Occupational Radiation Exposure at Commercial Nuclear Power Reactors and Other Facilities 2021: Fifty-Fourth Annual Report (NUREG-0713, Volume 43)
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Publication Information
Manuscript Completed: December 2023
Date Published: February 2024
Prepared by:
T.A. Brock
D.A. Hagemeyer*
D.B. Holcomb*
*Oak Ridge Associated Universities
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 2021 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 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 2021 were received from a total of 161 NRC licensees from the five categories included in this report. The summation of reports submitted by the 161 licensees indicated that 130,613 individuals were monitored, 56,348 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 90,470 unique individuals monitored, 40,181 of whom received a measurable dose (see section 5).
The collective dose incurred by these individuals was 6,513 person-rem (65,130 person-millisieverts [mSv]), which represents a 2 percent increase from the 2020 value (see table 3.1). The 2021 collective dose is 11 percent lower than the 5-year average of 7,338 person-rem (2016–2020), which is not a statistically significant change.2 The increase in collective dose in 2021 was due to increases in three categories: spent fuel storage licensees (75 percent increase), manufacturing and distribution licensees (35 percent increase), and commercial nuclear power reactor licensees (8 percent increase). Fuel cycle licensees (2 percent decrease) and industrial radiography licensees (30 percent decrease) both decreased in 2021. When compared to the 5-year average of collective dose for each category, only manufacturing and distribution and industrial radiography 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 decreased by 4 percent from 2020 and was 13 percent below the 5-year average and statistically significant. When adjusted for transient individuals, the average measurable dose of 0.16 rem (1.6 mSv) was higher in 2021, compared to 0.15 rem (1.5 mSv) in 2020, 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 2021, the average annual collective dose per reactor for light-water reactor licensees was 57 person-rem (570 person-mSv). This is an 11 percent increase from the value reported for 2020 (table 4.3) but is not statistically significant when compared to the 5-year average. The total outage hours at commercial nuclear power plants decreased 53 percent from 2020 to 2021. The collective dose for the light-water reactor licensee category increased 404 person-rem (4,040 person-mSv) from 4,899 person-rem (48,990 person-mSv) in 2020 to 5,303 person-rem (53,030 person-mSv). The average annual collective dose per reactor was 108 person-rem (1,080 person-mSv) for the 31 boiling-water reactors (BWRs) and 32 person-rem (320 person-mSv) for 62 pressurized-water reactors (PWRs). The BWR 2021 value is 2 percent higher than the 5-year average annual collective dose per BWR reactor and is not a statistically significant increase. The 2021 value for PWR licensees is 1 percent below the 5-year average annual collective dose per PWR reactor and is not statistically significant when compared to the 5-year average. Indian Point Nuclear Generating, Unit 3, closed in 2021 but because the collective dose was included in the site’s report in combination with Indian Point Unit 2 (which ceased operations in 2020), 2021 is the first year that doses for both units are not included in the report.
There were 21,672 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 of 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 Thursday, March 07, 2024