Radiation safety

All such substances and instruments must be registered and most can only be used under the supervision of a suitably qualified individual with an appropriate WA government issued licence.

All Curtin projects using such materials and instruments must be approved by the University Radiation Safety Committee before work commences.

If you’re planning radiation related work or have questions about radiation safety, contact your local radiation safety supervisor (RSS). To comply with workplace procedures, you must report any accidents or incidents and raise any safety, health or security concerns with the RSS. Each individual is responsible for taking reasonably practicable steps to ensure their own safety when working with radiation.

Apply for radiation project approval

Licensing and training for radiation users

All projects involving radioactive substances, class 3B or 4 lasers, x-ray or neutron apparatus or UV transilluminators must be conducted under the supervision of a suitably qualified person with an appropriate WA Government issued licence.

The licence holder must ensure that all radiation users have an adequate level of information, instruction, training and supervision to carry out their duties in a safe manner on a day-to-day basis and that the radiation work is conducted in accordance with their licence conditions and local radiation working rules.

Acquisition, storage and disposal of radioactive materials

You must follow specific processes for acquiring, storing and disposing of radioactive material.

Facility requirements

Laboratories containing radioactive materials, x-ray instruments or class 3B or 4 lasers must comply with legislative requirements. The requirements can be quite extensive and may depend upon the work conducted there. Contact the University Radiation Security Officer (RSO) before you establish any new facility. You must still gain approval for each project even if the project is within an established facility.

Methods of disposal

If any radioactive material, class 3B or 4 laser, x-ray instrument or transilluminator is to be disposed of or moved to another organisation, you must inform the RSO and local RSS so they can update the registration details. The method of disposal depends on the type of material or equipment. For disposal of radioactive materials it may be necessary to store them to allow for radioactive decay. If so, Curtin has a Radiation Waste Storage facility for this purpose – contact the RSO for access. The group/department disposing of the radioactive materials or radiation equipment is responsible for the costs of disposal.

Disposal of radiation equipment

Final disposal of any irradiating apparatus or electronic product must be carried out by a licensed service person in accordance with the methods below:

X-ray equipment
At minimum the x-ray tube must be disabled, by eliminating the vacuum inside the x-ray tube by physically breaking the glass envelope, and the high-tension cables must be severed, to render the equipment inoperable. It would also be preferable to remove the circuit board controlling the high voltage generator where possible.
Lasers
Removing the power supply (by severing the cord) and removing the critical optical components and the amplifying medium to render the equipment inoperable.
Transilluminators
Removing the power supply (by severing the cord) and removing the UV lights from the unit and destroying them will render the equipment inoperable.

Disposal of liquid radioactive waste (water soluble)

Liquid radioactive waste is best disposed of via the sewer system. Such waste must only be disposed of via flushing sinks connected to approved radioactive drains provided for this purpose.

Ensure that the activity per flush is below the legal dilution concentration limit for each radionuclide and that the waste complies with the Water Corporation’s ‘Acceptance criteria for trade waste’.

Disposal of sealed, solid or liquid (non-soluble) radioactive waste

Segregation

You must segregate waste according to the radionuclide and the type of waste. For example:

Sealed sources
Biological material (e.g. food, animal carcasses)
Sharps (e.g. syringes, broken glass)
Scintillation cocktail from counting tubes
General laboratory waste (e.g. gloves, paper towels)

Long-lived radionuclides must not exceed the following activity box limits:

Session	Key dates
Semester 1
20 to 24 February	O-Week
Monday 27 February	Teaching start date
Friday 3 March	Tuition payment due date
Saturday 4 March	Last enrolment via eStudent
Friday 24 March	SSAF payment due date
Friday 24 March	Census date
Saturday 25 March	SSAF incurral date
Friday 5 May	Last withdrawal via eStudent
5 to 16 June	Centrally scheduled exams
Friday 16 June	End date
Wednesday 5 July	Results publication date
Semester 2
17 to 21 July	O-Week
Monday 24 July	Teaching start date
Friday 28 July	Tuition payment due date
Saturday 29 July	Last enrolment via eStudent
Friday 18 August	SSAF payment due date
Friday 18 August	Census date
Saturday 19 August	SSAF incurral date
Friday 29 September	Last withdrawal via eStudent
30 October to 10 November	Centrally scheduled exams
Friday 10 November	End date
Wednesday 29 November	Results publication date

Packaging

Seal solid waste in a red plastic bag. Other liquid waste must be sealed in a screw top bottle or vial before being sealed in a red plastic bag. Any sharps, such as needles or broken glass, must be enclosed in a hard container (metal tin or plastic sharps container).

The red plastic bag or hard container must be placed in a cardboard box or multi-walled paper bag with the words ‘Radioactive material’ printed clearly on the outside.

The box or bag must then be sealed with tape that is suitable for storage (50 mm wide masking tape is commonly used).

Labelling

Label the waste box or bag with the type of waste it contains together with a contact name and location of where the waste comes from.

Write the radionuclide and provide an estimate of total activity. Only use units of activity (Bq, Ci and their derivatives). Do not use other units such as counts per second or Bq per mL.

Transportation

Confirm whether the activity of the waste is low enough to be transported as an ‘excepted package’.

Liaise with the University Radiation Safety Officer to arrange a time for delivery to the University radiation waste store and transport the waste at the designated time.

Ensure the waste is handed directly to staff at the store. Do not leave radioactive waste unattended at any time.

Radiation monitoring

The objective of radiation monitoring is to ensure that existing safety procedures are effective at keeping dosage and exposures from scattered or incidental radiation as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA).