Washington Administrative Code

Rules set forth herein are adopted pursuant to the provisions of chapter 70A.388 RCW.[Statutory Authority: RCW 43.70.040 and 2020 c 20. WSR 22-07-025, § 246-220-001, filed 3/9/22, effective 4/9/22. Statutory Authority: RCW 70.98.050. WSR 14-01-077, § 246-220-001, filed 12/16/13, …

It is the purpose of these regulations to state such requirements as shall be applied to the use of all ionizing radiation, radiation machines, and radioactive materials to ensure the maximum protection of the public health and the maximum safety to all persons at, or in the vici…

Except as otherwise specifically provided, these rules apply to all persons who receive, possess, use, transfer, own or acquire any source of radiation, provided, however, that nothing in these rules shall apply to any person to the extent such person is subject to regulation by …

In accordance with the recommendations of the Environmental Protection Agency, formerly the Federal Radiation Council, approved by the president of the United States of America, persons engaged in activities under licenses issued by the Washington state department of health pursu…

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 ener…

(1) Each licensee or registrant shall maintain records relating to the receipt, use, storage, transfer, or disposal of radiation sources, and such other records as the department may require which will permit the determination of the extent of occupational and public exposure fro…

(1) Each licensee or registrant shall afford the department at all reasonable times opportunity to inspect sources of radiation and the premises and facilities wherein such sources of radiation are used or stored.(2) Each licensee or registrant shall make available to the departm…

(1) Each licensee and registrant shall perform upon instructions from the department, or shall permit the department to perform, such reasonable tests and surveys as the department deems appropriate or necessary including, but not limited to, tests and surveys of:(a) Sources of r…

(1) The department may, upon application or upon its own initiative, grant such exemptions or exceptions from the requirements of these rules as it determines are authorized by law and will not result in undue hazard to public health and safety or property.(2) Any U.S. Department…

(1) An injunction or other court order may be obtained prohibiting any violation of any provision of the act or any regulation or order issued thereunder.(2) Any person who violates any provision of the act or any regulation or order issued thereunder may be guilty of a gross mis…

Sources of radiation shall be subject to impoundment pursuant to RCW 70A.388.180.[Statutory Authority: RCW 43.70.040 and 2020 c 20. WSR 22-07-025, § 246-220-070, filed 3/9/22, effective 4/9/22. Statutory Authority: RCW 43.70.040. WSR 91-02-049 (Order 121), recodified as § 246-220…

(1) Hand-held fluoroscopic screens shall not be used unless listed in the Registry of Sealed Sources and Devices or accepted for certifications by the United States Food and Drug Administration, Center for Devices and Radiological Health.(2) Shoe-fitting fluoroscopic devices shal…

All communications and reports concerning these rules, and applications filed thereunder, should be addressed to the Department of Health, Office of Radiation Protection, P.O. Box 47827, Olympia, Washington 98504-7827. The emergency telephone number is 206-682-5327 or 206 (nuclea…

The department may, by rule or order, impose upon any licensee or registrant such requirements in addition to those established in these rules as it deems appropriate or necessary to minimize danger to public health and safety or property.[Statutory Authority: RCW 70.98.050. WSR …

(1) This chapter establishes standards for protection against radiation hazards. Except as otherwise specifically provided, this chapter applies to all licensees or registrants. The requirements of this chapter are designed to control the receipt, possession, use, transfer, and d…

(1) Each specific licensee shall develop, document, and implement a radiation protection program sufficient to ensure compliance with the provisions of this chapter.(2) The licensee shall use, to the extent practical, procedures and engineering controls based upon sound radiation…

(1) The licensee or registrant shall control the occupational dose to individual adults, except for planned special exposures pursuant to WAC 246-221-030, to the following dose limits:(a) An annual limit, which is the more limiting of:(i) The total effective dose equivalent being…

(1) If the licensee is required to monitor under both WAC 246-221-090 and 246-221-100, the licensee shall demonstrate compliance with the dose limits by summing external and internal doses. If the licensee is required to monitor only under WAC 246-221-090 or only under WAC 246-22…

(1) For each individual who is likely to receive, in a year, an occupational dose requiring monitoring pursuant to WAC 246-221-090 and 246-221-100, the licensee or registrant shall:(a) Determine the occupational radiation dose received during the current year; and(b) Attempt to o…

A licensee or registrant may authorize an adult worker to receive doses in addition to and accounted for separately from the doses received under the limits specified in WAC 246-221-010 provided that each of the following conditions is satisfied:(1) The licensee or registrant aut…

(1) For purposes of assessing dose used to determine compliance with occupational dose equivalent limits, the licensee shall, when required under WAC 246-221-100, take suitable and timely measurements of:(a) Concentrations of radioactive materials in air in work areas; or(b) Quan…

No licensee or registrant shall possess, use, or transfer sources of radiation in such a manner as to cause any occupationally exposed individual who is under 18 years of age, to receive a dose in excess of 10 percent of the annual occupational dose limits specified in WAC 246-22…

(1) The licensee or registrant shall ensure that the dose equivalent to an embryo/fetus during the entire pregnancy, due to occupational exposure of a declared pregnant woman, does not exceed five mSv (0.5 rem).(2) Once pregnancy has been declared, the licensee or registrant shal…

(1) Each licensee or registrant shall conduct operations so that:(a) The total effective dose equivalent to individual members of the public from the licensed or registered operation does not exceed one mSv (0.1 rem) in a year, exclusive of the dose contributions from background …

(1) The licensee shall make or cause to be made surveys of radiation levels in unrestricted areas and radioactive materials in effluents released to unrestricted areas to demonstrate compliance with the dose limits for individual members of the public in WAC 246-221-060.(2) A lic…

(1) Each sealed radioactive source possessed under the provisions of a specific license, other than hydrogen-3 (tritium), with a half-life greater than 30 days and in any form other than gas, shall be tested and results obtained for leakage or contamination prior to initial use a…

Each licensee or registrant shall monitor occupational exposure from sources of radiation at levels sufficient to demonstrate compliance with the occupational dose limits of WAC 246-221-010, 246-221-030, 246-221-050 and 246-221-055.(1) Each licensee or registrant shall monitor oc…

(1) Each licensee shall monitor, to determine compliance with WAC 246-221-040, the occupational intake of radioactive material by and assess the committed effective dose equivalent to:(a) Adults likely to receive, in one year, an intake in excess of 10 percent of the applicable A…

(1) The licensee or registrant shall ensure that each entrance or access point to a high radiation area has one or more of the following features:(a) A control device that, upon entry into the area, causes the level of radiation to be reduced below that level at which an individu…

(1) In addition to the requirements in WAC 246-221-102, the licensee or registrant shall institute additional measures to ensure that an individual is not able to gain unauthorized or inadvertent access to areas in which radiation levels could be encountered at five Gy (500 rad) …

(1) This section applies to licensees or registrants with sources of radiation in nonself-shielded irradiators. This section does not apply to sources of radiation that are used in teletherapy, in industrial radiography, or in completely self-shielded irradiators in which the sou…

(1) Each licensee or registrant shall make or cause to be made such surveys, as defined in WAC 246-220-010, as may be necessary for the licensee or registrant to establish compliance with these regulations and are reasonable under the circumstances to evaluate the magnitude and e…

(1) The licensee shall use, to the extent practical, process or other engineering controls, such as, containment, decontamination, or ventilation, to control the concentrations of radioactive material in air.(2) When it is not practical to apply process or other engineering contr…

If the licensee assigns or permits the use of respiratory protection equipment to limit the intake of radioactive material:(1) The licensee shall use only respiratory protection equipment that is:(a) Tested and certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Healt…

(1) The radiation symbol shall be used on all signs, labels, or other written means of warning individuals concerning radiation hazards.(a) The symbol prescribed by this section is the conventional three-blade design: Radiation symbol(b) The symbol prescribed by this section shal…

(1) A room or area is not required to be posted with a caution sign because of the presence of a sealed source, provided the radiation level 30 centimeters from the surface of the source container or housing does not exceed 0.05 mSv (five millirem) per hour.(2) Rooms or other are…

Instructions required for individuals working in or frequenting any portion of a restricted area are specified in WAC 246-222-020, 246-222-030, and 246-222-040.[Statutory Authority: RCW 70.98.050 and 70.98.080. WSR 91-15-112 (Order 184), § 246-221-140, filed 7/24/91, effective 8/…

(1) Licensed radioactive materials and registered radiation machines shall be secured from, or controlled in such a manner so as to prevent, unauthorized access or removal from the place of storage.(2) Each portable gauge licensee shall use a minimum of two independent physical c…

(1) Each licensee who expects to receive a package containing quantities of radioactive material in excess of the Type A1 or A2 quantities specified in WAC 246-231-200 shall make arrangements to receive:(a) The package when it is offered for delivery by the carrier; or(b) Immedia…

(1) No licensee shall dispose of any radioactive material except:(a) By transfer to an authorized recipient as provided in WAC 246-232-080, or chapter 246-249 WAC; or(b) As authorized pursuant to WAC 246-221-070, 246-221-180, 246-221-190, 246-221-200, 246-221-210, or 246-221-220.…

Any person may apply to the department for approval of proposed procedures to dispose of radioactive material in a manner not otherwise authorized in this chapter. Each application shall contain a description of the radioactive material, including the quantities and kinds of radi…

(1) No licensee shall discharge radioactive material into a sanitary sewerage system unless:(a) It is readily soluble or it is biological material which is readily dispersible in water;(b) The quantity of any radioactive material released in any one month, if diluted by the avera…

No licensee shall dispose of radioactive material by burial in soil except as specifically approved by the department pursuant to WAC 246-221-180.[Statutory Authority: RCW 70.98.050 and 70.98.080. WSR 91-15-112 (Order 184), § 246-221-200, filed 7/24/91, effective 8/24/91. Statuto…

No licensee shall incinerate radioactive material for the purpose of disposal or preparation for disposal except as specifically approved by the department pursuant to WAC 246-221-070 and 246-221-180.[Statutory Authority: RCW 70.98.050 and 70.98.080. WSR 91-15-112 (Order 184), § …

(1) Any licensee may dispose of the following licensed material without regard to its radioactivity:(a) 1.85 KBq (0.05 microcurie) or less of hydrogen-3 or carbon-14, per gram of medium, used for liquid scintillation counting; and(b) 1.85 KBq (0.05 microcurie) or less of hydrogen…

(1) Each licensee or registrant shall make and retain records of activities, program reviews, measurements, and calculations which may be necessary to determine the extent of occupational and public exposure from sources of radiation under the control of the licensee or registran…

Each licensee who manufactures, transfers, receives, disassembles, or disposes of a nationally tracked source shall complete and submit a National Source Tracking Transaction Report as specified in subsections (1) through (5) of this section for each type of transaction.(1) Each …

The Terabecquerel (TBq) values are the regulatory standard. The curie (Ci) values specified are obtained by converting from the TBq value. The curie values are provided for practical usefulness only and are rounded after conversion.Radioactive MaterialCategory 1(TBq)Category 1(Ci…

(1) Each licensee and registrant shall report by telephone ( 206-682-5327) and confirm promptly by letter, facsimile, or email to the State Department of Health, Office of Radiation Protection, P.O. Box 47827, Olympia, Washington 98504-7827.(a) Immediately after its occurrence be…

(1) Immediate notification. Notwithstanding other requirements for notification, each licensee and registrant shall immediately (as soon as possible but no later than four hours after discovery of an incident) notify the State Department of Health, Office of Radiation Protection,…