[ RadSafe ] Nuclear gauges, DU, Th, Radium watch hands- Ownership issues.

[dsnowder at aol.com]

George, 

Your information that you provided to RadSafe regarding the ownership and licensing of?portable nuclear gauges?is?very much?oversimplified?and requires some explanation. 

Yes, the NRC license fee for a portable gauge license is about $1200, but not?just anyone (as you state) can get a license. You?failed to mention that in addition to that fee, the licensee, (in accordance with NUREG 1556 Vol. 1)?must also:

- have 40 hours RSO/Gauge User Training?(at?fees ranging from $800 to $2500)
- have?a minimum of 40 hours experience with operating a nuclear gauge (or other appropriate?training) ?
- have an approved?lockable storage facility 
-?have least 3 locks?plus?chains/cables to transport gauge in a vehicle?
-?own a survey instrument appropriate for the type and intensity of radiation to be monitored
- develp Operating and Emergency Procedures to be approved by the NRC or Agreement State 
-?have appropriate Dosimetry (or approved dose calculations)
- Perform area radiation surveys of?the gauge storage area
- Perform Leak tests every 6 months (at costs ranging from $20-$40)?
- Perform an annual?audit of their Radiation Protection?Program (requiring 8-10 hours of time or at an expense of?approx. $1000)

In addition to?all of that, the NRC license does not allow "ANY number of gauges to be held"?as you stated. The NRC?license is called a "specific" license because it limits the amount of radioactive material that a licensee can possess including nuclear gauges. Most?Agreement States specify limits on the number and models of gauges that can be owned as does the NRC.?If?you purchase a nuclear gauge?on the internet or at a garage sale?you are responsible to make sure that the individual selling it to you has a license to do so and that the make, model, and isotope/activity are specified on your license. Failure to do so?is a violation of?NRC and/or Agreement State requirements.?

Hope this clarifies the situation a little more.?As a note, we are qualified to respond on this as?my company, Qal-Tek Associates, calibrates and services?thousands of ?portable nucelar gauges in 43 states across the?U.S. as well as providing Radiation Safety/RSO and Nuclear Gauge Training on?these requirements. We have also assisted hundreds of?individuals and companies to obtain their licenses for portable nuclear gauges in the past.????

For more?details on the requirements for?obtaining a license for a portable nucelar gauge I would refer you to the NRC document NUREG 1556 Vol. 1 that is available?at www.nrc.gov.

H. Dale Snowder
President/CEO
Qal-Tek Associates LLC
Idaho Falls, ID 83442
(208) 523-5557
www.qaltek.com 
??????


-----Original Message-----
From: Geo>K0FF <GEOelectronics at netscape.com>
To: radsafe at radlab.nl
Sent: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 10:09 am
Subject: [ RadSafe ] Nuclear gauges, DU, Th, Radium watch hands- Ownership issues.



Nuclear gauges, DU, Th, Radium watch hands- Ownership issues.

Anyone in business that has $1200 can get an NRC materials license.
It will all ANY number of gauges to be held. Verified by a long
telephone conversation with Barb Brown at NRC HQ just last week.
Gauges can be purchased on eBay legally, for as low as $10.00 as
long as you have that license. 10 units were recently sold there by
the state of Oregon at prices ranging form $10.00 to $500.00, all
with NRC approval (I know, I called NRC Allegations office to be sure). 

A recent news article attempts to scare the public by capitalizing on " 
Undercover Investigators Obtain Nuclear License" and 
claims that once exposed by their crack investigation the government has "Fixed 
the problem" ?? 
First of all there is no problem, these 
are the same rules we have always had.
See:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/eric_lipton/index.html?inline=nyt-per>ERIC

Another "investigator" brought a small quantity of DU across the US border and 
wrote a scathing article. In reality, there were no laws broken. 
I have even seen DU penetrators from M1 Abrams Tank rounds ( real, not training 
rounds) for sale on eBay, again, no legal problem with that.

DU metal  is actually considered an insignificant radiological material, its 
Pyrophoricity ( it burns easily), and heavy metal 
toxicity are of far more concern.



Any business or educational entity can hold up to 15 pounds
of "source material", that is, yellowcake, DU etc. Anyone can hold
any amount of natural U or Th ore. And yes, even 40 pounds of Radium
watch hands is OK. There is NO LIMIT on the number of thorium
mantles one can own.

These are the rules, newsfolks etc. can make a big deal out of it if
they want to. No one is breaking the law.

SEE:
http://www.qsl.net/k0ff/Nucleonics/




Yes we may suffer "dirty bombs" in the USA in future. Some might even be
radiological in nature, but those will be of little concern compared to other
dangerous materials that are accessible.






George Dowell
NLNL
New London Nucleonics Lab
56791 Rivere Au Sel Pl.
New London, MO 63459

GEOelectronics at Netscape.com

573-221-3418

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