AAHP Continuing Education Courses

The AAHP will host Continuing Education Courses at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society (HPS). The sessions will be held in National Harbor, MD on Saturday, July 22, 2023. Members and non-members are welcome.

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Radiation Risk Assessment

8:00am – 5:00pm
Cost: $395

Instuctors: Stuart Walker and Fred Dolislager

Radiation Risk Assessment is a full-day advanced course that focuses on specific technical and regulatory issues that Remedial Project Managers (RPMs) and On-Scene Coordinators (OSCs) address when managing Superfund sites that have a risk assessment conducted for radioactive contaminants. By taking the course, participants achieve the following objectives:

• Learn a step-by-step approach to the Superfund remedial program's risk assessment process for radioactive contamination.
• Explore methods for conducting site-specific risk assessments.
• Discover practical recommendations for improving the radiation risk assessments conducted at your site.
• Master information about radiation risk assessment process.

The instructional methodology for this course includes lectures and demonstrations of using EPA’s risk and dose assessment calculators developed by the Superfund remedial program. The target audience for this course is RPMs, OSCs, risk assessors and others that want to obtain a working knowledge on conducting Superfund radiation risk assessments.

Y-90 Boot Camp

Virtual or In-person
1:00pm – 5:00pm
Cost: $200

Instructor: Andy Miller, CHP

More and more cases of Y-90 therapy for liver tumors are being performed each year in the US. These treatments involve a series of activities to select the proper dose for the treatment, receive the doses, assay them, deliver them correctly and handle waste issues. This course will take students through a team-based process involving interventional radiology, nuclear medicine, nursing, and radiation safety to give an example of a highly reliable operation that is currently in use at a busy academic medical center. We will use actual de-identified case data, data from packages and doses, forms and procedures to show how the process works and some of the issues that arise with discussions for solutions. Both resin and glass Y-90 microspheres will be discussed.

Advances in Over and Under Land Surveys in Support of MARSSIM-based Characterizations and Final Status Surveys

Virtual or In-person
11:00am – 3:00pm
Cost: $200

Instructor: Alex Lopez, CHP

Traditionally, open land MARSSIM-based characterizations and final status surveys (FSSs) were conducted by performing walkover surveys and systematic sampling. While these methods have been considered historically satisfactory, recent advances in data collection, data management, and remediation techniques have resulted in more robust and informative datasets for decision makers. Walkover surveys were traditionally performed by a technician walking over the target area and listening or watching instrument readings (usually gross gamma) to identify potentially elevated areas. Scan speed and detector height were managed by the technician. This method not only exposed the technician to unnecessary safety risks like slips, trips, and falls, but also required reliance on the surveyor’s undivided attention to instrument readings. Surveyor performance may be negatively influenced by multiple factors including site terrain, weather, and surveyor’s physical and mental health. If areas were identified by the surveyor, additional investigations were required, resulting in some cases in biased sampling or direct measurements. In addition to overland scan surveys, the collection of volumetric samples from the surface or subsurface material is performed for offsite analysis by a radiological laboratory. The traditional MARSSIM-based statistical sampling approach results in samples that are distributed using a random-start systematic grid to ensure sufficient characterization information across a target area or volume of material. Offsite analysis by the certified laboratory yields accurate results with low minimum detectable concentrations. However, relying on a small sample aliquot (typically less than 1 liter) to represent a vast volume of material could lead to expensive and irreparable mistakes.

For these reasons, recent technological advances and characterization/FSS methods have been implemented to reduce surveyor safety risks and increase data reliability. For example, using a drive-over scan survey system equipped with automatic data logging, GPS, and real-time gamma spectroscopy can reduce the potential safety risks to the surveyor while ensuring that the area is scanned with consistent speed, detector height, etc. Similarly, a conveyor-based radiological assay system designed to provide 100% characterization of material could be used when subsurface characterizations/FSSs are required. The utilization of a conveyor-based system not only increases the surveyor efficiency but also leads to superior data quality and reduced uncertainties as more volume is surveyed in less time. This course will summarize the traditional characterization/FSS approaches and recent advances in radiological detection systems, data collection, and data management that can reduce uncertainties and better inform decision makers.

A Review of the CHP exam Part 2 Useful Formula Sheet

3:30pm – 5:30pm
Cost: $100

Instructor: Dr. Thomas Johnson, CHP

The Part 2 Useful Formula sheet contains multiple equations and constants, but no explanation as to their use. Each constant and equation will be reviewed, including example usage and thoughts on how questions could be constructed to utilize each of the equations and constants on the exam. Additionally, multiple nuclides are listed for the part 1 exam that will also be reviewed. Strategies for study and where to obtain more information on the Useful Equations will be provided. The presentation does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation from the ABHP/AAHP and all contents of the presentation are the opinion of the author.