Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Version 1.2
ISSN 0110-9316
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1
INTRODUCTION
2.1
Introduction
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
Personal monitoring
2.7
2.8
2.9
10
2.10
11
EQUIPMENT
3.1
Introduction
3.2
X-ray equipment
3.3
3.4
Pipeline crawlers
3.5
Safety equipment
16
Introduction
4.2
General requirements
Introduction
5.2
General requirements
EMERGENCY PROCEDURES
7.1
Introduction
7.2
Emergency recognition
7.3
X-ray emergencies
7.4
TRANSPORT
BIBLIOGRAPHY
27
APPENDIX A
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GLOSSARY
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1 INTRODUCTION
1.1
This Code of Practice relates to the use of x-rays and radioactive
material for the purpose of industrial radiography and covers both site and inhouse work.
1.2
This Code should be read in conjunction with the Radiation Protection
Act 1965 and the Radiation Protection Regulations 1982. It is intended as a
guide to safe practice and should be applied with sound judgement to any
specific situation.
1.3
A copy of this Code is provided to all licensees in industrial
radiography. Additional copies are available on request. Each licensee shall
provide free and convenient access to this Code to all personnel working under
his/her supervision.
1.4
Whenever compliance with a requirement in this document is required
as a condition to a licence under the Radiation Protection Act 1965, the word
shall is used in the clause. The word should indicates a practice that is
recommended but not mandatory. Clauses without either of these words are
for information and do not imply obligation for compliance with this Code.
1.5
SI units are used in this Code. Conversion factors to convert from and
to the previous units are given in Appendix A.
2.1 Introduction
This section is primarily based on the statutory requirements of the Radiation
Protection Act 1965 and the Radiation Protection Regulations 1982. The
Regulations apply to any x-ray equipment that produces a dose equivalent rate
of or exceeding 2.5 microsieverts per hour (Sv h-1) at a point which could be
reached by a human being and radioactive material with an activity exceeding
3 kilobecquerels (kBq). Any industrial x-ray or gamma-ray equipment is
therefore subject to the Regulations.
2.2.2 The following points arising from the Act and Regulations are noted but
the reading of these is neither intended as a substitute for reading of the Act
and Regulations themselves nor is it an exhaustive coverage of points of
interest for users of industrial radiography apparatus. Copies of the Act and
relevant Regulations together with any codes of safe practice (such as this one)
are required to be made readily available to industrial radiography personnel
by the licensee in any establishment.
2.2.3 No person shall use industrial radiography X or gamma equipment
unless he/she is the holder of a licence under the Act, or is acting under the
supervision or instructions of a licensee (Sections 13 and 15 of the Act). In
any company, having a number of licensees may lead to misunderstandings in
authority or responsibility. Provision is made in the Regulations for
nominating one of the licensees as principal licensee to supervise compliance
by the whole group. This is not practical, however, if licensees are working at
widely scattered locations.
2.2.4 Licences are issued subject to any conditions that may be prescribed in
respect of licences generally as well as those explicit in the Act. Individual
licences may additionally be subject to conditions such as restriction to a
specified x-ray machine or to specified premises.
2.2.5 Prospective licensees should have at least 6 months work experience
and shall demonstrate by way of a three hour examination conducted by the
Office of Radiation Safety an appreciation of
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
The ability to calculate doses and dose rates, under typical industrial
radiography conditions, eg, be able to submit a design and safety
assessment of an exposure cell.
(6)
(2)
(2)
(3)
The proposed intervention should do more good than harm, ie, the
reduction in detriment resulting from the reduction in dose shall be
sufficient to justify the harm and the costs, including social costs, of the
intervention.
(2)
2.4
Location of contract.
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
Equipment to be used.
General requirement
Continuing education
an effective dose of 20 mSv per year averaged over any five-year period
and 50 mSv in any one year;
(2)
(3)
an equivalent dose of 150 mSv to the lens of either eye in any one year;
(4)
an equivalent dose of 500 mSv to the hands and feet in any one year;
(5)
(2)
an equivalent dose to the lens of the eye of 15 mSv in any one year;
(3)
2.7.3 The effective dose limit is to be used only as a guide. The object in
radiation protection is that radiation doses should be as low as reasonably
achievable, economic and social factors being taken into account (ALARA).
This usually means that personnel working with ionising radiation very seldom
get doses near the effective dose limit.
2.7.4 The terms dose or radiation dose are commonly used. In the
context of dose limits, the precisely defined terms effective dose and
equivalent dose are required. (See the Glossary.)
2.8.3 All dose records shall be kept for 10 years after the last entry.
2.9
2.9.1 Investigation
Any exposure to radiation or intakes of radioactive material may warrant
investigation, but all exposures or intakes which may exceed the investigation
level shall be reported to the responsible licensee. The investigation levels for
this purpose are 2 mSv in a period of one month, or 6 mSv in a period of three
months.
If anyone suspects that a person may have received a radiation exposure
exceeding the investigation level and is unable to report to the responsible
licensee, he or she shall as soon as practicable inform the Office of Radiation
Safety.
Any licensee who has become aware that a person may have received an
exposure exceeding the investigation level shall investigate the circumstances
and take all reasonable steps to ensure that there is no continuing risk of over
limit exposure to any person.
2.9.2 Notifications
As soon as is practicable after becoming aware of any exposure over 20 mSv,
the licensee shall notify ORS. If the exposure is an acute exposure then the
notification shall be within 24 hours of discovery.
Within one week of the over limit exposure, the licensee shall provide a
written report of the circumstances and measures taken to prevent recurrence to
ORS.
2.9.3 If the licensee has reason to believe that the dose exceeds 200 mSv then
the licensee shall as soon as possible make provision for that person to have a
medical examination by an approved medical practitioner.
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For industrial radiography, Ir-192 source records need not be kept for longer
than one year after disposal of the source.
For radioactive material with a half-life greater than five years the
records shall state the age of the encapsulation of the radioactive material.
2.10.1.4
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2.10.2 Storage
Radioactive material shall be stored in a locked source container, ie,
a gamma camera or transport package, in a locked storage area. The storage
area can be a building, a locker, or in the case of some field operations a
vehicle compartment.
2.10.2.1
2.10.2.3
2.10.3
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3 EQUIPMENT
3.1 Introduction
Well designed, well maintained equipment is essential to the safety of any
industrial radiography operation. But good design and a thorough maintenance
programme are of no consequence if the operator of the equipment is poorly
trained and unable to recognise the symptoms of a malfunction.
All equipment shall be maintained in good working condition as recommended
by the manufacturer.
All equipment should be provided with means to prevent unauthorised use of
that equipment.
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(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
14
(6)
On all exposure devices the source shall only be exposed after a manual
unlocking operation.
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)
15
The survey meter should be at least 30 cm from the Ir-192 source to ensure
that the sensitive volume of the instrument is fully covered by the radiation
beam.
3.5.1.5
The instrument shall at least cover the range 0 - 5 mGy h-1 (dose rate
to air).
The instrument shall be well maintained.
3.5.2 Personal audible monitors
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3.5.2.3
dose.
3.5.3 Warning signs
Warning signs shall be readily visible and shall incorporate the
internationally recognised warning sign and wording similar to that described
in Clauses 4 and 5 of the Second Schedule of the Regulations.
3.5.3.1
3.5.3.2
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4.1 Introduction
An in-house radiography operation is taken to mean industrial radiography in a
room or area entirely devoted to that purpose.
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19
20
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General requirements
6.1
The act requires that industrial radiography shall only be undertaken by
a licensed radiographer or by someone under the supervision or instruction of a
licensee.
6.2
The hazards associated with industrial radiography are such that
absentee licensees cannot adequately supervise safety, eg, a licensee shall not
sit at a desk and be responsible for the safety of radiography operations 30 km
away. This means that every gang on a pipeline operation is required to be
under the control of a licensed radiographer.
6.3
With site radiography the licensee shall always be present and available
when radiography operations are being undertaken.
6.4
In the interests of safety it is strongly recommended that at least two
persons are employed on every job involving site radiography. Further to this
if gamma radiation is involved on-site then two persons shall be employed.
One of these persons will be a licensed radiographer and the other will have
appropriate training in the hazards of ionising radiation, the operation of the
equipment, the companys working procedures, and be able to recognise an
emergency situation if one occurs. That person shall then be able to take the
appropriate action as laid down in the companys emergency procedures
manual.
6.5
For an in-house operation, one competent radiographer should be
sufficient to undertake the work safely provided all entrances to the exposure
bay can be visually observed by the operator.
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6.6
Prior to starting work all equipment to be used shall be checked to
ensure that it is in good working condition and adequate for the job in hand.
6.7
If site radiography is involved boundaries as required in section 5 shall
be erected on the basis of calculation to be later verified by measurement.
6.8
On setting up work whenever practicable the beam of radiation should
be collimated and directed downwards towards the ground. Failing this the
beam should be directed towards the area with the least occupancy.
6.9
The operators position shall be, as far as practicable, removed from the
source of radiation and the operator shall utilise any available shielding to
reduce dose rate.
6.10 No person shall approach an industrial radiography apparatus in a
working situation without a properly functioning survey meter being used.
6.11 When using a gamma camera, after each exposure the gamma camera
shall be surveyed with the survey meter to ensure that the source has returned
safely and the source is made secure.
6.12 At no time must an exposed gamma source or energised x-ray unit be
left unattended. If leaving the radiography area for a short period of time, eg,
tea breaks, the equipment must be locked to prevent its unauthorised use.
6.13 The changing of the source in a gamma camera shall only be carried out
with the use of an approved source changer, by persons trained and authorised
to do so.
6.14 If the survey meter malfunctions then all radiography operations shall
cease until the survey meter has been replaced by a properly functioning
survey meter or alternatively the survey meter is repaired and checked.
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7 EMERGENCY PROCEDURES
7.1 Introduction
7.1.1 Any company engaged in industrial radiography shall produce and
maintain a set of emergency procedures to deal with emergency situations that
might arise in the course of working with ionising radiation.
7.1.2 All personnel shall be familiar with these procedures and practise them
regularly.
7.1.3 These emergency procedures shall be made available to all site safety
officers.
7.1.4 It must be borne in mind that any set of emergency procedures will not
indicate exactly how to handle a particular emergency situation but they will
serve as a basis on which a plan of action can be formulated.
7.1.5 This section outlines the general requirements to be considered when
formulating emergency procedures.
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Switch off the x-ray plant and follow the directions in section 2.8 of this Code,
Action in the event of overexposure.
8 TRANSPORT
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8.1
Regulation 3 of the Radiation Protection Regulations 1982 requires that
all transport of radioactive material into or through New Zealand must comply
with the IAEA Regulations for the safe transport of radioactive materials
(TS-R-1). These are aligned with the International Maritime Dangerous Goods
Code and the International Air Transport Association Dangerous Goods
Regulations. All persons involved in land transport of radioactive material
must also comply with the current version of the Land Transport Rule:
Dangerous Goods.
Further guidance on the requirements for transporting radioactive material is
available at http://www.health.govt.nz
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
1
10
11
12
27
13
14
15
16
17
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APPENDIX A
Units
In 1982 New Zealand adopted the Systme International dUnites (SI system)
of units for ionising radiations. However, there are still a number of
instruments using non-SI units. Therefore in order to work within this Code it
may be required to convert from SI to the previous units. The conversions are
as follows.
Quantity
Previous unit
Multiply by
To give SI unit
Exposure
roentgen (R)
2.58 x 10-4
8.7 x 10-3
Absorbed Dose
rad
10-2 (0.01)
gray (Gy)
Dose Equivalent
rem
10-2 (0.01)
sievert (Sv)
Activity
curie (Ci)
3.7 x 1010
becquerel (Bq)
Quantity
SI unit
Multiply by
To give previous
unit
Exposure
coulomb per
kilogram (C kg-1)
3.876 x 103
roentgen (R)
Absorbed Dose
gray
102 (100)
1.15 x 102
rad
roentgen (R)
Dose Equivalent
sievert
102 (100)
rem
Activity
becquerel (Bq)
2.7 x 10-11
curie (Ci)
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GLOSSARY
Absorbed dose: See Gray
Activity (A): The number of nuclear transformations or disintegrations
occurring in a quantity of radioactive material per unit time. The SI unit of
radioactivity is the becquerel (Bq) (1 disintegration per second).
ALARA: An acronym for the optimisation principle as low as reasonably
achievable, social and economic factors being taken into account.
Dose equivalent: The product of the absorbed dose at a point in time and a
quality factor which takes into account the relative effectiveness of different
types of radiation for causing damage. The unit is the sievert (Sv).
Effective dose: This is the sum of the equivalent doses in all tissues of the
body from a particular exposure, each weighted according to the risk
associated with that tissue. It represents the uniform whole body dose that
would have the same radiation detriment as the actual dose distribution arising
from a given irradiation. The units are sieverts (Sv). (See ICRP publication
60 5.)
Equivalent dose: The product of the absorbed dose with a radiation weighting
factor to allow for the biological effectiveness of the type of radiation. The
radiation weighting factors for X and gamma radiation are equal to 1.0. In this
case the equivalent dose is numerically equal to the absorbed dose. The units
are sieverts (Sv). (See ICRP publication 60 5.)
Gray (Gy): The SI unit of absorbed dose being equal to 1 Joule per kilogram
of the material being irradiated.
IAEA: International Atomic Energy Agency.
IATA: International Air Transport Association.
ICRP: International Commission on Radiological Protection. Internationally
recognised body established to make recommendations on matters of radiation
protection.
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