You cannot read the whole article without a subscription. If I can find another article that talks about removing ALARA regulations from the DOE I will post it.
DOE kills decades-old radiation safety standard
https://www.eenews.net/articles/doe-kills-decades-old-radiation-safety-standard/
ALARA has been under attack long before Trump's election. The HPS has been picking at it for a half-dozen years and the most of their HPs are in agreement that there isn't data supporting controlling the lowest levels of exposure. There are multiple papers recommending it be adjusted.
Who didn't know this... radio-hormesis ;)
Yes I agree but now the DOE is no longer talking about it they are ending it. [salute]
It's a start. Other agencies and states all dictate it to some degree.
Pretty sure this isn't a done deal yet. See the definition on the DOE website:
https://www.directives.doe.gov/terms_definitions/as-low-as-reasonably-achievable-alara
It still has the DOE Policy from January 2025 being in place. Any change would take some time to implement though.
However, back in July the NRC hosted a great Public meeting on this subject (Executive Order on nuclear regulation) and posted it on youtube if you have 3 hours: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNiq6uAgX7I
There is also an interesting DOE lab paper supporting the elimination of ALARA here:
https://inl.gov/content/uploads/2023/07/INLRPT-25-85463_Reevaluation-of-Radiation-Protection-Standards-R0-Final.pdf
I am curious how this will all play out and wonder how much time/money any of these changes will save. I hope we all move forward with eyes wide open to the risks and rewards.
Quote from: radcoon on Jan 14, 2026, 09:06Pretty sure this isn't a done deal yet. See the definition on the DOE website:
https://www.directives.doe.gov/terms_definitions/as-low-as-reasonably-achievable-alara
It still has the DOE Policy from January 2025 being in place. Any change would take some time to implement though.
However, back in July the NRC hosted a great Public meeting on this subject (Executive Order on nuclear regulation) and posted it on youtube if you have 3 hours: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNiq6uAgX7I
There is also an interesting DOE lab paper supporting the elimination of ALARA here:
https://inl.gov/content/uploads/2023/07/INLRPT-25-85463_Reevaluation-of-Radiation-Protection-Standards-R0-Final.pdf
I am curious how this will all play out and wonder how much time/money any of these changes will save. I hope we all move forward with eyes wide open to the risks and rewards.
The article seems fairly definitive "Energy Secretary Chris Wright killed the Department of Energy's decades-old radiation safety standard Friday.". Bureaucracy especially federal is ponderously slow it may take a bit to filter down to documents.
Probably should add that some DOE facilities are regulated by the NRC not the DOE, so depending on facility this may have no effect.
Did DOE scrub DOE O 458.1 and all the built-in ALARA for property release limits? When they do that, I'll really believe it's happening.
DOE Action (Jan 2026): The DOE issued a memorandum to eliminate ALARA from its directives and regulations (like DOE Order 458.1 and 10 CFR 835), aiming for science-based standards.
It's just a memorandum to scrub ALARA. Nothing has been actually done. Good luck with that and rewriting NUREG-1575 MARSSIM stuff.