Industrial Radiation FAQ
How do I become an RSO?
In the state of Texas, as well as in
other states, one must pass an approved RSO course, specific to the industry in
which you are interested (such as medical, induatrial,
etc.), and have 2 years experience in the area in
which they want to be certified. If you submit this information along
with a resume, and if the Department of Health and Human Services (Radioactive
Materials Division) approves you, you are an RSO.
How do I get a license for
radioactive materials?
On the Department of State Health
Services (this changes from state to state or go to the NRC page) web page
there is a form for Licensing of Radiative material. If you fill out this form
and attach all the required information that the State requires. Information
such as: uses of the radioactive material, activities wanted, manufacturer, RSO
experience, operating procedures for handling and dealing with rad mat,
emergency procedures, training of users, etc. if this is all submitted along
with a the correct licensing fee and the state/NRC approves it, you have a
license. We would be happy to help you put together all the required
information and submit to the State/NRC.
How do I renew a license?
When your license comes up for
renewal one must resubmit all the information that was submitted for obtaining
a license in the first place. The renewal package must be in the hands of the
regulatory agency 30 days before the license is scheduled to expire, this gives
the agency enough time to request additional information if they need to before
the license officially expires.
How do I close out a license?
When you no longer have the need for
radioactive material or all your material has been removed from the location you
can cancel your license. One must request a license termination from the state
or NRC. They will ask some questions regarding where and when your material
went. And if you have done a survey of the areas where the materials were kept.
They might even come out to your site to verify the surveys and that the site
is fee of residual material.
Why and how often is leak testing
required?
Leak testing is done to determine if
the sealed source of radioactive material has been damaged in a way in which
the material is out of the source. If this occurs one must remove the unit from
service so the contamination does not spread. Depending on the type of source
and radionuclide involved leak testing on a sealed source must be done either
every six months or three years. We provide mailable leak test kits and leak
testing service and would be glad to help you with this regulatory requirement.
What is involved in an audit?
An audit is a review of your
radiation safety program. The auditors will look through your files to see if
you are keeping up with what your license states you will do and what the
regulations state you will do. Depending on the size of your program and audit
should take a few hours to a full day. The audit is designed to tell you what
parts of the program or what documents need to be updated or placed in the file
if they are not there. This helps you maintain documents for your program be
more complete so when you get an official audit from the State or NRC the
probability of you coming out with no violations will be high. We can help you
with audits, we regularly preform radiation safety audits for many companies.
What is the difference between an
Agreement State and an NRC State?
An NRC state is one of the states
that is regulated under the NRC for radiation protection
and they follow the regulation of 10 CFR 20. An Agreement state, there are 37
of them, is a state that regulates its own radiation safety programs and they
follow whatever states regulation that they are in. The Governor of the state
has made an agreement with the NRC that says the state will regulate itself on
these matters. Each agreement states regulations need to be at least equal to
the NRC regulations. The NRC comes and reviews the Agreement states program
every so often to see if the State is doing a good job. If they are not, the
NRC will give them time to fix the issues or may revoke their Agreement state
status.
What is the purpose of inspection
and inventories?
Besides being a regulatory requirement
the inspections and inventories help monitor the condition of your gauging
devices. The inventory is to help determine if the gauge is still there, is
some cases it has not been. Also to determine if a gauge has been moved to a
new location without the RSOs knowledge. Inspections are used to make sure the
gauge is still in operational condition. Inspections include looking at the
tag, to see if it still legible, looking at signs, to see if they are there and
readable, inspection mounting bolts to see if they are present and tight, and
determine if there is any corrosion on the head that needs to be attended to.
Shutter checking is an important part of the inspection, because a broken or
nonoperational shutter can lead to situation in which the gauge must be closed
and can not be. I f one has a broken or
nonoperational shutter the unit must be removed from service and repaired or
replaced. We will be glad to help you with either inspections and inventories
or the repair of your gauging device.