Washington Administrative Code › Title 246 - Health, Department of › RADIATION › Chapter 246-220 - Radiation protection - General provisions › Section 246-220-010 - Definitions, abbreviations, and acronyms

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
The definitions, abbreviations, and acronyms in this section
				  apply throughout chapters 246-220 through 246-254 WAC unless the context
				  clearly indicates otherwise. Additional definitions used only in a certain
				  chapter are included in that chapter.
(1)
"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.
(2)
"Accelerator produced
				material"
means any material made radioactive by exposing it in a
				particle accelerator.
(3)
"Act"
means the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, including any
				amendments thereto.
(4)
"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).
(5)
"Adult"
means an individual 18 or more years of age.
(6)
"Agreement state"
means any
				state with which the Atomic Energy Commission or the NRC has entered into an
				effective agreement under subsection 274b of the act. Nonagreement state means
				any other state.
(7)
"Airborne radioactive material"
means any radioactive material
				dispersed in the air in the form of particulates, dusts, fumes, mists, vapors,
				or gases.
(8)
"Airborne
				radioactivity area"
means a room, enclosure, or operating area in which
				airborne radioactive material exists in concentrations (a) in excess of the
				derived air concentration (DAC) specified in WAC
				246-221-290,
				Appendix A, or (b) to the 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 percent of the annual limit on intake
				(ALI) or twelve DAC-hours.
(9)
"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.
(10)
"ALARA"
(as low as reasonably achievable or as low as is reasonably achievable) means
				making every reasonable effort to maintain exposures to radiation as far below
				the dose limits in this chapter as is practical, consistent with the purpose
				for which the licensed activity is undertaken, taking into account the state of
				technology, the economics of improvements in relation to the state of
				technology, the economics of improvements in relation to the benefits to the
				public health and safety, and other societal and socioeconomic considerations,
				and in relation to the utilization of nuclear energy and licensed materials in
				the public interest.
(11)
"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 off-site response organizations to
				protect persons off-site.
(12)
"ALI (annual limit on intake)"
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
				WAC
				246-221-290.
(13)
"APF (assigned protection
				factor)"
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.
(14)
"Atmosphere-supplying respirator"
means a respirator that supplies
				the respirator user with breathing air from a source independent of the ambient
				atmosphere, and includes SARs and SCBA units.
(15)
"Background radiation"
means radiation from cosmic sources; naturally occurring radioactive materials,
				including radon, except as a decay product of source or special nuclear
				material, and including global fallout as it exists in the environment from the
				testing of nuclear explosive devices or from past nuclear accidents such as
				Chernobyl that contribute to background radiation and are not under the control
				of the licensee. "Background radiation" does not include sources of radiation
				from radioactive materials regulated by the department.
(16)
"Bq (becquerel)"
means the
				SI unit of activity. One becquerel is equal to 1 disintegration or
				transformation per second (s-1).
(17)
"Bioassay"
means the
				determination of kinds, quantities or concentrations, and, in some cases, the
				locations of radioactive material in the human body, whether by direct
				measurement, in vivo counting, or by analysis and evaluation of materials
				excreted or removed from the human body. For purposes of these rules,
				"radiobioassay" is an equivalent term.
(18)
"By-product material"
means:
(a) Any radioactive material (except
				special nuclear material) yielded in, or made radioactive by, exposure to the
				radiation incident to the process of producing or using special nuclear
				material;
(b) The tailings or
				wastes produced by the extraction or concentration of uranium or thorium from
				ore processed primarily for its source material content, including discrete
				surface wastes resulting from uranium solution extraction processes.
				Underground ore bodies depleted by these solution extraction operations do not
				constitute "byproduct material" within this definition;
(c)
(i) Any
				discrete source of radium-226 that is produced, extracted, or converted after
				extraction, before, on, or after August 8, 2005, for use for a commercial,
				medical, or research activity; or
(ii) Any material that:
(A) Has been made radioactive by use of a
				particle accelerator; and
(B) Is
				produced, extracted, or converted after extraction, before, on, or after August
				8, 2005, for use for a commercial, medical, or research activity; and
(d) Any discrete source
				of naturally occurring radioactive material, other than source material, that:
(i) The NRC, in consultation with the
				Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of Energy,
				the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the head of any other appropriate
				federal agency, determines what would pose a threat similar to the threat posed
				by a discrete source of radium-226 to the public health and safety or the
				common defense and security; and
(ii) Before, on, or after August 8, 2005, is
				extracted or converted after extraction for use for in a commercial, medical,
				or research activity.