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.

Return Old Forms, Dispose of Old Stock Materials

Thanks to all of you who returned very old inventory forms last summer. Old inventory forms are a liability because a) they limit the amount of activity available for you to order, b) they become lost, and c) usage information on them has been known to compound more recent compliance problems, for example, if a bioassay had been missed. Most old stock materials should be discarded anyway because a) radiolytic decomposition may compromise their usefulness or increase hazards from production of volatile byproducts, b) radioactive decay may render them useless, and c) they keep you jumping through all the regulatory hoops. Check your technical data sheet for information about shelf-life.

The Ins and Outs of Labels on Radwaste

When you throw something into one of our standard, dry radwaste drums, the "radioactive material" label on the outside of the drum identifies everything inside as potentially contaminated. Therefore, whatever you put into the drum does not have to be individually labeled; in fact, whatever you put into a drum shouldn't be labeled. If we decay the waste to background prior to disposal, the law very clearly states that we have to remove or destroy all such labels. That is a very onerous task that subjects our staff to risks from broken glass and so forth. So, when a contaminated tool or beaker or stock vial or bench paper is outside the waste drum it has to be labeled. When you put it inside a drum, please remove the labels.

Did You Know...

• You must keep a current, written log of all radioactive material placed into waste containers.
• The Radiation Safety Committee suspended an investigator's authorization last quarter for missed bioassays.
• Approval of applications for new radionuclides or increases is contingent on having an up-to-date Safety Plan.
• You should read your authorization once a year to see what you promised to do (such as regular lab surveys).
• We urge pregnant radiation workers to let their PI know; we can help plan appropriate protection strategies.
• A good survey rate for GM detectors is about 3 cm per second. Any faster and you could miss contamination.
• Every lab should have a copy of the National Research Council's Prudent Practices in the Laboratory, National Academy Press, 1995. We can help you get one if you can't find it.

See the Radiation Safety Web Page at http://www.northwestern.edu/research-safety. At the University's home page click on "Research," then "Research Offices and Services," then "Office for Research Safety."