Exposure Control And Monitoring

Contamination Control

Administrative Measures
Written procedures will be developed for work involving the handling of unsealed sources. These procedures will contain at a minimum:

  • Surveillance instructions for the material use area
  • Instructions for personnel monitoring ("frisking")and the use of personal protective equipment
  • Postings and barrier controls
  • Response actions to be taken in case of a spill of radioactive material

All unsealed sources will be labeled, posted and contain warning signs in accordance with state or federal requirements.

Engineering Measures
Where feasible, operable fume hoods, spill trays, secondary liquid containment devices, and other laboratory equipment will be employed to control the spread of radioactive materials in the work and storage areas.

External Exposure Monitoring

Administrative Measures
Written procedures will be developed for work involving the handling of sealed sources or x-ray generating devices. These procedures will contain at a minimum:

  • Lock/Out Tag-Out instructions
  • Surveillance instructions for the material or device use area
  • Instructions for personnel monitoring ("frisking")and the use of personal protective equipment
  • Postings and barrier controls

All sources and x-ray generating devices will be labeled, posted and contain warning signals in accordance with state or federal requirements.

Engineering Measures
Where feasible, the primary means of exposure control will be the employment of shutters, shielding or interlocks to prevent exposure to radioactive sources or x-ray generating devices.

Surveys

Written procedures will be used to perform radiation and leak test surveillance. In general the following criteria will be used for determining surveys:

  • Radiation exposure rate surveys and removable contamination surveys will be conducted when receiving radioactive materials, when conducting surveys of material use/storage areas, when packaging materials for shipment and when placing sources in a container for storage.
  • Surveys of material use/storage areas will be performed at the end of the day and/or experiment. One documented removable contamination survey will be conducted monthly. Material use/storage areas considered "not in use" will be surveyed every six months.
  • Radiation surveys will be conducted whenever an analytical x-ray equipment shutter is locked out. All x-ray generating devices will be surveyed annually to determine if leakage and scatter radiation levels meet state agency criteria.
  • Leak tests at three months for alpha emitting sealed sources and six months for beta-gamma emitting sealed, unless license conditions allow for a lesser frequency.