Investigation of radiation protection observation data at a nuclear facility

Programmatic operations at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Plutonium Facility (TA-55) involve working with various amounts of plutonium and other highly toxic, alpha-emitting materials. The spread of radiological contamination on surfaces, airborne contamination, and excursions of contaminants into the operator's breathing zone are controlled through the Radiological Protection Program (RPP). A key element of the program is in-field monitoring of radiological conditions, observations, and incidents reports. The Los Alamos National Laboratory Radiation Protection Observation System (RPO), supported by the Health Physics Operations Group, captures, documents, and records radiological conditions, observations, or incidents that are considered off-normal. The RPO database has been mined for glovebox glove event detection data. Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma (LSS) business practices have been employed to identify statistically significant variations (trends) in RPO reports. An input metric has been developed that measure glovebox glove event detection opportunities. This information has been incorporated into a visual format that management can use to make decisions. The results presented in this paper are pivotal to the ultimate focus of the TA-55 RPP, which is to maintain radiation exposures well below regulatory limits, minimize the number of contamination events, and prevent uncontrolled releases.