Virginia Administrative Code › Title 12 - HEALTH › Agency 5 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH › Chapter 481 - VIRGINIA RADIATION PROTECTION REGULATIONS › Part I - General Provisions › Section 12VAC5-481-10 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms as used in this chapter shall
					 have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates
					 otherwise:
"A1" means the maximum activity of
					 special form radioactive material permitted in a Type A package. This value is
					 listed in Table 1 of 12VAC5-481-3770 F.
"A2" means the maximum activity of
					 radioactive material, other than special form radioactive material, LSA, and
					 SCO material, permitted in a Type A package. This value is listed in Table 1 of
					 12VAC5-481-3770 F.
"Absorbed dose" means the energy imparted by ionizing
					 radiation per unit mass of irradiated material. The units of absorbed dose are
					 the gray (Gy) and the rad.
"Absorbed dose rate" means absorbed dose per unit time,
					 for machines with timers, or dose monitor unit per unit time for linear
					 accelerators.
"Accelerator" means any machine capable of accelerating
					 electrons, protons, deuterons, or other charged particles in a vacuum and of
					 discharging the resultant particulate or other radiation into a medium at
					 energies usually in excess of one MeV. For purposes of this definition,
					 "particle accelerator" is an equivalent term.
"Accelerator-produced material" means any material made
					 radioactive by a particle accelerator.
"Access control" means a system for allowing only approved
					 individuals to have unescorted access to the security zone and for ensuring
					 that all other individuals are subject to escorted access.
"Accessible surface" means the external surface of the
					 enclosure or housing of the radiation producing machine as provided by the
					 manufacturer. It also means surface of equipment or of an equipment part that
					 can be easily or accidentally touched by persons without the use of a tool.
"Act" means §§ 32.1-227 through 32.1-238 of the
					 Code of Virginia.
"Active maintenance" means any significant activity needed
					 during the period of institutional control to maintain a reasonable assurance
					 that the performance objectives in 12VAC5-481-2490 and 12VAC5-481-2500 are met.
					 Such active maintenance includes ongoing activities such as the pumping and
					 treatment of water from a disposal unit or one-time measures such as
					 replacement of a disposal unit cover. Active maintenance does not include
					 custodial activities such as repair of fencing, repair or replacement of
					 monitoring equipment, revegetation, minor additions to soil cover, minor repair
					 of disposal unit covers, and general disposal site upkeep such as mowing
					 grass.
"Activity" means the rate of disintegration or
					 transformation or decay of radioactive material. The units of activity are the
					 becquerel (Bq) and the curie (Ci).
"Acute" means a single radiation dose or chemical exposure
					 event or multiple radiation dose or chemical exposure events occurring within a
					 short time (24 hours or less).
"Address of use" means the building or buildings that are
					 identified on the license and where radioactive material may be produced,
					 prepared, received, used, or stored.
"Adult" means an individual 18 or more years of age.
"Agency" means the Radiological Health Program of the
					 Virginia Department of Health.
"Aggregated" means accessible by the breach of a single
					 physical barrier that would allow access to radioactive material in any form,
					 including any devices that contain the radioactive material, when the total
					 activity equals or exceeds a Category 2 quantity of radioactive material as
					 listed in 12VAC5-481-451.
"Agreement state" means any state with which the NRC or the
					 Atomic Energy Commission has entered into an effective agreement under
					 subsection 274b of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (42 USC §
					 2021(b)).
"Airborne radioactive material" means any radioactive
					 material dispersed in the air in the form of dusts, fumes, particulates, mists,
					 vapors, or gases.
"Airborne radioactivity area" means a room, enclosure, or
					 area in which airborne radioactive materials composed wholly or partly of
					 licensed material exist in concentrations:
1. In excess of the derived air
				  concentrations (DACs) specified in Appendix B to 10 CFR Part 20; or
2. To such a degree that an individual
				  present in the area without respiratory protective equipment could exceed,
				  during the hours an individual is present in a week, an intake of 0.6% of the
				  annual limit on intake (ALI) or 12 DAC hours.
"Air kerma" or "K" means kerma in air (see definition of
					 "kerma").
"Air kerma rate" or "AKR" means the air kerma per unit
					 time.
"Air-purifying respirator" means a respirator with an
					 air-purifying filter, cartridge, or canister that removes specific air
					 contaminants by passing ambient air through the air-purifying element.
"Alert" means events may occur, are in progress, or have
					 occurred that could lead to a release of radioactive material but that the
					 release is not expected to require a response by offsite response organizations
					 to protect persons off site.
"Aluminum equivalent" means the thickness of type 1100
					 aluminum alloy affording the same attenuation, under specified conditions, as
					 the material in question. The nominal chemical composition of type 100 aluminum
					 is 99.00% minimum aluminum, 0.12% copper.
"Analytical x-ray equipment" means equipment used for x-ray
					 diffraction or fluorescence analysis.
"Analytical x-ray system" means a group of components
					 utilizing x-rays or gamma-rays to determine the elemental composition or to
					 examine the microstructure of materials.
"Annual limit on intake" or "ALI" means 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 the reference man that would result in a
					 committed effective dose equivalent of 0.05 Sv (5 rem) or a committed dose
					 equivalent of 0.5 Sv (50 rem) to any individual organ or tissue. ALI values for
					 intake by ingestion and by inhalation of selected radionuclides are given in
					 Tables 1 and 2 in Appendix B to 10 CFR Part 20.
"Annual refresher safety training" means a review
					 conducted or provided by the licensee or registrant for its employees on
					 radiation safety aspects of industrial radiography. The review shall include,
					 as a minimum, any results of internal inspections, new procedures or equipment,
					 new or revised regulations, and accidents or errors that have been observed.
					 The review shall also provide opportunities for employees to ask safety
					 questions.
"Annually" means at intervals not to exceed one
					 year.
"ANSI" means the American National Standards
					 Institute.
"Approved individual" means an individual whom the
					 licensee has determined to be trustworthy and reliable for unescorted access in
					 accordance with 12VAC5-481-451 and has completed the training required in
					 12VAC5-481-451.
"Area of use" means a portion of a physical structure that
					 has been set aside for the purpose of producing, preparing, receiving, using,
					 or storing radioactive material.
"Articulated joint" means a joint between two separate
					 sections of a tabletop that provides the capacity for one of the sections to
					 pivot on the line segment along which the sections join.
"As low as is reasonably achievable" or "ALARA" means
					 making every reasonable effort to maintain exposures to radiation as far below
					 the dose limits in these regulations as is practical, consistent with the
					 purpose for which the licensed or registered activity is undertaken, taking
					 into account the state of technology, the economics of improvements in relation
					 to state of technology, the economics of improvements in relation to benefits
					 to the public health and safety, and other societal and socioeconomic
					 considerations, and in relation to utilization of nuclear energy and licensed
					 or registered sources of radiation in the public interest.
"Assembler" means any person engaged in the business of
					 assembling, replacing, or installing one or more components into an x-ray
					 system or subsystem. The term includes the owner of an x-ray system or his
					 employee or agent who assembles components into an x-ray system that is
					 subsequently used to provide professional or commercial services.
"Assigned protection factor" or "APF" means 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.
"Associate radiation safety officer" means an individual
					 who (i) meets the requirements of 12VAC5-481-1750 and 12VAC5-481-1790 and (ii)
					 is currently identified as an associate radiation safety officer for the types
					 of use of byproduct material for which the individual has been assigned duties
					 and tasks by the radiation safety officer on (a) a specific medical use license
					 issued by the agency, NRC, or another agreement state or (b) a medical use
					 permit issued by a NRC master material licensee.
"Associated equipment" means equipment that is used in
					 conjunction with a radiographic exposure device to make radiographic exposures
					 that drive, guide, or come in contact with the source.
"Atmosphere-supplying respirator" means 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.
"Attenuation block" means a block or stack, having
					 dimensions 20 centimeters by 20 centimeters by 3.8 centimeters, of type 1100
					 aluminum alloy or other materials having equivalent attenuation. The nominal
					 chemical composition of type 100 aluminum is 99.00% minimum aluminum, 0.12%
					 copper.
"Authorized medical physicist" means an individual
					 who:
1. Meets the requirements in
				  12VAC5-481-1760 and 12VAC5-481-1790; or
2. Is identified as an authorized medical
				  physicist or teletherapy physicist on:
a. A
				  specific medical use license issued by the NRC or another Agreement
				  state;
b. A medical use permit
				  issued by an NRC master material licensee;
c. A permit issued by an NRC or another
				  Agreement state broad scope medical use licensee; or
d. A permit issued by an NRC master material
				  license broad scope medical use permittee.