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In order to ensure that your lab does not continue to receive film badges - and therefore does not continue to be billed for - personnel who have left your laboratory, please review your billing statements regularly.

The only way we know that someone in your lab has left and no longer needs film badge service is for you to fill out a film badge cancellation card and forward it to us. The next time your billing statement arrives, please take a few minutes to review it. If you see film badge charges for someone who no longer works in your lab, complete a film badge cancellation card and forward it to us.

Reminder: Film badge orders and cancellations must be received by the 15th of the month for the change to take effect for the following month's wear period.

Our office will be emailing an electronic copy and mailing a hard copy of the radioactive material inventory to both the principle investigator & lab designee within the next two weeks. Remember to return the inventory on time to avoid the inventory retrieval fee!

Radiation Safety has designed a custom beta shield for our small aqueous waste carboys which addresses the difficulties users have had in pouring material into these containers. This beta shield solves this problem by allowing the carboy to be tipped backwards stably, so that a funnel can be inserted directly into the carboy from outside the shield.

Features

• Permits funnel insertion through the shield
• Controls drips & small spills for ALL isotopes
• Permits small quantities to be poured into the angled carboy spout
• Complete beta shielding for P-32

What are you waiting for? Place your order today! The estimated cost of the shield is $150. Since the carboy shield is custom manufactured, the cost of the unit depends heavily on the total quantity ordered from the manufacturer.

Prior to performing a radiation survey using your lab's survey instrument, you must first ensure that the instrument is functioning properly. You must perform an operational check using the check source (1 uCi of Cs-137) that is affixed to the side of your instrument. The location of the check source is marked with "Caution - Radioactive Material" tape and an "X" to indicate where to position the probe when performing the operational check.

Also, affixed to the instrument is a sticker that states the range limit for your probe(s). The operational reading must fall within the range for the instrument to be considered functional.

Prior to using the survey instrument, you are required to perform the following steps:

• Check the batteries by turning the selector switch to "battery check". If the voltage is below the battery test line, REPLACE the batteries.
• Position the window of the probe over the "X" marked location on the CRAM tape.
• Compare the reading on the instrument face with the range limit stated on the sticker. If the reading falls outside the range, make sure the probe is flush against the instrument and it is set on the appropriate range.
• If the reading still falls outside the range, DO NOT USE THE INSTRUMENT. Contact the Office of Radiation Safety.

Important Note: Please maintain the stickers that are affixed to the instrument. If the stickers are lost, please contact our office. We will recalibrate the instrument to ensure it is functioning properly. If you have any questions concerning your survey instrument? Call Jim Marsicek at 2-6299.

The dates for our next set of radiation safety training courses are March 24th, April 21st, and May 26th. This hour and a half class is designed for lab designees and provides an overview of basic radiation protection topics, such as characteristics of commonly used radionuclides, survey techniques for detection of radioactive contamination, solutions to minimize contamination, etc.

The course is general enough to be a refresher for lab personnel that have experience using radioactive material and also provides an introduction to the new radiation user. Reminder: New Laboratory designees are required to attend this course.

You may register by phone at 2-6299 or download a registration form from our web site and fax it to 2-4008. If you should have any questions regarding our training program, please contact Debbie Robinson at 2-6299.

We are requesting that labs discontinue the use of the polyethylene liners that are printed with the "Caution Radioactive Material" symbol. In addition, we also requesting that labs refrain from the use of biohazards bags for the collection of radioactive waste that is not infectious.

We ask your cooperation in making these small changes because, it will speed up our department's processing and disposal efforts for the radioactive waste removed from your laboratory

Let us also remind everyone to deface all radioactive warnings and symbols before it is placed into the waste container. This is most critical for short-lived isotopes (half-lives less than 90 days), such as P-32, S-35, P-33, Cr-51, etc.

It is still essential to properly communicate the hazard of the waste to others; here are some other alternatives to use for the identification and classification of the radwaste:

• We suggest adhering "Caution Radioactive Material" tape to waste collection bags. The tape is easy to deface or remove prior to placing the collection bag in the fiber drum container.
• We recommend placing radioactive waste in a collection bag housed in a plexiglass shield properly marked with warning stickers, labels or tape. By the use of this setup, a direct transfer of the collection bag from the plexiglass shield to the fiber drum container would not require any defacing of radiation symbols.
• If your lab will be generating waste that possesses both radioactive and biohazard properties, you are required to contact our office for instruction on how to properly package this material.

We ask that researchers strive to comply with this request in an attempt to speed up our processing of your lab's radioactive waste.

The radioactive material inventory is on its way to your lab. We would like to make the task of completing that inventory as simple as possible and limit the time needed to complete it for all lab personnel and Radiation Safety staff. Here is a list of items that will help:

• Thoroughly complete your usage logs as you use the material! This includes, the date (month, day, and year) material is removed from vial, the amount removed, and the percentage of activity placed in the waste container(s).
• When the stock vial is empty or the material is no longer going to be used in an experiment, record the activity and manifest number of the stock vial disposal box on your usage form! Store the vials in a proper container (plexiglass bin, lead cave, etc) until your lab has collected enough to transfer to your disposal box.
• Also, remember to record the manifest numbers of the dry and aqueous liquid waste on the bottom of your usage form.
• When the stock vial becomes waste and the usage log has been completed, FAX the log to Radiation Safety at 2-4008!
• The most important tip is sending the usage log to us in a timely fashion! It will allow us to delete items from your inventory.

By routinely sending the completed usage forms, it will decrease the length of the inventory list we send to you and in turn make the task of completing the inventory much easier and less time consuming. Questions? Please feel free to contact us at 2-6299.

Radiation Safety will be implementing a new procedure for calling in pick-ups of full radioactive waste containers and for the delivery of radioactive waste containers. To improve upon our waste management program and to better service the research community, the new procedure will require that you give us the manifest number of each waste container requiring pick-up. The manifest number consist of a letter followed by a four digit number and is located in the upper right hand corner of the waste manifest:

When calling for a pick-up:

Provide us with the manifest number(s) of all the waste containers requiring pick-up.

When calling for delivery of supplies:

Provide us with the isotope and waste type (solid, aqueous, stock vial, scintillation vials) for all waste supplies needed.

This new procedure becomes effective April 1st. Let us re-emphasize to each of you the importance of providing our office with the appropriate information. The information listed above helps us to efficiently meet your waste management needs.

We have begun scheduling appointments with lab designees for the purpose of reviewing each research group's radiation safety record keeping (usage logs, waste disposal manifests, and lab survey reports) and general radiation safety practices. There is an audit check sheet available on our web page that describes our point system and the records/categories we will review. If you should have any audit questions, please call either Debbie or Dale at 2-6299.