Radiation Safety Technician

5-day course, US$ 1,895

This course should be taken by safety technicians involved with assuring the safe handling, use, transportation and disposal of radioactive materials and radiation sources. This is an excellent course for newly hired radiation safety or health physics technicians. This course is intended to provide knowledge and improve skills in performing radiation safety surveys, shipping and receiving radioactive materials, and radioactive waste management and disposal. The course uses a combination of lectures and hands-on laboratory instruction.

Day 1 of this class will discuss the Fundamentals of Radiation Safety. It will provide an introduction to radiation and radioactivity, radiation health risks, and radiation detection instruments. Students will be introduced to requirements for the safe transportation of radioactive materials. Day 2 will continue DOT & NRC requirements for shipping and receiving radioactive materials. It will focus on requirements for packaging, labeling, marking, placarding, and other hazard communication requirements for shipping radioactive materials. It will cover transportation of excepted packages for limited quantities, instruments or articles, Empty packages, LSA and SCO materials, and Type A quantities.  Security requirements for radioactive material shipments will be discussed.

Day 3 covers current requirements for management and disposal of low-level radioactive and mixed wastes. It will provide information on developing a radioactive waste management program.  Topics such as regulatory requirements for managing radioactive and mixed wastes, record-keeping, waste minimization, and commercial treatment and disposal options are discussed. Course participants will learn about the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act and state compacts, current status and availability regarding commercially available disposal sites, waste sites' acceptance criteria, waste broker services and how to characterize, classify, package, prepare for shipment, label, and manifest waste shipments.

Day 4 provides practical hands-on experience with a variety of portable radiation instruments and requirements for conducting radiation surveys. It will focus on portable instruments such as ion chambers, proportional counters, GM meters, and a variety of NaI, plastic, and ZnS scintillation detectors. In-class exercises using instruments for estimating radioactivity and for conducting surveys are included. Day 5 topics include an overview of NRC and Agreement State radiation protection regulations and aspects of applied health physics principles. External and internal radiation exposures are discussed as well as steps that can be taken to assure worker protection. Course participants will learn about guidelines for the safe handling of radioactive materials and radiation sources and preparing for emergency response.

Students will receive a special 1,100+ page manual including all training materials, pertinent regulations and regulatory guides, as well as forms and checklists to help assure that DOT requirements are met for the transport of radioactive materials. This manual includes extensive regulatory information on low-level radioactive and mixed waste management and disposal, and copies of licenses and permits for commercial companies capable of processing and disposing of these wastes.

The primary instructors are Mr. Ray Johnson, a Certified Health Physicist, Professional Engineer, and RSO, Dr. Alan Fellman, a Certified Health Physicist with a PhD in radiation science/environmental science, and Mr. Sean M. Austin, a Certified Health Physicist with an M.S. in Radiation Science and six years experience in charge of Radioactive Waste Management and Shipping and Receiving Radioactive Materials at the Radiation Safety Branch, National Institutes of Health.

Training Dates

2008
January 14 - 18
July 7 - 11
September 22 - 26

Course Credits

AAHP - CE Credit award pending
ABIH - 4.5 CM Points

Radiation Safety Technician Sample Agenda

Day 1 | Radiation Fundamentals

7:30	Continental Breakfast
8:00	Introduction and Risk Perceptions
8:30	Sources of Radiation
9:30	Atomic Structure and Radioactivity
11:00	Radiation Health Risks
12:00	Lunch (provided)
1:00	Radiation Detection Instruments
2:00	Review of DOT Training Materials
2:30	Applicability of DOT Regulations, DOT Training Regulations, General Awareness and Familiarization Video
3:30	Class Exercises
4:00	Definitions, Special Form, Normal Form, Categories of Radioactive Material
5:00	Adjourn

Day 2 | Shipping and Receiving RAM

Day 3 | Radioactive Waste Management

7:30	Continental Breakfast
8:00	Introduction, Overview of Radioactive Wastes
9:00	Radioactive Waste Management Regulations, 10 CFR 20, 10 CFR 35, General Requirements, Sanitary Sewerage, Incineration, Disposal of Specific Wastes
10:00	Transfer of LLW, LLW Manifests, Decay-in-Storage, Record Keeping, Special Issues, Interim Storage
12:00	Lunch (provided)
1:00	Land Disposal of LLW, 10 CFR 61, LLW Classification, LLW Disposal Sites, Radioactive Waste Processing Facilities
3:00	LLW Policy Act, LLW Politics, LLW Compacts, Emergency Access to LLW Sites, 10 CFR 62, Mixed Waste Management, Radioactive Waste Management Programs
4:30	Adjourn

Day 4 | Radiation Instrumentation and Surveys

7:30	Continental Breakfast
8:00	Radiation Survey Instruments, Laboratory Instruments
12:00	Lunch (provided)
1:00	Instruments Lab, Applications & Troubleshooting, Leak Tests
3:00	Radiation Safety Surveys, Survey Exercises
5:00	Adjourn

Day 5 | Applied Radiation Safety