MSUM Radiation Safety Program TABLE OF CONTENTS Full Radiation Safety Program – This is a large PDF document.
Topic	Pages
Table of Contents	1 - 4
I. Introduction	5 - 6
A. Purpose of the handbook and the Radiation Safety Program	5
B. Responsibility for implementation of the Radiation Safety Program	6
C. Scope of the handbook	6
II. Radiological safety, use and handling program participants	6 - 11
A. Introduction	6 - 7
B. The MSUM Radiation Safety Committee (RSC)	7 - 9
1. Duties of the Radiation Safety Committee	7 - 9
2. Membership of the Radiation Safety Committee	9
3. Schedule of Meetings	9
C. Radiation Safety Committee Chairperson (RSC Chair)	9
D. Radiation Safety Officer (RSO)	9 - 11
III. Authorization of personnel to use radioisotopes or ionizing radiation producing devices	11 - 14
A. Introduction	11
B. Required training to use radioisotopes or ionizing radiation producing instruments	11 - 12
1. Authorized principal investigator	11 - 12
2. Research staff	12
3. Students	12
C. Authorization of persons who propose to use radioactive materials or ionizing radiation producing instruments	12
D. Radiation safety short course and refresher course descriptions	13 - 14
1. MSUM radiation safety short course	13
2. Refresher course on radiation safety training	13
3. Radiation safety short courses at nearby institutions	14
E. Training for custodial and support staff	14
IV. Authorization of projects which propose to use radioactive materials or ionizing radiation producing instruments	14 - 19
A. Introduction	14
B. Application for authorization of projects	14
C. Committee approval	14 - 15
D. Notice of responsibility and risk	15
E. Renewal of authorizations and amendments to authorizations	15
F. Remedying issues of noncompliance and revocation of authorizations	15 - 16
G. Purchase and receipt of radioactive materials	17 - 19
1. Purchase of materials	17
2. Procedures for receiving and opening packages containing radioactive materials	17 - 18
3. Storage and inventory of radioactive by-product materials	18
4. Leak testing of sealed sources	18 - 19
V. Laboratory procedures for the safe handling and use of radioactive materials and ionizing radiation producing devices	19 - 40
A. ALARA	19
B. Permissible levels of radiation exposure	19 - 22
1. Occupational dose limits for adult radiation workers	19 - 20
2. Occupational dose limits to minors	20
3. Dose to an embryo/fetus	20 - 21
4. Permissible levels of radiation in unrestricted areas	21 - 22
C. Personnel monitoring requirements	22 - 24
1. Exposure limits requiring personnel monitoring	22 - 23
2. Action levels for personnel monitoring	23
3. Monitoring external exposures	23 - 24
a. Personal monitoring devices	23
b. Placement of personal monitoring devices	23 - 24
4. Monitoring internal exposures	24 - 27
a. General considerations	24
b. Action levels for unsealed radioactive by product materials requiring internal exposure monitoring by bioassay	24 - 26
Table 1. Occupational values for internal exposure for a calendar year	25
Table 2. Limits on unsealed radioactive by-product materials requiring internal monitoring by bioassays	26
c. Bioassays applicable to Minnesota State University Moorhead's Radiation Safety Program	26 - 27
i. Thyroid scans	26
ii. Urinalysis	26 - 27
a. Procedure for urinalysis	27
iii. Documenting and reporting of personnel monitoring	27
D. Preventing personnel and facility contamination	27 - 31
1. Storage and labeling of radioactive materials	27 - 28
2. Transfer of radiochemicals within the university	28 - 29
3. Practice runs with unlabeled materials	29
4. Procedures for the safe use of radioactive materials	29 - 31
5. Monitoring areas adjacent to areas designated for use of radioactive by-product materials or ionizing radiation producing devices	31
E. Posting and restricted entry requirements	31
F. Monitoring utilization of radioisotopes and utilization forms	31 - 32
1. General considerations	31
2. Documentation of utilization	31 - 32
G. Surveying radioisotope usage areas	32 - 34
1. General considerations	32
2. Surveying requirements for experiments	32
3. Surveying adjacent to radiation use areas	32
4. Notification of radiation levels exceeding the limits	32
5. Examples of types of survey monitoring required for experiments	33
6. Frequency of routine laboratory monitoring surveys	33
7. Documentation of results of laboratory surveys	33
8. Inspections by the Radiation Safety Officer (RSO)	33 - 34
9. Reports of contaminated areas and decontamination procedures	34
10. Calibration of survey monitoring devices	34
H. Disposal of radioactive waste	34 - 39
1. General considerations	34 - 35
2. Segregation of waste	35
3. Disposal of radioactive waste of half-life less than 60 days	35
4. Disposal of radioactive waste of half-life greater than 60 days	36 - 37
a. Aqueous waste	36
b. Solid waste	37
5. Liquid scintillation vial disposal	37 - 38
a. Survey vials	37
b. Vials containing radioactive material with half-life less than 60 days	37
c. Vials containing radioactive material with half-life greater than 60 days	37 - 38
d. Suggested sample counting of liquid scintillation vials	38
6. Disposal of other radioactive materials which DO NOT FIT into the previous categories of waste	38
7. Documentation of radiation disposal	38 - 39
I. Transfer of radioactive materials	39
1. On-campus transfers	39
2. Off-campus transfers	39
J. Termination of experiments using radionuclides and decommissioning of radioisotope usage areas to unrestricted areas	39
K. Procedures and information which will be posted and/or provided to each user of radioisotopes	39 - 40
VI. Use of radioactive materials or radiation producing devices as teaching aids	40 - 41
A. General considerations	40
B. Application for authorization	40 - 41
C. Follow-up to teaching activities using radioisotopes or ionizing radiation producing devices	41
D. Student training	41
E. Radiological safety considerations for use of radioisotopes as teaching aids	41
VII. Conclusion	41 - 42
VIII. Health Physics Review	43 - 60
A. Introduction	44
B. Definitions	44 - 52
C. Limits of radiation exposure	52 - 53
D. Biological effects of ionizing radiation and risk estimation	53 - 60
1. Introduction	53 - 55
2. Responsibility and rights of the pregnant or potentially pregnant user of radioisotopes	55 - 58
a. Responsibilities of the worker	55 - 56
b. Why the unborn are more sensitive?	56
c. Prenatal radiation risk compared to other risks	56 - 58
3. Monitoring of radiation personnel	58
4. Shielding to be used while working with radioactive materials or ionizing radiation producing devices	59
5. Contamination and calculations of possible contaminations	59 - 60
IX. Minnesota State University Moorhead Radiation Safety Program Forms	61 - 72
A. Form 1: Statement of Training	62
B. Form 2: Statement of Agreement	63
C. Form 3: Request for Permission to Possess and Use Radioisotopes or Ionizing Radiation Producing Devices	64
D. Form 4: Request for Ordering and Storage of Radioisotopes or Ionizing Radiation Producing Devices	65
E. Form 5: Request for Individual Monitoring Devices	66
F. Form 6: Radioisotope Inventory and Utilization Log	67
G. Form 7: Declared Pregnant Woman Statement	68
H. Form 8: Incident Involving Radionuclides or Ionizing Radiation Producing Devices	69
I. Form 9: Survey Analysis of Radioisotope Usage Areas	70
J. Form 10: Radioactive Waste Disposal	71
K. Form 11: Radioactive Waste Disposal Container	72
X. Procedures for the safe handling and use of radioactive by-product materials and ionizing radiation producing devices to maintain exposure levels "ALARA."	73