(a) Purpose. This section provides for exemptions to
licensing requirements, general licensing of radioactive material,
and acknowledgement of general licenses.
(b) Scope. Except as otherwise authorized, no person
shall receive, possess, use, transfer, own, or acquire radioactive
material except as authorized in a general license or general license
acknowledgement issued in accordance with this section, or in a specific
license issued in accordance with §289.252 of this title (relating
to Licensing of Radioactive Material), §289.255 of this title
(relating to Radiation Safety Requirements and Licensing and Registration
Procedures for Industrial Radiography), §289.256 of this title
(relating to Medical and Veterinary Use of Radioactive Material), §289.258
of this title (relating to Licensing and Radiation Safety Requirements
for Irradiators), or §289.259 of this title (relating to Licensing
of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM).
(c) Definitions. The following words and terms when
used in this section shall have the following meanings unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) General license--An authorization in accordance
with this section that grants authority to a person for certain activities
involving radioactive material, and is effective without the filing
of applications with the agency or the issuance of licensing documents
to the particular persons. The general licensee is subject to all
other applicable portions of this chapter and any limitations of the
general license.
(2) General license acknowledgement--A written recognition
of a general license issued in accordance with this section. The issuance
of a general license acknowledgement requires the submission of an
application to the agency. A written acknowledgement of a general
license granted in accordance with this section is issued by the agency.
The holder of a general license acknowledgement is subject to all
other applicable portions of this chapter as well as any conditions
specified in the acknowledgement document.
(d) Exemptions for source material.
(1) Any person is exempt from this section and §289.252
of this title if that person receives, possesses, uses, or transfers
source material in any chemical mixture, compound, solution, or alloy
in which the source material is by weight less than 1/20 of 1.0% (0.05%)
of the mixture, compound, solution, or alloy.
(2) Any person is exempt from this section and §289.252
of this title if that person receives, possesses, uses, or transfers
unrefined and unprocessed ore containing source material; provided
that, except as authorized in a specific license, such person shall
not refine or process such ore. This exemption does not apply to the
mining of ore containing source material.
(3) Any person is exempt from this section and §289.252
of this title to the extent that such person receives, possesses,
uses, or transfers:
(A) any quantities of thorium contained in:
(i) incandescent gas mantles;
(ii) vacuum tubes;
(iii) welding rods;
(iv) electric lamps for illuminating purposes provided
that each lamp does not contain more than 50 milligrams (mg) of thorium;
(v) germicidal lamps, sunlamps, and lamps for outdoor
or industrial lighting provided that each lamp does not contain more
than two grams of thorium;
(vi) rare earth metals and compounds, mixtures, and
products containing not more than 0.25% by weight thorium, uranium,
or any combination of these; or
(vii) personnel neutron dosimeters, provided that each
dosimeter does not contain more than 50 mg of thorium;
(B) source material contained in the following products:
(i) glazed ceramic tableware manufactured before August
27, 2013, provided that the glaze contains not more than 20% by weight
source material;
(ii) glassware containing not more than 2% by weight
source material or, for glassware manufactured before August 27, 2013,
10% by weight source material; but not including commercially manufactured
glass brick, pane glass, ceramic tile, or other glass or ceramic used
in construction;
(iii) glass enamel or glass enamel frit containing
not more than 10% by weight source material imported or ordered for
importation into the United States, or initially distributed by manufacturers
in the United States, before July 25, 1983; or
(iv) piezoelectric ceramic containing not more than
2.0% by weight source material;
(C) photographic film, negatives, and prints containing
uranium or thorium;
(D) any finished product or part fabricated of, or
containing, metal-thorium alloys, provided that the thorium content
of the alloy does not exceed 4% by weight and that the exemption contained
in this subparagraph shall not be deemed to authorize the chemical,
physical, or metallurgical treatment or processing of any such product
or part;
(E) uranium contained in counterweights installed in
aircraft, rockets, projectiles, and missiles, or stored or handled
in connection with installation or removal of such counterweights,
provided that:
(i) each counterweight has been impressed with the
following legend clearly legible through any plating or other covering:
"DEPLETED URANIUM" (The requirements specified in this clause need
not be met by counterweights manufactured prior to December 31, 1969,
provided that such counterweights were manufactured under a specific
license issued by the Atomic Energy Commission and were impressed
with the legend, "CAUTION - RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL - URANIUM," required
at that time);
(ii) each counterweight is durably and legibly labeled
or marked with the identification of the manufacturer and the statement:
"UNAUTHORIZED ALTERATIONS PROHIBITED" (The requirements specified
in this clause need not be met by counterweights manufactured prior
to December 31, 1969, provided that such counterweights were manufactured
under a specific license issued by the Atomic Energy Commission and
were impressed with the legend, "CAUTION - RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL -
URANIUM" required at that time); and
(iii) the exemption contained in this subparagraph
shall not be deemed to authorize the chemical, physical, or metallurgical
treatment or processing of any such counterweights other than repair
or restoration of any plating or other covering;
(F) natural or depleted uranium used as shielding constituting
part of any shipping container, provided that:
(i) the shipping container is conspicuously and legibly
impressed with the legend "CAUTION - RADIOACTIVE SHIELDING - URANIUM;"
and
(ii) the uranium metal is encased in a one-eighth inch
minimum wall thickness of mild steel or equally fire resistant material;
(G) thorium or uranium contained in or on finished
optical lenses and mirrors, provided that each lens or mirror does
not contain more than 10% by weight of thorium or uranium or, for
lenses manufactured before August 27, 2013, 30% by weight of thorium;
and that the exemption contained in this subparagraph shall not be
deemed to authorize either:
(i) the shaping, grinding, or polishing of such lens
or mirror or manufacturing processes other than the assembly of such
lens or mirror into optical systems and devices without any alteration
of the lens or mirror; or
(ii) the receipt, possession, use, or transfer of uranium
or thorium contained in contact lenses, or in spectacles, or in eyepieces
in binoculars or in other optical instruments;
(H) uranium contained in detector heads for use in
fire detection units, provided that each detector head contains not
more than 0.005 microcurie (µCi) (185 becquerels (Bq) of uranium;
or
(I) thorium contained in any finished aircraft engine
part containing nickel-thoria alloy, provided that:
(i) the thorium is dispersed in the nickel-thoria alloy
in the form of finely divided thoria (thorium dioxide); and
(ii) the thorium content in the nickel-thoria alloy
does not exceed 4.0% by weight.
(4) The exemptions in subsection (d)(3) of this section
do not authorize the manufacture of any of the products described.
(5) No person may initially transfer for sale or distribution
a product containing source material to persons exempt under subsection
(d)(3) of this section, Title 10, CFR, §40.13(c), or equivalent
regulations of an agreement state, unless authorized by a license
issued under Title 10, CFR, §40.52, to initially transfer such
products for sale or distribution.
(A) Persons initially distributing source material
in products covered by the exemptions in subsection (d)(3) of this
section before August 27, 2013, without specific authorization may
continue such distribution for 1 year beyond this date. Initial distribution
may also be continued until the agency takes final action on a pending
application for license or license amendment to specifically authorize
distribution submitted no later than 1 year beyond this date.
(B) Persons authorized by the agency, the NRC, or any
agreement state to manufacture, process, or produce these materials
or products containing source material, and persons who import finished
products or parts, for sale or distribution must be authorized by
a license issued under Title 10, CFR, §40.52, for distribution
only. These persons are exempt from the requirements of §289.202
(relating to Standards for Protection Against Radiation from Radioactive
Materials), §289.203 (relating to Notices, Instructions, and
Reports to Workers; Inspections), and §289.252(e)(1) and (2)
of this title.
(e) Exemptions for radioactive material other than
source material.
(1) Exempt concentrations.
(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B) of this
paragraph, any person is exempt from this section and §289.252
of this title if that person receives, possesses, uses, transfers,
or acquires products or materials containing radioactive material
in concentrations not in excess of those listed in subsection (l)(1)
of this section.
(B) No person may introduce radioactive material into
a product or material, including waste, knowing or having reason to
believe that it will be transferred to persons exempt in accordance
with subparagraph (A) of this paragraph or equivalent regulations
of the NRC or any agreement state, except in accordance with a specific
license issued under §289.252(i) of this title.
(C) A manufacturer, processor, or producer of a product
or material is exempt from the requirements for a license, as specified
in §289.252 of this title, if the manufacturer, processor, or
producer transfers radioactive material contained in a product or
material that does not exceed the concentrations specified in subsection
(l)(1) of this section, and that has been introduced into the product
or material by a licensee holding a specific license issued by the
NRC that expressly authorizes such introduction. The exemption specified
in this subparagraph does not apply to the transfer of radioactive
material contained in any food, beverage, cosmetic, drug, or other
commodity or product designed for ingestion or inhalation by, or application
to, a human being.
(2) Exempt quantities.
(A) Except as provided in subparagraphs (C), (D), and
(F) of this paragraph, any person is exempt from these rules if that
person receives, possesses, uses, transfers, owns, or acquires radioactive
material in individual quantities, each of which does not exceed the
applicable quantity set forth in subsection (l)(2) of this section.
(B) Any person who possesses radioactive material received
or acquired, prior to September 25, 1971, in accordance with the general
license provided in subsection (f)(4)(A) of this section is exempt
from the requirements for a license set forth in §289.252 of
this title if that person possesses, uses, transfers, or owns such
radioactive material.
(C) This paragraph does not authorize the production,
packaging, or repackaging or transfer of radioactive material for
purposes of commercial distribution, or the incorporation of radioactive
material into products intended for commercial distribution.
(D) No person may, for purposes of commercial distribution,
transfer radioactive material in quantities greater than the individual
quantities set forth in subsection (l)(2) of this section, knowing
or having reason to believe that such quantities of radioactive material
will be transferred to persons exempt under this paragraph or equivalent
regulations of the NRC or any agreement state, except in accordance
with a specific license issued by the NRC in accordance with Title
10, CFR, §32.18 or by the agency in accordance with §289.252(j)
of this title, which states that the radioactive material may be transferred
by the licensee to persons exempt in accordance with this paragraph
or the equivalent regulations of the NRC or any agreement state.
(E) The schedule of quantities set forth in subsection
(l)(2) of this section applies only to radioactive materials distributed
as exempt quantities under a specific license issued by the agency,
the NRC, or any agreement state. Subsection (l)(2) of this section
does not apply to radioactive materials that have decayed from quantities
not originally exempt and does not make such material, or the sources
or devices in which the material is contained exempt from the licensing
requirements in this section or §289.252 of this title.
Cont'd... |