Washington Administrative Code
Title 246 - Health, Department of
RADIATION
Chapter 246-236 - Licenses and radiation safety requirements for irradiators
Section 246-236-010 - Definitions, abbreviations, and acronyms

Universal Citation: WA Admin Code 246-236-010

Current through Register Vol. 24-24, December 15, 2024

The definitions, abbreviations, and acronyms in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

(1) "Annually" means either:

(a) At intervals not to exceed one year; or

(b) Once per year, at about the same time each year (plus or minus one month).

(2) "Commencement of construction" means taking any action defined as "construction" or any other activity at the site of a facility subject to this chapter that has a reasonable nexus to radiological health and safety.

(3) "Construction" means the installation of foundations, or in-place assembly, erection, fabrication, or testing for any structure, system, or component of a facility or activity subject to this chapter that are related to radiological safety or security. The term "construction" does not include:

(a) Changes for temporary use of the land for public recreational purposes;

(b) Site exploration, including necessary borings to determine foundation conditions or other preconstruction monitoring to establish background information related to the suitability of the site, the environmental impacts of construction or operation, or the protection of environmental values;

(c) Preparation of the site for construction of the facility, including clearing of the site, grading, installation of drainage, erosion and other environmental mitigation measures, and construction of temporary roads and borrow areas;

(d) Erection of fences and other access control measures that are not related to the safe use of, or security of, radiological materials subject to this chapter;

(e) Excavation;

(f) Erection of support buildings (e.g., construction equipment storage sheds, warehouse and shop facilities, utilities, concrete mixing plants, docking and unloading facilities, and office buildings) for use in connection with the construction of the facility;

(g) Building of service facilities (e.g., paved roads, parking lots, railroad spurs, exterior utility and lighting systems, potable water systems, sanitary sewerage treatment facilities, and transmission lines);

(h) Procurement or fabrication of components or portions of the proposed facility occurring at other than the final, in-place location at the facility; or

(i) Taking any other action that has no reasonable nexus to radiological health and safety.

(4) "Department" means the Washington state department of health.

(5) "Doubly encapsulated sealed source" means a sealed source in which the radioactive material is sealed within a capsule and that capsule is sealed within another capsule.

(6) "Irradiator" means a facility that uses radioactive sealed sources for the irradiation of objects or materials and in which radiation dose rates exceeding five grays (five hundred rads) per hour exist at one meter from the sealed radioactive sources in air or water, as applicable for the irradiator type, but does not include irradiators in which both the sealed source and the area subject to irradiation are contained within a device and are not accessible to personnel.

(7) "Irradiator operator" means an individual who has successfully completed the training and testing described in WAC 246-236-051 and is authorized by the terms of the license to operate the irradiator without a supervisor present.

(8) "NRC" means the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

(9) "Panoramic or beam-type dry-source-storage irradiator" means an irradiator in which the irradiations occur in air in areas potentially accessible to personnel and in which the sources are stored in shields made of solid materials. The term includes beam-type dry-source-storage irradiators in which only a narrow beam of radiation is produced for performing irradiations.

(10) "Panoramic or beam-type irradiator" means an irradiator in which the irradiations are done in air in areas potentially accessible to personnel.

(11) "Panoramic wet-source-storage irradiator" means an irradiator in which the irradiations occur in air in areas potentially accessible to personnel and in which the sources are stored under water in a storage pool.

(12) "Pool irradiator" means any irradiator at which the sources are stored or used in a pool of water including panoramic wet-source-storage irradiators and underwater irradiators.

(13) "Product conveyor system" means a system for moving the product to be irradiated to, from, and within the area where irradiation takes place.

(14) "Radiation room" means a shielded room in which irradiations take place. Underwater irradiators do not have radiation rooms.

(15) "Radiation safety officer" means an individual with responsibility for the overall radiation safety program at the facility.

(16) "Sealed source" means any radioactive material that is used as a source of radiation and is encased in a capsule designed to prevent leakage or escape of the radioactive material.

(17) "Seismic area" means any area where the probability of a horizontal acceleration in rock of more than three-tenths times the acceleration of gravity in two hundred fifty years is greater than ten percent, as designated by the United States geological survey.

(18) "Underwater irradiator" means an irradiator in which the sources always remain shielded under water and humans do not have access to the sealed sources or the space subject to irradiation without entering the pool.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Washington may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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