Fitness for Duty in the Nuclear Power Industry: An Update of Technical Issues on Drugs of Abuse Testing and Fatigue Management (NUREG/CR-7156)

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Publication Information

Manuscript Completed: August 2011
Date Published: June 2013

Prepared by:
Kristi Branch, Kathryn Baker

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
P.O. Box 999
Richland, WA 99352

Prepared for:
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555-0001

DaBin Ki, NRC Project Manager

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Abstract

This report is part of a series of updates of technical issues concerning fitness for duty in the nuclear power industry. It discusses technologies relevant to the detection and management of two key elements of a fitness-for-duty program: drug and alcohol testing and fatigue management. On drug and alcohol testing, the report provides an introduction to the pharmacokinetics of drugs of abuse in different bodily fluids and substances (matrices), a review of the technologies used to separate, identify, and quantify drugs in workplace drug testing programs, and a description of emerging research in developing and validating the technology systems capable of testing alternative matrices as well as newly appearing drugs of abuse, both in the laboratory and at the point of collection. On fatigue management, the report reviews recent research on sleep and fatigue, describes efforts under way to develop and deploy technologies to aid fatigue assessment and management, reviews the status of fatigue management in industries and governmental sectors where fatigue is a significant safety concern, and discusses implications for the nuclear power industry. Finally each chapter includes an extensive bibliography of documents to support further, more in-depth reviews.