<<Prev Rule

Texas Administrative Code

Next Rule>>
TITLE 25HEALTH SERVICES
PART 1DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES
CHAPTER 289RADIATION CONTROL
SUBCHAPTER FLICENSE REGULATIONS
RULE §289.257Packaging and Transportation of Radioactive Material

(a) Purpose.

  (1) This section establishes requirements for packaging, preparation for shipment, and transportation of radioactive material including radioactive waste.

  (2) The packaging and transport of radioactive material are also subject to the requirements of §289.201 of this title (relating to General Provisions for Radioactive Material), §289.202 of this title (relating to Standards for Protection Against Radiation from Radioactive Materials), §289.203 of this title (relating to Notices, Instructions, and Reports to Workers; Inspections), §289.204 of this title (relating to Fees for Certificates of Registration, Radioactive Material Licenses, Emergency Planning and Implementation, and Other Regulatory Services), §289.205 of this title (relating to Hearing and Enforcement Procedures), §289.251 of this title (relating to Exemptions, General Licenses, and General License Acknowledgements), §289.252 of this title (relating to Licensing of Radioactive Material), and §289.256 of this title (relating to Medical and Veterinary Use of Radioactive Material) and to the regulations of other agencies (e.g., the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) and the United States Postal Service) having jurisdiction over means of transport. The requirements of this section are in addition to, and not in substitution for, other requirements.

(b) Scope.

  (1) The requirements of this section apply to any licensee authorized by a specific or general license issued by the department to receive, possess, use, or transfer radioactive material, if the licensee delivers that material to a carrier for transport, transports the material outside the site of usage as specified in the department license, or transports that material on public highways. No provision of this section authorizes possession of radioactive material.

  (2) Exemptions from the requirements for a license in subsection (c) of this section are specified in subsection (f) of this section. The general license in subsection (i)(2), (3), and (4) of this section requires that a United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) certificate of compliance or other package approval be issued for the package to be used in accordance with the general license. A licensee transporting radioactive material, or delivering radioactive material to a carrier for transport, shall comply with the operating control requirements of subsections (l) - (q) of this section; the quality assurance requirements of subsections (s) - (u) and (w) - (bb) of this section; and the general provisions of subsections (a) - (e) of this section, including DOT regulations referenced in subsection (e) of this section.

(c) Requirement for license. Except as authorized in a general or specific license issued by the department, or as exempted in accordance with this section, no licensee may transport radioactive material or deliver radioactive material to a carrier for transport.

(d) Definitions. The following words and terms when used in this section shall have the following meaning, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. To ensure compatibility with international transportation standards, all limits in this section are given in terms of dual units: The International System of Units (SI) followed or preceded by United States (U.S.) standard or customary units. The U.S. customary units are not exact equivalents, but are rounded to a convenient value, providing a functionally equivalent unit. For the purpose of this section, SI units shall be used.

  (1) A1 --The maximum activity of special form radioactive material permitted in a Type A package. This value is either listed in Table 257-3 of subsection (ee)(6) of this section, or may be derived in accordance with the procedure prescribed in subsection (ee) of this section.

  (2) A2--The maximum activity of radioactive material, other than special form, low specific activity (LSA) and surface contaminated object (SCO) material, permitted in a Type A package. This value is either listed in Table 257-3 of subsection (ee)(6) of this section, or may be derived in accordance with the procedure prescribed in subsection (ee) of this section.

  (3) Carrier--A person engaged in the transportation of passengers or property by land or water as a common, contract, or private carrier, or by civil aircraft.

  (4) Certificate holder--A person who has been issued a certificate of compliance or other package approval by the department.

  (5) Certificate of compliance--The certificate issued by the NRC that approves the design of a package for the transportation of radioactive materials.

  (6) Chelating agent--Amine polycarboxylic acids (e.g., EDTA, DTPA), hydroxy-carboxylic acids, and polycarboxylic acids (e.g., citric acid, carbolic acid, and glucinic acid).

  (7) Chemical description--A description of the principal chemical characteristics of low-level radioactive waste (LLRW).

  (8) Consignee--The designated receiver of the shipment of low-level radioactive waste.

  (9) Consignment--Each shipment of a package or groups of packages or load of radioactive material offered by a shipper for transport.

  (10) Containment system--The assembly of components of the packaging intended to retain the radioactive material during transport.

  (11) Contamination--The presence of a radioactive substance on a surface in quantities in excess of 0.4 becquerel per square centimeter (Bq/cm2 ) (10-5 microcurie per square centimeter (µCi/cm2 )) for beta and gamma emitters and low toxicity alpha emitters, or 0.04 Bq/cm2 (10-6 µCi/cm2 ) for all other alpha emitters.

    (A) Fixed contamination means contamination that cannot be removed from a surface during normal conditions of transport.

    (B) Non-fixed contamination means contamination that can be removed from a surface during normal conditions of transport.

  (12) Conveyance--For transport on:

    (A) public highway or rail by transport vehicle or large freight container;

    (B) water by vessel, or any hold, compartment, or defined deck area of a vessel including any transport vehicle on board the vessel; and

    (C) aircraft.

  (13) Criticality Safety Index (CSI)--The dimensionless number (rounded up to the next tenth) assigned to and placed on the label of a fissile material package, to designate the degree of control of accumulation of packages, overpacks or freight containers containing fissile material during transportation. Determination of the criticality safety index is described in subsection (i) of this section and Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), §71.22, §71.23, and §71.59. The criticality safety index for an overpack, freight container, consignment or conveyance containing fissile material packages is the arithmetic sum of the criticality safety indices of all the fissile material packages contained within the overpack, freight container, consignment or conveyance.

  (14) Decontamination facility--A facility operating in accordance with an NRC, agreement state, or department license whose principal purpose is decontamination of equipment or materials to accomplish recycle, reuse, or other waste management objectives, and, for purposes of this section, is not considered to be a consignee for LLRW shipments.

  (15) Deuterium--For the purposes of this section, this means deuterium and any deuterium compound, including heavy water, in which the ratio of deuterium atoms to hydrogen atoms exceeds 1:5000.

  (16) Disposal container--A transport container principally used to confine LLRW during disposal operations at a land disposal facility (also see definition for high integrity container). Note that for some shipments, the disposal container may be the transport package.

  (17) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identification number--The number received by a transporter following application to the administrator of EPA as required by Title 40, CFR, Part 263.

  (18) Exclusive use--The sole use by a single consignor of a conveyance for which all initial, intermediate, and final loading and unloading are carried out in accordance with the direction of the consignor or consignee. The consignor and the carrier shall ensure that any loading or unloading is performed by personnel having radiological training and resources appropriate for safe handling of the consignment. The consignor shall issue specific instructions, in writing, for maintenance of exclusive use shipment controls, and include them with the shipping paper information provided to the carrier by the consignor.

Cont'd...

Next Page

Link to Texas Secretary of State Home Page | link to Texas Register home page | link to Texas Administrative Code home page | link to Open Meetings home page