Oil & gas radiation safety service by radiation professionals

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NORM (Naturally-Occurring Radioactive
Materials) Oil gas service by radiation
professionals
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Before We Get Started, Some Background Information

• The geologic formations that contain oil and gas
  deposits also contain naturally-occurring
  radionuclides, which are referred to as "NORM"
  (Naturally-Occurring Radioactive Materials)
• uranium (and its decay products)
• thorium (and its decay products)
• radium (and its decay products)
• lead-210.
• Geologists have recognised their presence since
  the early 1930s and use it as a method for
  finding deposits.Much of the petroleum in the
  earth's crust was created at the site of ancient
  seas by the decay of sea life. As a result,
  petroleum deposits often occur in aquifers
  containing brine (salt water). Radionuclides,
  along with other minerals that are dissolved in
  the brine, precipitate (separate and settle) out
  forming various wastes at the surface
• mineral scales inside pipes
• Sludges
• contaminated equipment or components
• produced waters.

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RISK VS. MANAGEMENT

• We won't get into the risks of radiation too much
  since you are an insider and completely aware of
  them already. They are well documented
• exposure risks to workers
• exposure risks to surrounding community
• risk of moving contaminated waste material
• financial risk of contaminated metal and
  equipment
• social and PR risk
• legal and regulatory risk
• decline in productivity plus many more.
• Insiders know that if these are managed well then
  the risks are minimal. In fact, most incidents we
  hear about came about because of poor management
  or operation.

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DATA CAN HURT YOU OR HELP YOU
To manage an operation well, you need to make
good decisions. To make good decisions you need
the best available information. To get the best
information it starts with accurate, reliable
data.gtWe have outlined 5 things you can do today
to get better, more reliable, accurate data in
regards to NORM.
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LOOK IN THE RIGHT PLACES

• Ensure you are looking in the right places. Some
  of NORMs favorite hiding sports are
• separator vessels
• pipes
• filters
• dead junctions
• ponds and sludge
• Make sure you are looking at these spots
  regularly.

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USE THE RIGHT TOOL
In any job you want to select the right tool. One
of the common mistakes that we see is people
thinking that a radiation detector is a detector.
Not all radiation detectors are created equal.
There are at least 4 categories of radiation
detectors. So if you are doing environmental,
contamination, gauges or XRF, get the tool
designed to measure that.
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COLLECT ENOUGH DATA
You need to know how long to measure for your
instrument, to enable you to achieve a meaningful
result.As monitoring precision in radiation is
tightly linked to counting statistics, monitor
too little and the uncertainties on your
measurement may exceed the actual measurement!
This renders your data meaningless. Along with
incorrect instrument choice, this is one of the
leading causes of invalid data.
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DO A BACKGROUND SURVEY
If you said you were better today than you were a
year ago. How do you prove that?The answer is
simple you need to first show what you were like
a year ago, and what you're like now. It works
the same in NORM management. To show that you
have not contaminated a site you need to know
what the NORM levels were when you started.
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STAY COMPLIANT
Keep up to date with your regulatory
requirements. There is a good chance that you
have an RMP for your site. You need to stay on
top of it. As with most risks it is better to
manage it and stay on plan than it is to pull it
together later.Try and find a partner that can
help you manage the RMP and who will ensure that
you are protected.
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GET HELP
When choosing a company to work with look for
someone who has the complete offering for the
management of the project a professional that is
linked to the regulatory body a company that is
committed to ensuring you get the best
information. For more information contact
us Head Office (WA) Level 1, 46 Hill Street,
East Perth WA 6004 PO Box 3231 East Perth WA 6892
Phone [phone] Regional Offices69 Ann
Street, Brisbane, QLD 4000 Phone [phone]
5116 Lvl,1 48-50 Smith Street, Darwin, NT
0800 Phone [phone]