Part 800: Reporting Radiation Incidents

• 800.10 Introduction
• 800.20 Reporting of Accidents or Incidents
• 800.30 Reporting Defects or Failure of Equipment

800.10 Introduction

Accidents and incidents involving personnel exposures, radioactive contamination of personnel or facilities, and/or failure of equipment containing radioactive materials or producing radiation must be reported to the radiation safety officer as described below. Reporting of accidents and incidents will allow the radiation safety officer or designee to ensure individuals have been properly decontaminated and have received appropriate medical attention, areas have been decontaminated, releases to the environment have been controlled, and any reporting requirements to federal, state and local authorities have been complied with.

800.20 Reporting of Accidents or Incidents

1. Any accident or incident as described below shall be reported to the radiation safety officer immediately:
   1. Any accident or incident involving skin contact with radioactive material by an individual.

   2. Any accident or incident involving exposure of an individual to airborne radioactive materials in excess of the limits specified in Part 900.

   3. Any accident or incident involving the release of more than one millicurie of radioisotope.

   4. Any accident or incident involving widespread radioactive contamination (i.e., an area greater than four ft²).

   5. Any accident or incident involving radioactive contamination of a public area.

   6. Any accident or incident involving the unapproved release of radioactive material to the environment.

   7. Any accident or incident involving a radiation dose or suspected dose of more than one hundred millirems.

   8. Any situation involving lost, stolen or missing radioactive material or radiation-producing equipment.

   9. If, during check-in procedures of a package of radioactive materials, contamination is detected on the surface of the outer package or if the container of radioactive material is broken, leaking, or severely contaminated.

2. If there is any doubt as to whether or not an accident or incident should be reported, then it should be reported to the radiation safety officer.

800.30 Reporting Defects or Failure of Equipment

Any defect or failure occurring in a piece of equipment which contains radioactive material or is capable of producing radiation must be reported to the radiation safety officer. A defect or failure is a situation which may or did cause an unnecessary radiation exposure, a loss of radioactive material, or a release of radioactive material.