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Number 24, December, 1999

State Agency Inspects Radiation Safety Program
Focus on Accountability, Security

Inspectors from the Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety visited NU the week of November 8, 1999. They combed the books and visited about 20 radiation laboratories where they interviewed radiation workers, surveyed for contamination, examined documentation of use and waste disposal and observed laboratory conditions and practices. The inspection revealed that authorized investigators and radiation workers need to focus on accountability and security.

Accountability

You have to know what you have and where it is, and you must have current records of use and disposal which you can produce on demand.

  • Do a physical inventory and dispose of outdated, unneeded materials.
  • Link each inventory form to its respective vial. Each inventory form has a unique control number you should write on the vial.
  • Gather together all of your inventory forms; you could keep them in a binder in a central location.
  • Establish a policy of recording usage the same day the material is used.
  • Return the completed inventory form to Research Safety the same day you dispose of the material.

    • Security

    Security has two components: accountability and physical security. Your accountability program has important security ramifications as well as being a license condition. You must know what you have in order to know what is missing, should theft or loss occur. Physical security means locking up your radioactive materials and other sources.

    • When you leave a radiation laboratory unattended, close and lock the door.
    • An alternative is locking up all of your sources, including stock vials.

    This is an important issue, so please take it seriously. The Radiation Safety Committee may use the three-strikes-and-you're-out enforcement policy in cases of repeated noncompliance with the security requirement.

    Use this NUtrino as a training tool.     Circulate it among the radiation workers in your group and have them sign and date the training form on the back. File it with your authorization and other radiation safety documents for review during regulatory inspections. Discuss it during laboratory meetings. We have back issues, or you can print them off the Web.