Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation
Manual (MARSSIM) Revision 2 Factsheet
The Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual (MARSSIM) Workgroup, comprised of experts
from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Department of
Energy (DOE), and the Department of Defense (DoD), has completed revisions to MARSSIM. The revisions are
available for public comment from June 16th to September 14th, 2021 through the Federal Register.
The MARSSIM revisions intend to: update the document to reflect most current science; clarify methods;
and implement lessons learned from over 20 years of the document's use in industry. This factsheet aims to
explain both what the substantive changes are and why they were made.
Changes made in MARSSIM Revision 2
Explanation for Change
Inclusion of Measurement Quality Objectives (MQOs),
including measurement uncertainty
Updated to comply with current NIST and ISO guidance,
and include most current scientific standards
Inclusion of Scan-only surveys
Updated to keep MARSSIM up to date with the most
current technology used for these processes
Inclusion of "Scenario B": sites assumed to meet the
criteria until proven otherwise
Updated to provide a compliance method for sites
when release criteria are "no added radioactivity" or
"indistinguishable from background"
Increased emphasis on regulator interaction during
survey design
Updated based on feedback from regulatory users of the
document
Updates to survey instrumentation information
Updated to keep MARSSIM up to date with the most
current technology used for these processes
Improvements to the description of the Lower Bound
of the Gray Region (LBGR)
Updated with more plain language to provide clarity and
increase consistency of use throughout the document
Updates to increase consistency in terminology and
use terms across manuals
Updated to increase consistency with MARLAP and
MARSAME
Expansions to information on requirements for areas
of elevated (radio)activity
Updated to provide clarity for survey designers to
better understand what is needed in areas of elevated
radioactivity
Exclusion of discrete radioactive particle surveys
Updated to indicate where MARSSIM is not the appropriate
method for demonstrating compliance
Inclusion of use of MARSSIM in accordance with the
Uranium Mill Tailings Radiaiton Control Act (UMTRCA)
Updated to provide additional guidance for complying
with existing regulatory requirements, specifically using
MARSSIM to demonstrate compliance with UMTRCA
Inclusion of ranked set sampling for hard-to-detect
radionuclides
Updated to provide additional flexibility for specific cases
The MARSSIM Workgroup also incorporated organizational, and terminology changes for clarity throughout the document.
Additional explanation and examples have been included where users of the document found previous wording unclear.
To comment on the proposed revisions, please visit https://www.federalregister.gov/
documents/2021/06/16/2021-12654/multi-agencv-radiation-survev-and-site-investigation-manual-revision-2.
The public comment period opens June 16th, 2021 and closes September 14th, 2021.
For more information about the proposed revisions, please visit https://www.epa.gov/radiation/freauent-
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United States
EPA-402/F-21/002 | June 2021	Agen?ymental Protection

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