&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Air and
Radiation
ANR-459
The Office of
Radiation
Programs
Protecting People
and the Environment
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he Office of Radiation Programs (ORP) carries
out the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA)
radiation protection activities. These activities
include issuing policy guidance and regulations;
measuring environmental radiation levels; evaluat-
ing and assessing the impact of radiation on
public health; distributing public information;
working with state and local governments and
professional and industry groups to promote
action to reduce exposure to harmful radiation
levels; and responding to radiological
emergencies.
To effectively carry out its mission, ORP has de-
veloped the seven program areas discussed in the
following text: Radon Action Program, Nuclear
Accident Response, Radioactive Waste Disposal,
Radioactively Contaminated Sites, Industrial Radia-
tion, Nonionizing Electromagnetic Fields, and
Technical Assistance.
RADON ACTION PROGRAM
he ORP Radon Program is a multifaceted one
built on establishing a solid partnership with the
states, the private sector, and other Federal
agencies. Its goal is to motivate the public to take
action to reduce exposure to elevated levels of
indoor radon. ORP's approach to this problem is
to provide education and technical assistance
programs for the states, industry, and the public.
In assisting states, ORP identifies and surveys
areas with high radon levels in houses, schools
and workplaces. ORP helps states conduct radon
surveys and has started the National Residential
Radon Survey.
In addition to identifying radon problems, ORP
evaluates methods of reducing or preventing
elevated radon levels in existing homes, new con-
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struction, and large buildings. The results
of this effort are transferred to states, the
private sector, and other Federal agencies
by conducting training courses both na-
tionwide and at Regional training centers
at major universities. ORP has also devel-
oped programs that test the abilities of
contractors to measure radon and to fix
radon problems,
To encourage people to test their homes
for radon, ORP has developed a wide
array of public information material and
conducted numerous major public infor-
mation activities. The most recent activi-
ties include a national advertising cam-
paign in cooperation with the Advertising
Council and public education programs
with the American Lung Association,
National Education Association, American
Medical Association, and National Safety
Council.
NUCLEAR ACCIDENT
RESPONSE
RP plays a major role in responding to nuclear
accidents. During any coordinated Federal response
to an accident, ORP is responsible for monitoring and
assessing offsite radiation exposures and providing
guidance to Federal, state and local officials on when
and how to take protective actions. ORP maintains
mobile monitoring and assessment teams and a wide
variety of sophisticated radiation measurement and
communications equipment at its laboratories in Las
Vegas, Nevada, and Montgomery, Alabama. ORP
maintains the Environmental Radiation Ambient
Monitoring System (ERAMS), a nationwide sampling
network. ERAMS routinely collects air, precipitation,
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Electro-
Magnetic
^ j Fields
(EMF)
Uranium Mines & Mill
Tailings
Nuclear Weapons Production
•PDDrii
Nuclear Accident Response
i /
Extremely
Low
Frequency
EMF
'——__J
High-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal
I I Ml
Radon
Low-Level
Radioactive
Waste Disposal
Environmental Radiation Sources
surface and drinking water, and milk samples from
which environmental radiation levels are derived.
This network has also been used during emergen-
cies such as Chernobyl.
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
ny activity using radioactive materials usually
creates radioactive waste. These wastes are gener-
ally classified into four categories: low-level waste,
spent fuel/high-level waste from power reactors,
transuranic waste from defense operations, and
waste from milling and mining uranium and tho-
rium ore. ORP deals with this ever-increasing
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problem by selling generally applicable environ-
mental standards for the safe disposal of radioac-
tive waste. Other agencies, such as the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Department
of Energy (DOE), implement these standards
through their licensing, regulatory, and operational
activities.
RADIOACIWELY
CONTAMINATED SITES
adiation contamination is a problem at many
sites where radioactive materials are processed and
handled. These sites require different procedures
for investigation, sampling, and materials handling
than do chemically contaminated sites. To help
solve this problem, ORP has an active and expand-
ing program to support Superfund site cleanup ac-
tivities at the growing number of sites on the Na-
tional Priorities List. ORP is also developing criteria
for cleaning up thousands of radioactively contami-
nated buildings and sites for safe alternative uses
once they cease industrial operation.
INDUSTRIAL RADIATION
SOURCES
nder the Clean Air Act, ORP has issued regula-
tions covering radionuclide emissions from thou-
sands of industrial facilities and has initiated an
extensive program to enable the states to imple-
ment these regulations. Also, ORP has developed
guidelines, signed by the President, to protect the
approximately 1.3 million workers employed in
occupations that expose them to radiation.
NONIONIZING
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
onionizing electromagnetic fields come from
such sources as microwave emitters, broadcast
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towers, and radars. They also include the electric and
magnetic fields from any use of electricity. ORP assists
states and other Federal agencies by making measure-
ments of these fields. ORP is assessing the growing
body of scientific data on electromagnetic fields and
also distributes information on this subject of increas-
ing public concern.
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
he ORP laboratories in Montgomery and Las
Vegas also support other parts of EPA and other
Federal and state agencies. The laboratories perform
radiochemical analyses and radiological site surveys
and play a major role in evaluating radon measure-
ment devices. They also make equipment available to
other organizations, conduct electromagnetic surveys,
and provide advice and training in radiation monitor-
ing and laboratory procedures.
RADIATION PROGRAM STAFF
RP employs people with a wide variety of techni-
cal, policy, and administrative skills in carrying out its
radiation protection activities. The ORP staff is located
in Washington, DC, and at the ORP laboratories in
Montgomery and Las Vegas. In addition, each of
EPA's 10 regional offices has an active radiation pro-
gram that works in concert with ORP. The people
making up the ORP and regional staffs include:
Health Physicists; Electrical, Chemical, Nuclear, and
Mechanical Engineers; Economists; Physicists; Chem-
ists; Biologists; Statisticians; Attorneys; Liberal Arts
majors; and Clerical and Administrative Support
personnel.
For more information on the activities of the
Office of Radiation Programs write to:
Office of Radiation Programs
USEPA - ANR-459
Washington, DC 20460
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