Supporting NRC Inspections of Byproduct Use in Medical Facilities

Abstract

This paper describes an ongoing project funded by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to provide decision support for a range of NRC staff, including staff concerned with inspecting medical facilities that use nuclear byproduct materials. Stereotactic radiosurgery was chosen as a case study to explore issues of human reliability and drive the design of a decision support job aid. Study of the evolution of one such device, the Gamma Knife®, over the past several years reveals a shift toward increased automation. The newest model eliminates specific errors associated with forgetting, calculation, and data entry experienced with earlier models of Gamma Knife technology. As a result of increased automation, it will be important that inspectors increase attention to potential automation-related errors and vulnerabilities. Updates to the job aid based on these analyses will broaden the human performance issues considered, increasing the relevance of the job aid for inspecting medical uses of nuclear byproduct materials, and for developing appropriate guidance.