficiency testing standard.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the National 
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), U.S. Department of 
Commerce, began a joint effort in 1981, through an Interagency 
Agreement, to provide an accreditation program for processors of 
personnel dosimeters. That accreditation program, which is part of the 
Technology Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is known 
as the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) for 
Ionizing Radiation Dosimetry and is referred to as NIST/NVLAP. The 
purpose of this notice is to: (1) Acknowledge publication of a revised 
proficiency testing standard for personnel dosimetry performance by 
NIST/NVLAP; (2) inform the public and dosimetry processors of this 
action; and (3) identify significant changes in the standard.

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 11, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Betty Ann Torres, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone 301-415-0191, e-mail: [email protected], 
or Carroll S. Brickenkamp, National Institute of Standards and 
Technology, Department of Commerce, NVLAP, Building 820, Room 286, 
Gaithersburg, MD 20899, telephone 301-975-4291, 
e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NRC's regulations (10 CFR 20.1501) require 
that personnel dosimeters that need to be processed to determine dose 
must be processed and evaluated by a dosimetry processor that holds 
current personnel dosimetry accreditation from the NIST/NVLAP. 
Proficiency testing, currently required as part of the NIST/NVLAP 
accreditation process for Ionizing Radiation Dosimetry, is based on the 
standard issued by the American National Standard Institute (ANSI) and 
the Health Physics Society (HPS) for personnel dosimetry performance, 
ANSI/HPS N13.11-1993, as modified by NVLAP Bulletin Volume II, No. 1, 
``DOSIMETRY'' (January, 1995). The bulletin modifies dose equivalent 
conversion factors (Ck) found in Tables 2, 3, and C3 of 
ANSI/HPS N13.11-1993.
    A revision of ANSI/HPS N13.11-1993 was approved by the American 
National Standards Institute, Inc. in July 2001, and published as ANSI/
HPS N13.11-2001 in October 2001. A copy of the revised standard is 
available for a fee from the Health Physics Society at the following 
internet address: http://www.hps.org.
    The revision: (1) Adopts the conversion coefficients for photons 
issued by NVLAP Bulletin Volume II, No. 1, ``DOSIMETRY'' (January, 
1995); (2) reduces the number of test categories, based on radiation 
type and energy spectrum, from nine to six; (3) increases the number of 
possible radiation sources for test categories to which dosimeters can 
be exposed during testing; (4) lowers the permitted tolerance for all 
non-accident categories; (5) adds an angle test to the photon category; 
and (6) limits the number of individual dosimeters tested that is 
permitted to exceed the tolerance level for non-accident, non-neutron 
categories.
    NVLAP has determined that the revised standard, ANSI/HPS N13.11-
2001, will be implemented in the accreditation process as published. 
Contact Carroll Brickenkamp of NIST/NVLAP for information regarding the 
implementation of the revised standard, ANSI/HPS N13.11-2001.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day of April, 2002.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Donald A. Cool,
Director, Division of Industrial and Medical Nuclear Safety, Office of 
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 02-8793 Filed 4-10-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P