Where can I get an application for a Radioactive Materials Use Authorization (Human or Nonhuman Use)?

Call 825-6995; or come to Strathmore Building, 4th Floor; or download from here.

Where can I get an application for a X-Ray Machine Authorization (Analytical or Medical) or Human-Use?

Call 825-7147 or 794-1742, or come to Strathmore Building, 4th Floor, or A6-060H Center for Health Sciences, or download from here

Who should I call if I have questions about adding an isotope, room, worker or other changes to a Radioactive Materials Use Authorization?

Call 825-6995 or email Radiation Safety and you will be referred to the responsible Health Physicist in charge of the authorization.

How long should I expect the processing of an application for the use of radioactive isotopes to take?

Four to six weeks. The RSD places a high priority on new applications and will do its best to do it quickly.

What can delay the processing of an application for the use of radioactive isotopes?

a) Application is not completely filled out.

b) Responsible user (i.e., the applicant) and radiation workers have not taken the New Radiation Workers Quiz (NRWQ). (See other FAQs in this section re:NRWQ.)

c) Applicant has not acquired any required survey meter(s), shielding, radioactive waste containers, and/or liquid scintillation counter (LSC) (or a memo from another researcher granting him or her access to that researcher's LSC).

d) The applicant has yet to obtain a memo from a researcher granting him or her permission to work in a lab(s) for which that researcher is principally responsible.

What number do I call to make an appointment for the New Radiation Worker Quiz (NRWQ)?

794-5328 or email Radiation Safety

Where can I pick up the handout for the NRWQ?

A6-060C, Center for Health Sciences or Strathmore Building, 4th Floor or download from here (select NWRQ Handout).

Where is the NRWQ given?

Strathmore Building (501 Westwood Plaza), 1st Floor.

What is the mailing address for radioactive materials?

UCLA Radiation Safety Office
Center for Health Sciences
Medical Receiving
650, Charles E. Young Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90095

Attn: (RU's Last Name), LA XXX (Example: Attn John Smith, LA999)

Who do I call to find out if a shipment has come in?

If a shipment is scheduled to arrive that day, Radiation Safety will call your laboratory after 11:00 am. or within three hours of receipt. A radiation and contamination survey of the package must be performed before it is released to your laboratory. The Isotope Desk phone number is 5-5396.

What do I need to do to transfer radioactive materials to someone within UCLA?

Ensure that the Responsible User is authorized to use the radio nuclide and the chemical form and complete a Radioactive Materials Transfer Form. Download this form from here. Select RAM Transfer Form and follow the directions on the form. This will ensure that the isotope inventory for both authorizations will be complete and accurate.

What do I have to do if I wish to ship radioactive materials to someone outside of UCLA?

Call 825-6995 or email Radiation Safety. You will be connected to the Shipment HP. Explain what the radionuclide you wish to ship, the quantity of radioactivity, the physical form and where it will be shipped to. Transportation regulations are very strict and complicated. The RSD will ensure compliance with all U.S. DOT and/or IAEA shipping regulations for your shipment.

How do I determine what survey instrument to buy?

If you are working with a pure beta emitter other than 3H, a pancake G-M detector will be more efficient than an end window G-M detector to measure the radiation from the beta emitter.

If you are working with 3H, a liquid scintillation counter (LSC) must be used to determine contamination levels in the laboratory.

If you are working with a beta/gamma emitter, you may use a pancake G-M detector to measure the beta component or a Sodium Iodide detector to measure the gamma component. For low energy gamma or x-rays, a thin crystal Sodium Iodide detector is preferable.

If you wish to measure the exposure rate or dose rate, you must use an ion chamber or a compensated G-M detector.

For more information, call 825-6995 or email Radiation Safety. You will be connected with the Instrument Health Physicist.

Where can I buy survey instruments?

See the vendor list on this web site.This list does not imply recommendation of any vendor nor are all instrument manufacturers listed. However it does list major survey instrument manufacturers.

If you have specialized survey or counting needs, please call 825-6995 or email Radiation Safety and you will be connected with the Instrument HP.

How often do I have to survey the work area?

You should survey your work area after each use of radioactivity, but you are required to document a room survey at least once per month of all rooms where radioactivity is used or stored. If you did not use radioactivity or store radio nuclides in a room during the month, you do not have to document a survey but you must indicate that no radioactivity was used or stored in the room in your survey records. You also should survey "other areas" of the laboratory periodically to ensure radioactive materials have not migrated to the "clean" areas.

When is a close out survey required?

For Equipment: A close out survey is required to be performed by the Authorized User before any equipment, which was used with radioactivity, will be repaired.

For Rooms: If a laboratory room (which used/stored radioactive materials) will be remodeled, repainted, demolished or will cease to be used as a radiation-use room, a close out survey is required to be performed by the Authorized User. Both fixed and removable contamination levels must be determined by the close out survey. The removable contamination levels are listed in the UCLA Radiation Protection Manual. Notify the RSD at Radiation Safety Division of your intent to perform a close out. The RSD will perform a followup survey to assure compliance with close out requirements.

How is a close out survey performed?

1. Prior notification to the Radiation Safety Office is critical for a timely confirmatory survey by the Radiation Safety Office to complete the close out process.

2. All surfaces must be surveyed for fixed and removable contamination. Wipe samples should be counted on a LSC, or other appropriate detector, to determine the amount of removable contamination. Fixed contamination should be performed with the appropriate survey instrument with the highest sensitivity for the radionuclide. Removable contamination levels are stated in the UCLA Radiation Protection Manual. Document the final survey results and submit it to the Radiation Safety Office.

3. As part of the close out process for a laboratory room, all radioactive materials must transferred or disposed and the Radiation Safety Office must be notified of its disposition. All radioactive wastes must also be removed from the room.

4. If radioactive materials will be sent off campus, see Shipments Section.

If you have any questions regarding a close out survey, please email Radiation Safety or call 825-6995. You will be connected with the Survey Health Physicist.

How do I package the radioactive wastes?

Radioactive waste is categorized into three groups: Dry, Liquid, and Liquid Scintillation Vials. There are different packaging requirements for each group. One important item common to all three groups is the Waste Tag. Every package of radioactive waste must have a completed waste tag: Name of the Responsible User, Lab Authorization No. (LA#), Radioisotopes and the activities in mCi or µCi.

If you have any questions regarding wastes, please email Radiation Safety or call 825-6995. You will be connected with the Waste Health Physicist.

Where do I get radioactive waste tags?

Waste tags may be obtained: at CHS A6-060; by calling 5-5396 or 4-5095; email a request to Radiation Safety; or asking for them from the radioactive waste crew during a scheduled waste pick-up.

How do I determine radioactivity in the liquid waste?

The best method to determine the activity in your liquid wastes is to count a sample of the liquid waste in a Liquid Scintillation Counter (LSC). Convert the counts per minute (cpm) to disintegrations per minute (dpm) by dividing the efficiency factor for the radio nuclide. To convert the dpm to µCi divide the disintegrations per minute by 2.22 × 10^6 dpm/µCi.

Another method is to assume all radioactive materials used in the experiment is in the liquid waste. As you add the liquid to the container, keep track of the amount and total the quantities before disposal to the scheduled waste collection site.

How do I determine the radioactivity in the dry waste?

Unfortunately, there is no convenient way to determine radioactivity in the dry waste. The best way is to keep track of the radioactivity in your experiments. If you used good method to determine radioactivity in the liquid waste, the remainder will be in the dry waste.

I generate animal carcasses, what do I do with the bedding?

If the bedding is contaminated with radioactive materials, it needs to be packaged in the same manner as the animal carcasses and brought to the CHS office. It is up to you to determine whether the bedding is contaminated or not contaminated. This can be done with a survey instrument if the radioisotopes has a high energy beta or by knowing the excretion rate of the chemical compound and how long it has been since the injection. If any infectious or pathogenic agent is used in the animal, the agent must be inactivated before disposal to the Radiation Safety Office.

What is the Three Strike Policy?

The Three Strike Policy was approved by the Radiation Safety Committee to ensure compliance with the commitments that were made by the University in its radioactive materials license renewal application or amendment requests to the California Department of Health Services. The Three Strike Policy has been instituted in the Radiation Safety Division's Laboratory Audit Program, Bioassay Program and Waste Program. A strike will be in force for one year and then will not be counted against the authorization. To receive three strikes in one year shows poor compliance with University policies and procedures.

An ultimate consequence occurs in the three programs whenever any authorization receives a third strike for the same type of violation. In the Laboratory Audit Program, the RU must meet with the Radiation Safety Subcommittee to explain why his/her authorization should not be terminated. In the Bioassay Program, the fine penalties were replaced with the Three Strike Policy and a similar consequence on a third strike. In the Waste Program, the authorization can not receive isotopes for two weeks and is placed on probation. Another similar violation will require the RU to discuss with the Radiation Safety Subcommittee why his/her authorization should not be terminated. The Waste program is slightly different because waste disposal can occur once per week.