Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors, Inc. (CRCPD)
Turn-back Exposure Rates and Dose Guidelines

Guidelines for
Total Accumulated Dose

Suggested
Turn-Back Exposure Rates

Activities

5,000 mrem 1

Follow radiation safety officer instructions

Emergency worker dose limit

10,000 mrem

10,000 mR/hr

Non-lifesaving activities
(e.g., major critical property protection)

50,000 mrem 2

200,000 mR/hr 3
Use extreme caution

Lifesaving activities

1 Note that the 5,000 mrem dose guideline represents the standard occupational dose limit for one year.

2 The 50,000 mrem dose guideline is a level at which minor effects from short-term radiation exposure are possible. Note that this guideline applies to a once-in-a-lifetime event.

3 Specific approval and controls are required to exceed this turn-back exposure rate.

Adapted from Handbook for Responding to a Radiological Dispersal Device (Dirty Bomb): First Responder's Guide: The First 12 Hours (CRCPD Publication 06-6) page 28. Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors, Inc. Frankfort, Kentucky, 2006.