Occupational radiation exposure history of Idaho Field Office Operations at the INEL

An extensive review has been made of the occupational radiation exposure records of workers at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) over the period of 1951 through 1990. The focus has been on workers employed by contractors and employees of the Idaho Field Operations Office (ID) of the United States Department of Energy (USDOE) and does not include the Naval Reactors Facility (NRF), the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), or other operations field offices at the INEL. The radiation protection guides have decreased from 15 rem/year to 5 rem/year in 1990 for whole body penetrating radiation exposure. During these 40 years of nuclear operations (in excess of 200,000 man-years of work), a total of twelve individuals involved in four accidents exceeded the annual guidelines for exposure; nine of these exposures were received during life saving efforts on January 3, 1961 following the SL-1 reactor accident which killed three military personnel. These exposures ranged from 8 to 27 rem. Only one individual has exceeded the annual whole body penetrating radiation protection guidelines in the last 29 years.