DOSIMETRY

The safety of employees and contractors is of primary importance to DML. In managing nuclear work DML is committed to the principal of ALARP. This means keeping any radiation doses to which people are exposed to "As Low as Reasonably Practicable".

Workers at Devonport may be exposed to low levels of radiation during the course of their normal work i.e. occupational exposure. These workers are separated into two categories: "Classified Persons", workers who are routinely employed in nuclear work and "Written Arrangement Persons", workers who sometimes work in a radiation area. Both types of workers carry personal dosimeters, which measure any radiation doses received.

DML's state-of-the-art computer-based dosimetry control system, which now sets the industry standard, shows in detail the relationship between doses received by individuals and the type of work being carried out. This assists in managing and minimising occupational exposure.

The Government sets statutory limits on the radiation doses which workers are allowed to receive. As a matter of policy DML has set its own dose limits for its workers which are much lower than the statutory limits. Radiation doses are measured in millisieverts (mSv). When the doses of a group of people are added together it is referred to as the "collective dose" and measured in man-millisieverts (man mSv). The Ionising Radiations Regulations of 1999 set individual limits of 20 mSv per year for Classified Persons and 6 mSv per year for Written Arrangement Persons. DML's self-imposed limits are 15 mSv per year for Classified Persons and 4 mSv per year for Written Arrangement Persons.

Even if there is no radiation dose received as a result of occupational exposure, everybody on earth is exposed to radiation: from cosmic rays; from natural radioactivity deep within the earth; from naturally occurring radon gas; and even from various radionuclides taken into the body in diet. The average individual annual dose that people in the United Kingdom receive from these sources is about 2.7 mSv.

Collective and individual doses at DML are always kept as low as practicable through innovative dose management processes, specialised equipment and training. The 2005 collective dose has decreased compared to 2003/2004 and no individual exceeded the DML self-imposed annual limits of 15mSv for Classified Persons and 4mSv for Written Arrangement Persons.

The 2005 annual collective dose reduction was due to a reduction in the amount of work within radiological areas. The nuclear work programme for 2006 is expected to be heavier than that experienced in 2005. This will include continuation of HMS Victorious' refit, the completion of HMS Talent's refit and commencement of the major parts HMS Triumph's refit. Additionally there will be a number of operational docking periods combined with maintenance support for Trafalgar Class submarines. Therefore it is anticipated that collective and individual doses for 2006 will be slightly higher than that of 2005. Such increases will be minimised by the use of the new Primary Circuit Decontamination process for HMS Victorious' refuel and the application of tight managerial controls.

Whole Body Monitor

Routine reassurance monitoring (Whole Body Monitoring) is routinely provided to all workers where potential for internal exposures to radiation exist. Monitoring also provides assurances that protection measures taken are and remain effective. In addition to these routine arrangements, monitoring is available to any DML worker upon request. Incident monitoring only takes place if there has been an event where it is suspected that an intake of radioactive material may have occurred. Incident and some re-assurance may also include biological sampling for tritium. If a positive or borderline reading is found, the individual is sent to DML's HSE Approved Dosimetry Service for formal monitoring.

During 2005 reassurance monitoring was carried out on 95 personnel. None of these showed any detectable intake. Incident monitoring was conducted for 11 individuals, both whole body monitoring and tritium in urine monitoring, all showed no evidence of intake.

COMPENSATION SCHEME - Richard Baker

The Compensation Scheme for Radiation Linked Diseases is a national scheme administered jointly by the participating employers and trades unions. The following statement has been issued for 2005:
"The Compensation Scheme for Radiation Linked Diseases is a joint initiative between the UK's nuclear sector employers and their trades unions. The Scheme has been in existence for 23 years and the participating employers have expanded since its inception and now comprises British Nuclear Group Sellafield Ltd, Springfields Fuels Ltd, Magnox Electric Ltd, the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, Urenco (Capenhurst) Ltd, British Energy Generation Ltd, the Ministry of Defence, the Atomic Weapons Establishment, Devonport Royal Dockyard Ltd, Rosyth Royal Dockyard Ltd, Babcock Naval Services Ltd, GE Healthcare and other related companies. The participating trades unions are Amicus, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary Federation, the First Division Association, GMB, PCS, Prospect, TGWU, UCATT and UNISON.

Information about the Compensation Scheme is available to interested parties via the Internet. The Scheme's website (www.csrld.org.uk) is designed primarily to provide relevant guidance to potential Scheme claimants but also gives contact information for those seeking further information. At the beginning of the year, a section was added to the website explaining the application of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to Scheme employers and a selection of Scheme documents has been made available through this section. Over the past year, the site has received over 5,000 visits and is listed on around 150 search engine requests per day.

The Compensation Scheme is designed to provide an alternative to legal action for past and present employees of the above companies who have been exposed to radiation during their work and who are subsequently diagnosed to be suffering from cancer or cataracts. Cases which can be considered under the Scheme are assessed by the application of technical criteria, jointly agreed between management and trades unions, which are more generous to the claimant than those likely to be used for a legal action. The Scheme contains further generosity in that it awards payments for cases with a causation probability of 20% or above, whereas in a court case an 'all or nothing' approach based on the balance of probabilities would be applied.

In the past year, the Scheme has taken steps to ensure that the employees of those organisations affected by the creation of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority continue to have access to the Compensation Scheme. It has also begun an assessment of a recent major review of the health effects of radiation (the US National Research Council's BEIR VII Report) to evaluate any implications for the current basis on which claims are assessed.

During the year 46 new applications were received by the Scheme and a total of 43 cases have been assessed. 3 assessed cases have qualified for payment and the settlement values for these cases are being negotiated. In addition to these, there have been four compensation settlements made this year; the claimants in two of these cases were BNFL employees and, in the other two, were MOD employees. In total, almost 1200 cases have been assessed by the Scheme since it began and compensation totalling £5.3 million has been paid to claimants in respect of 106 successful cases."

DML received 6 new claims during 2005, bringing the total to 60 since joining the Scheme in 1997. Of these 60 claims, one has been successful, 54 have been unsuccessful, and 5 are awaiting a decision.