| (114) Technique chart--A chart that provides technical
factors, anatomical examination, and patient size for examination
being performed needed to make clinical radiographs when the radiation
machine is in manual mode.
(115) Technique factors--The conditions of operation
that are specified as follows:
(A) for capacitor energy storage equipment, peak tube
potential in kilovolt and quantity of charge in milliampere-second;
(B) for field emission equipment rated for pulsed operation,
peak tube potential in kilovolt and number of x-ray pulses; and
(C) for all other radiation machines, peak tube potential
in kilovolt and either tube current in milliamperes and exposure time
in seconds or the product of tube current and exposure time in milliampere-second.
(116) Termination--A release by the agency of the obligations
and authorizations of the registrant under the terms of the certificate
of registration. It does not relieve a person of duties and responsibilities
imposed by law or rule.
(117) Texas Regulations for Control of Radiation --All
sections of Chapter 289 of this title.
(118) Total effective dose equivalent--The sum of the
effective dose equivalent (for external exposures) and the committed
effective dose equivalent (for internal exposures).
(119) Traceable to a national standard--This indicates
that a quantity or a measurement has been compared to a national standard,
for example, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, directly
or indirectly through one or more intermediate steps and that all
comparisons have been documented.
(120) Tube--An x-ray tube, unless otherwise specified.
(121) Tube housing assembly--The tube housing with
tube installed. It includes high-voltage and/or filament transformers
and other appropriate elements when such are contained within the
tube housing.
(122) Unrestricted area (uncontrolled area)--An area,
access to which is neither limited nor controlled by the registrant.
For purposes of this section, "uncontrolled area" is an equivalent
term.
(123) Useful beam--Radiation that passes through the
window, aperture, core, or other collimating device of the source
housing. Also referred to as the primary x-ray beam.
(124) Violation--An infringement of any rule, license
or registration condition, order of the agency, or any provision of
the Act.
(125) Whole body--For purposes of external exposure,
head, trunk, including male gonads, arms above the elbow, or legs
above the knee.
(126) Worker--An individual engaged in work under the
certificate of registration issued by the agency.
(127) X-ray control panel--A device that controls input
power to the x-ray high-voltage generator or the x-ray tube. It includes
components such as timers, phototimers, automatic brightness stabilizers,
and similar devices that control the technique factors of an x-ray
exposure.
(128) X-ray field--That area of the intersection of
the useful beam and any one of the set of planes parallel to and including
the plane of the image receptor, whose perimeter is the locus of points
at which the exposure rate (air kerma rate) is one-fourth of the maximum
in the intersection.
(129) X-ray high-voltage generator--A device that transforms
electrical energy from the potential supplied by the x-ray control
to the tube operating potential. The device may also include means
for transforming alternating current to direct current, filament transformers
for the x-ray tubes, high-voltage switches, electrical protective
devices, and other appropriate elements.
(130) X-ray system--An assemblage of components for
the controlled production of x-rays. It includes, minimally, an x-ray
high-voltage generator, an x-ray control, a tube housing assembly,
a beam-limiting device, and the necessary supporting structures. Additional
components that function with the system are considered integral parts
of the system.
(131) X-ray subsystem--Any combination of two or more
components of an x-ray system.
(132) X-ray tube--Any electron tube that is designed
to be used primarily for the production of x-rays.
(133) Year--The period of time beginning in January
used to determine compliance with the provisions of this chapter.
The registrant may change the starting date of the year used to determine
compliance by the registrant if the change is made at the beginning
of the year and that no day is omitted or duplicated in consecutive
years.
(e) Exemptions.
(1) The agency may, upon application or upon its own
initiative, exempt a source of radiation or a kind of use or user
from the requirements of this section if the agency determines that
the law does not prohibit the exemption and it will not result in
a significant risk to public health or safety or the environment.
In determining such exemptions, the agency will consider:
(A) state of technology;
(B) economic considerations in relation to benefits
to the public health and safety; and
(C) other societal, socioeconomic, or public health
and safety considerations.
(2) Electronic equipment that produces radiation incidental
to its operation for other purposes is exempt from the registration
and notification requirements of this section, if the dose equivalent
rate averaged over an area of 10 square centimeters does not exceed
0.5 millirem (5 microsieverts) per hour at 5 centimeters from any
accessible surface of such equipment. The production, testing, or
factory servicing of such equipment shall not be exempt.
(3) Radiation machines in transit or in storage incident
to transit are exempt from the requirements of this section. This
exemption does not apply to the providers of radiation machines for
mobile services.
(4) Facilities that have placed all radiation machines
in storage, including on-site storage secured from unauthorized use
or removal, and have notified the agency in writing, are exempt from
the requirements of this section. This exemption is void if any radiation
machine is energized resulting in the production of radiation. Before
resuming use of the radiation machine for human use, the radiation
machine shall meet all requirements of this section.
(5) Inoperable radiation machines are exempt from the
requirements of this section. For the purposes of this section, an
inoperable radiation machine means a radiation machine that cannot
be energized when connected to a power supply without repair or modification.
(6) A person who takes possession of a radiation machine
as the result of foreclosure, bankruptcy, or other default of payment
may possess the radiation machine without registering it. If the radiation
machine is energized, it shall be in accordance with this chapter.
(7) No individual monitoring shall be required for
personnel operating only dental radiation machines for dental diagnostic
purposes.
(8) Portable radiation machines designed to be hand-held
are exempt from the requirements of subsections (c)(4) and (j)(5)(C)
of this section. The portable radiation machines shall be held according
to manufacturer's specifications.
(9) Individuals who are sole practitioners and sole
operators, and the only occupationally exposed individual are exempt
from the following requirements:
(A) operating and safety procedures specified in subsection
(j)(2) of this section;
(B) instruction to workers specified in subsection
(j)(3)(D) of this section; and
(C) posting of notices to workers specified in subsection
(j)(4)(B) and (C) of this section.
(10) In accordance with Texas Occupations Code, §258.054,
dental practices are exempt from the Medical Physics Practice Act,
Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 602. Registrants required to have
EPE tests performed in accordance with subsection (j)(5)(J) of this
section may select any qualified person authorized by registration
through the Department of State Health Services, Radiation Control.
(f) Communications.
(1) Except where otherwise specified, all communications
and reports concerning this chapter and applications filed under the
communications and reports should be mailed by postal service to Radiation
Control, Department of State Health Services, P.O. Box 149347, MC
2003, Austin, Texas, 78714-9347. Communications, reports, and applications
may be delivered in person to the agency's office located at 8407
Wall Street, Austin, Texas, 78754.
Cont'd... |
