Managing NORM Oman and Regional Issues

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Managing NORM -Oman and Regional Issues

• Brett Young
• brett.young_at_pdo.co.om

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U.A.E.
PDO Concession Area Northern Assets (OND) 1.
LEKHWAIR 2. FAHUD 3. QARN ALAM 4.
YIBAL Southern Assets (OSD) 5. BAHJA 6.
NIMR 7. MARMUL Red oil lines Green gas
lines
Saudi Arabia
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MINISTERIAL DECISION No. 249/97Regulations for
the Control and Management of Radioactive
Materials

• Ministry of Regional Municipalities
  Environment.
• 6 JULY 1997

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Definition

• Radioactive materials Any material with an
  activity concentration gt 100 Bq/g. (Assume total
  activity)
• Prior to mid 2004 PDO considered material below
  regulatory limits (i.e. non contaminated) when
  the activity was lt 100 Bq/g

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Sample Analysis

• PDO Contaminated Material Formula
• Total Activity (6 x Ra-226) (3 x Pb-210)
  (2 x Ac-228) (7 x Th 228)

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Contaminated Sludge

• Six of seven Assets have NORM contaminated
  sludge gt 1 Bq/g in the open, spread out in rows

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Local Issues

• No local legislation /or guidelines for NORM
• Limited expertise within Oman/PDO/Ministry
• Limited enforcement from Ministries
• Limited risk of litigation under Common law

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Local Issues cont.

• Predominant Contractor workforce
• E.g. tank cleaning, well workovers, pigging,
  plant maintenance, sludge farming.
• PDO contractors with no/limited experience with
  managing NORM
• Theft of equipment (potentially contaminated)
• What are the other EP contractors in Oman doing
  with their contaminated plant?

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Local Issues cont.

• Health not seen as a priority (Engineering/Safety
  focus)
• Illnesses manifest for 15 - 20 years (not seen in
  stats)
• Worker develops lung cancer - how do we determine
  if illness was caused by work, genetic
  predisposition, lifestyle habits e.g. smoking
• Potentially exposed workforce goes back to
  country of origin so there are no record of
  illnesses
• There is no follow up of contract workers who
  leave Oman

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Regional Issues

• Legislation - inconsistent or not developed
• Transfer of contaminated equipment from one
  country to another e.g. esps
• Religious issues
• Climate
• Lack of local/regional expertise

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What do I want to Know?

• Legislation, Guidelines Standards
• (Local versus International versus Shell)
• Management Systems (consistency of approach)
• Controls (workers and others)
• Disposal of NORM
• Decontamination of Equipment
• What are the risks (health, reputation,
  litigation)
• When can I/we sleep at night

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Article 8

• Any organization dealing with radioactive
  materials shall establish an internal management
  system including
• staff structure with well defined
  responsibilities,
• written procedures of work,
• quality assurance procedures,
• staff training and
• emergency procedures so as to meet the Ministry's
  requirements

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Proposed Definition

• NORM Contaminated material Any material with an
  activity 1 Bq/g for Ra-226.
• NORM Contaminated Equipment Any item of plant
  which records gt 5 cps above background