COVERAGE
OREX Business Update
Advanced Protective Clothing Technology
July 2014
letter from the orex team
Less Than 100% Clean
Is Not Good Enough
When we do laundry at home, we are satisfied with the results
as long as the garments appear and smell clean. The standard
for clean nuclear protective clothing is far more stringent.
It is not uncommon that laundered
cause real problems when the garment
garments, of the type used in nuclear
is worn by the next worker.
power plants to protect workers from
radiological contamination, will actually
contaminate those same workers —
even if those coveralls look and
smell clean.
The majority of radioactive
contamination is not visible to the
human eye. These microscopic particles
are easily bound up in the fibers
that make up launderable protective
clothing. Most of these particles are
removed during the laundering process,
Woven fabric is by its very nature
a poor barrier against these small,
microscopic particles.
For instance, the leading launderable
fabric contains thousands of holes
per square inch. The photo below
shows actual radioactive particles that
were left on the industry-standard
launderable protective garment
after being washed in a modern,
commercial washing machine.
but enough of them are left behind
Note the relative size of the particles
following each laundering cycle to
compared to the size of the openings
Launderable garment
after washing
Magnification: 64X
in the weave of the cloth. There is no
doubt that these particles could easily
migrate to the inside of the garment —
NASA might prepare to launch into
or to the wearer’s skin — during use.
space. Computer-controlled liquid
This problem isn’t exclusively the
fault of the garments, or even the
particles. In large part the blame lies
with the limitations of the antiquated
technology being used to separate
the particles from the garments.
chemical injection systems are used
to introduce a myriad of potions
into these space-age machines, to
aid in the removal of microscopic
contamination. However, all these
technological marvels are mostly
about improvements in production
Modern commercial laundry facilities
and labor savings, providing only a
are technological marvels, with
slight improvement over the “cleaning”
automated systems to shuttle soiled
results our ancestors achieved using
Weave openings
and cleaned garments between
primitive technologies.
Radioactive contamination particles
machines that look like something
continued on page 4
OREX Continues to Deliver
Record PCE Performance
Plants that use OREX Protective Clothing have always enjoyed the benefit
of having great PCE (personnel contamination event) performance.
T
here are two key
ULTRA coverall, and at both sites the
Station used 89 percent Deluxe and
reasons why plants
low number of events that did occur
11 percent ULTRA, and during a 42-
that use OREX are able
was attributed to causes other than
day outage with more than 60,000
to achieve low PCE
migration through the clothing. For
dressouts they experienced a total of
rates. First, the use of
the 2014 spring outage season, OREX
only 14 PCEs.
a brand-new OREX
plants averaged in the mid ‘teens’
coverall for each entry eliminates the
in terms of total PCEs, and just like
possibility of residual contamination,
Calvert and Ginna, the overwhelming
which is often present in laundered
majority were attributed to clean-area
clothing. Additionally, the fabric used
events and worker practice issues.
to produce OREX protective clothing
performance as the OREX ULTRA.
Since introducing
the ULTRA, several
plants have achieved
single-digit PCE
results during
refueling shutdowns.
Since introducing the ULTRA, several
Approximately half of the OREX
provides a barrier far superior to that
of launderable fabrics. This is especially
true of the OREX ULTRA fabric.
There is simply no way that any
launderable garment can provide the
same level of protection and overall
plants have achieved single-digit PCE
results during refueling shutdowns.
TVA’s Sequoyah plant completed a SGR
outage with only six PCEs, and none of
them were attributed to clothing failure.
In fact, power plant PCE data published
by INPO as of June 2013 showed that 7
of 10 and 18 of the top 25 plants in terms
of best PCE performance were OREX
users. This is solid performance by any
measure.
The 2014 spring outage season is in
the books, and plants using OREX
are again experiencing excellent
PCE performance. Two of the top
performers during spring outages
include Calvert Cliffs, with five total
The type of results our valued
customers achieve are the result of
two factors. First, an array of great
OREX products. Second, a lot of hard
work and effort by plant personnel
who manage Radiation Protection
programs. We are blessed and honored
to be a part of that success.
plants used ULTRA garments for the
vast majority of their spring outage
dressouts. The other half used a mix
of ULTRA, Deluxe, and the new OREX
XTRA coverall. When ULTRA is used
for all work activities, sites are able
to achieve maximum protection at a
reasonable price, without the added
challenge of assigning different
coveralls for varying contamination
levels and work conditions.
However, some plants do achieve
excellent overall performance by
using OREX Deluxe coveralls for most
activities and using ULTRA in areas
that require additional protection.
events, and Ginna, with only four total
The Brunswick BWR plant served as a
PCEs. Both plants used the OREX
perfect example this spring. Brunswick
t h e q u e s t i o n o f p r o t e c t i o n OREX is the only garment in the
U.S. certified to actually “protect” workers from radioactive contamination. Woven, reusable,
laundered garments contain thousands of holes per square inch, allowing particles to penetrate.
New Service Now Available
for Non-Conforming Material
We are pleased to announce a new option that is now available to our
customers who take advantage of our OREX processing services.
U
ntil now, our only means to deal with nonOREX material, or “non-conforming material”
as we call it, was to ship this material back
to the generator for final disposition and
disposal. We recently petitioned our State of
Alabama regulators and have been granted
the approval to package this material and forward it directly
on to your designated waste processor, eliminating the
requirement to send it back to the site. We understand how
inconvenient having to receive the material back onsite can
be, and considering the more stringent security rules now in
effect this option can make the whole process a lot easier.
So how does this really work? Well, it really is pretty simple.
The first step would be for you to package your used OREX,
just as before. Our drivers would collect it and deliver it to
our facility in Ashford, Alabama. We would then process
the used OREX, separate the non-conforming material, and
then store it until we have enough material to warrant a
shipment. When shipping time arrives, you as the customer
would notify your point of contact at the waste processing
facility (Energy Solutions, for example). You would advise
them that you wish to have them receive a shipment of your
waste directly from our facility. You would then provide us
the name and contact information of your customer service
representative at the waste processor, and we would contact
them directly to coordinate the actual shipment. You would
also need to provide ETI with all necessary information to
complete NRC Form 542, and ETI would in turn provide you
with copies of shipping documents for your records. The
waste processor would bill you directly for receiving your
waste, in accordance with your existing contract, and we
would bill you directly for transportation charges from our
facility in Alabama to your waste processor’s facility. If your
waste processor is in the Oak Ridge area, our transportation
cost would be about $2,125, subject to periodic fuel
adjustment charges if warranted by the increasing cost of fuel.
That’s all there is to it.
Here are some important
additional details regarding
this new service:
1
The intent of this
license amendment
is to allow us an
alternative method to
handle the ‘Incidental’ nonconforming material that
ends up in the containers
of used OREX. You would
still be responsible for
minimizing the amount of
non-conforming material
you send to us; you cannot
simply throw everything in
the same container. We do
allow for a small amount
of incidental material, as
specified in your contract,
but we charge a separation
charge above that amount.
So please keep that in mind.
2
If you prefer, you can
still just have your
non-OREX material
sent back to you. In order
to minimize transportation
costs, we will continue
to try and schedule the
return so it can ride along
with another shipment.
If you do decide to have
us forward the material
directly to your processor,
your ETI customer service
representative will work
with you to determine
optimal timing for a
shipment, based on the
amount of your material
we have on hand, how
long we have stored it,
and the optimization of
transportation costs.
3
Those of our
customers who
use our OREX
processing service are
realizing significant savings
as compared to direct burial
and disposal costs. We’ve
added the option to send
non-conforming material
directly to the waste
processor as an additional
benefit to our customers.
There are no hidden or
extra costs involved. We
will not charge extra to
prepare the shipment, and
we will provide appropriate
shipping containers to
transport your material to
Energy Solutions or another
processor of your choosing.
Again, the only charge
from ETI would be for
transportation.
If you would like to take
advantage of this new
option, or need additional
information, please contact
your ETI customer service
representative. Or call
our office directly at
334-899-4351 and we
will be happy to assist.
n e v e r a s c l e a n a s n e w One of the wonderful things we hear about OREX
is how great it is to have a clean coverall to wear. Who really wants to wear a coverall that 50 other
people have worn before you? No launderable is ever as clean as new.
Less Than 100% Clean
Is Not Good Enough
This is why, following initial use and subsequent washing,
continued from page 1
transitioned to OREX single-use garments have seen
Prior to the middle of the 20th century, just over 60 years
ago, most American households employed mechanical
all launderable, reusable garments are in fact controlled as
“radioactive material” for the remainder of their useful life.
Is it any wonder that nuclear power plants that have
significant decreases in the number of personel
contamination events?
agitation in a detergent-laced liquid medium in order to clean
None of the improvements in laundry technology can assure
laundry. In other words, our ancestors submerged soiled
the next wearer of the laundered garment that all of the
clothing in a tub of water containing dissolved, powdered
contamination has been removed. This may be acceptable
laundry detergent. They scrubbed the garments on a
for personal clothing, but when the garment is intended
to protect the wearer
washboard to manually agitate the soil free from the clothing.
Even further back in history, essentially the same technology
was being used. Back then the garments were submerged
in a river, and the manual agitation was accomplished by
beating the garments on a rock using a block of lye soap.
At least this primitive form of laundry technology washed the
contaminants away downstream.
In modern laundry technology, hundreds of contaminated
garments are placed in a machine where they are tumbled
in a wash bath. The intention of this method is to loosen the
contamination from the fabric so it can “find” the relatively
small drain line and be washed away later.
Following
initial use and
subsequent
washing, all
launderable
garments are
controlled as
radioactive
material.
from minute particulate
contamination, and that
contamination is radioactive,
less than 100% clean is not
near good enough. Not in this
day and age.
Putting used, contaminated
garments on workers’ backs
and expecting those garments
to provide protection is a
risky, decades-old, antiquated
practice. Nuclear power plants
An unintended, and undesirable, consequence of this method
that employ OREX single-use protective clothing avoid
is that the contamination is simply dispersed throughout the
the many pitfalls of launderable protective clothing. How
wash bath, where at least a portion of these contaminates
better to ensure that workers are well protected, and not
will be redeposited and trapped on the inner surface of a
contaminated by the very clothing intended to keep them
garment. This is the surface that will be in direct contact with
clean? Provide them with brand new, right-out-of-the-box
the worker’s skin.
OREX garments.
orex.com
U.S. Sales Representatives
334-899-4351
Main Office
email: [email protected]
Go to www.orex.com
for your particulate
penetration test kit
and see for yourself!
International Sales
Representatives
Mexico, Brazil & Taiwan
IBMS
Kristi Boney
Korea & Japan
511 Angell St.
Cilem Rice
HANA Inspection &
Providence, Rhode Island 02906
Ph: 334-899-4351
Engineering Co., Ltd.
M. Tsangarakis, Director
Fax: 334-899-2310
337-10 Choi-Doing, Hanam-si,
Ph: 401-521-3770pe
[email protected]
Gyeonggi-do
Fax: 401-521-7228
[email protected]
Rep of South Korea 465-220
[email protected]
Eastern Technologies, Inc.
215 2nd Avenue
Ashford, Alabama 36312
FRHAM Safety Products, Inc.
A D VA N C E D P R O T E C T I V E C L O T H I N G Nashville,
T E C H N O L Tennessee
OGY
Office
615-254-0841
Rock Hill, South Carolina Office
803-366-5131
Ph: +82-2-404-1270
Fax: +82-2-404-1272
[email protected]
Non-nuclear Applications
[email protected]
(e.g. Insulation, painting,
asbestos abatement,
sandblasting, emergency
response, military, medical)
MRI Enterprises, LLC
(aka The MRI Co.)
Personal Protective Experts
6500 Boeing Drive, Suite T-3
Glen Mills, PA 19342
El Paso, Texas 79925
Ph: 877-346-6297
Fax: 915-779-0108
A D VA N C E D P R O T E C T I V E C L O T H I N G T E C H N O L O G Y
[email protected]