| (a) Purpose.
(1) This section establishes standards for protection
against ionizing radiation resulting from activities conducted in
accordance with licenses issued by the agency.
(2) The requirements in this section are designed to
control the receipt, possession, use, and transfer of sources of radiation
by any licensee so the total dose to an individual, including doses
resulting from all sources of radiation other than background radiation,
does not exceed the standards for protection against radiation prescribed
in this section. However, nothing in this section shall be construed
as limiting actions that may be necessary to protect health and safety
in an emergency.
(b) Scope.
(1) Except as specifically provided in other sections
of this chapter, this section applies to persons who receive, possess,
use, or transfer sources of radiation, unless otherwise exempted.
No person may use, manufacture, produce, transport, transfer, receive,
acquire, own, possess, process, or dispose of sources of radiation
unless that person has a license or exemption from the agency. The
dose limits in this section do not apply to doses due to background
radiation, to exposure of patients to radiation for the purpose of
medical diagnosis or therapy, to exposure from individuals administered
radioactive material and released in accordance with this chapter,
or to voluntary participation in medical research programs. However,
no radiation may be deliberately applied to human beings except by
or under the supervision of an individual authorized by and licensed
in accordance with Texas' statutes to engage in the healing arts.
(2) Licensees who are also registered by the agency
to receive, possess, use, and transfer radiation machines shall also
comply with the requirements of §289.231 of this title (relating
to General Provisions and Standards for Protection Against Machine-Produced
Radiation).
(c) Definitions. The following words and terms when
used in this section shall have the following meaning, unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Air-purifying respirator--A respirator with an
air-purifying filter, cartridge, or canister that removes specific
air contaminants by passing ambient air through the air-purifying
element.
(2) Annual limit on intake (ALI)--The derived limit
for the amount of radioactive material taken into the body of an adult
worker by inhalation or ingestion in a year. ALI is the smaller value
of intake of a given radionuclide in a year by Reference Man that
would result in a committed effective dose equivalent of 5 rems (0.05
sievert (Sv)) or a committed dose equivalent of 50 rems (0.5 Sv) to
any individual organ or tissue. ALI values for intake by ingestion
and by inhalation of selected radionuclides are given in Columns 1
and 2 of Table I of subsection (ggg)(2) of this section.
(3) Assigned protection factor (APF)--The expected
workplace level of respiratory protection that would be provided by
a properly functioning respirator or a class of respirators to properly
fitted and trained users. Operationally, the inhaled concentration
can be estimated by dividing the ambient airborne concentration by
the APF.
(4) Atmosphere-supplying respirator--A respirator that
supplies the respirator user with breathing air from a source independent
of the ambient atmosphere and includes supplied-air respirators (SARs)
and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) units.
(5) Class--A classification scheme for inhaled material
according to its rate of clearance from the pulmonary region of the
lung. Materials are classified as D, W, or Y, which apply to a range
of clearance half-times: for Class D, Days, of less than 10 days;
for Class W, Weeks, from 10 to 100 days, and for Class Y, Years, of
greater than 100 days. For purposes of this section, lung class and
inhalation class are equivalent terms.
(6) Debris--The remains of something destroyed, disintegrated,
or decayed. Debris does not include soils, sludges, liquids, gases,
naturally occurring radioactive material regulated in accordance with §289.259
of this title (relating to Licensing of Naturally Occurring Radioactive
Material (NORM)), or low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) received from
other persons.
(7) Declared pregnant woman--A woman who has voluntarily
informed the licensee, in writing, of her pregnancy and the estimated
date of conception. The declaration remains in effect until the declared
pregnant woman voluntarily withdraws the declaration in writing or
is no longer pregnant.
(8) Demand respirator--An atmosphere-supplying respirator
that admits breathing air to the facepiece only when a negative pressure
is created inside the facepiece by inhalation.
(9) Derived air concentration (DAC)--The concentration
of a given radionuclide in air that, if breathed by Reference Man
for a working year of 2,000 hours under conditions of light work,
results in an intake of 1 ALI. For purposes of this section, the condition
of light work is an inhalation rate of 1.2 cubic meters of air per
hour for 2,000 hours in a year. DAC values are given in Column 3 of
Table I of subsection (ggg)(2) of this section.
(10) Derived air concentration-hour (DAC-hour)--The
product of the concentration of radioactive material in air, expressed
as a fraction or multiple of the derived air concentration for each
radionuclide, and the time of exposure to that radionuclide, in hours.
A licensee may take 2,000 DAC-hours to represent ALI, equivalent to
a committed effective dose equivalent of 5 rems (0.05 Sv).
(11) Disposable respirator--A respirator for which
maintenance is not intended and that is designed to be discarded after
excessive breathing resistance, sorbent exhaustion, physical damage,
or end-of-service-life renders it unsuitable for use. Examples of
this type of respirator are a disposable half-mask respirator or a
disposable escape-only self-contained breathing apparatus.
(12) Dosimetry processor--A person that processes and
evaluates personnel monitoring devices in order to determine the radiation
dose delivered to the monitoring devices.
(13) Filtering facepiece (dust mask)--A negative pressure
particulate respirator with a filter as an integral part of the facepiece
or with the entire facepiece composed of the filtering medium, not
equipped with elastomeric sealing surfaces and adjustable straps.
(14) Fit factor--A quantitative estimate of the fit
of a particular respirator to a specific individual, and typically
estimates the ratio of the concentration of a substance in ambient
air to its concentration inside the respirator when worn.
(15) Fit test--The use of a protocol to qualitatively
or quantitatively evaluate the fit of a respirator on an individual.
(16) Helmet--A rigid respiratory inlet covering that
also provides head protection against impact and penetration.
(17) Hood--A respiratory inlet covering that completely
covers the head and neck and may also cover portions of the shoulders
and torso.
(18) Inhalation class (see definition for Class).
(19) Loose-fitting facepiece--A respiratory inlet covering
that is designed to form a partial seal with the face.
(20) Lung class (see definition for Class).
(21) Nationally tracked source--A sealed source containing
a quantity equal to or greater than Category 1 or Category 2 levels
of any radioactive material listed in subsection (hhh)(2) of this
section. In this context a sealed source is defined as radioactive
material that is sealed in a capsule or closely bonded, in a solid
form and which is not exempt from regulatory control. It does not
mean material encapsulated solely for disposal, or nuclear material
contained in any fuel assembly, subassembly, fuel rod, or fuel pellet.
Category 1 nationally tracked sources are those containing radioactive
material at a quantity equal to or greater than the Category 1 threshold.
Category 2 nationally tracked sources are those containing radioactive
material at a quantity equal to or greater than the Category 2 threshold
but less than the Category 1 threshold.
(22) Negative pressure respirator (tight fitting)--A
respirator in which the air pressure inside the facepiece is negative
during inhalation with respect to the ambient air pressure outside
the respirator.
(23) Nonstochastic effect--A health effect, the severity
of which varies with the dose and for which a threshold is believed
to exist. Radiation-induced cataract formation is an example of a
nonstochastic effect. For purposes of this section, deterministic
effect is an equivalent term.
(24) Planned special exposure--An infrequent exposure
to radiation, separate from and in addition to the annual occupational
dose limits.
(25) Positive pressure respirator--A respirator in
which the pressure inside the respiratory inlet covering exceeds the
ambient air pressure outside the respirator.
Cont'd... |
