[ RadSafe ] Seeking exempt quantity sources donation.

[Cary Renquist]

I'll reply to myself.
I thought that I remembered an old HP Position Paper on the subject...

NRC: Health Physics Positions
No License is Required for a Person to Receive Exempt Quantity Byproduct Material
<http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/radiation/protects-you/hppos/hppos131.html>

	The second question concerned whether a licensee (Facility 
	A), who had bought an exempt quantity of radioactivity 
	material from the manufacturer, can give the radioactive 
	material to Facility B. (As examples, Facility B is not 
	licensed for the possession of any radioactive material, or 
	Facility B does possess a radioactive material license, but 
	it is not licensed for this radioactive material.) In 
	reply, NRC stated that Facility A may give an exempt 
	quantity of material to Facility B provided that it does 
	not transfer the material as part of a commercial 
	distribution under the provisions of 10 CFR 30.18 (c) and 
	(d) or does not have reason to believe Facility B will 
	transfer the material for purposes of commercial 
	distribution to persons exempt under 10 CFR 30.18 or 
	equivalent Agreement State regulations. Therefore, Facility 
	A may transfer the material provided it is an exempt 
	quantity and that paragraphs (c) and (d) of 10 CFR 30.18 do 
	not apply.

Best regards,
Cary

---
Cary Renquist
Direct:   +1 661-309-1033
cary.renquist at ezag.com


-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On Behalf Of Cary Renquist
Sent: Wednesday, 02 September 2009 15:38
To: Geo>K0FF; Glenn R. Marshall; Bray, Linda G.; Johanning, Jeffrey R.; radsafe at radlab.nl
Subject: RE: [ RadSafe ] Seeking exempt quantity sources donation.


If my friend buys an exempt source and then later gives it to his niece to use for her mad scientist experiments, I would like to know what regulation has been violated.

If the regulator is going to cite a person for a violation, then they need to cite the regulation.
If the person is exempt from the regulation that they are being cited for, then the regulator doesn't 
have a leg to stand on.

   "That certainly seems contradictory, and no one at the NRC office will defend either 
    application of the rule. It is not their job to do that."

My 0.02 $US:
Well, if they are not willing to defend it, then that sounds like they are probably not willing to enforce 
the "it's a violation" interpretation of the rule.

It reminds me of the time that I encountered a State regulator who "didn't agree" with her State's
10cfr§35.65 equivalent rule and tried to cite one of her licensees who possessed sources under that 
rule.  [It is optional for the agreement state to adopt that particular rule for NRC compatibility, but 
once the State puts that rule on the books, it is there and not optional]
<off soapbox>

The regulations that I can see being violated by "persons" who possess exempt sources are DOT regulations...
NRC exempt quantities are typically higher than DOT exempt consignment levels, thus transport of NRC exempt 
sources should be as limited quantity excepted packages.

So if my friend put that exempt quantity source in his car's cup-holder and got into an accident as he drove over to his niece's house, he might get in trouble with the DOT when the first responder's over-sensitive-rad-alert-pager-thingie goes off and thus summons the FBI, DHS, etc....

Best regards,
Cary

---
Cary Renquist
Direct:   +1 661-309-1033
cary.renquist at ezag.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Geo>K0FF [mailto:GEOelectronics at netscape.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, 02 September 2009 12:51
To: Glenn R. Marshall; Cary Renquist; Bray, Linda G.; Johanning, Jeffrey R.; radsafe at radlab.nl
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Seeking exempt quantity sources donation.


Glenn said:
"----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Glenn R. Marshall" Now I believe the original question had to do with 
a specific licensee wanting a bunch of exempt sources to distribute them to 
unlicensed entities such as schools.  That requires an exempt distribution 
license under Part 32.

Glenn "

Concerning schedule B, exempt quantity sources.
Quite correct Glenn. To receive the sources, they must come from a licensed 
distributor.
To transfer the sources, they must be transferred by a licensed distributor.

No sort of license is needed to own or use them, but an unlicensed user 
cannot combine exempt quantity
sources for the purpose of increasing the radioactivity.

It is true that the NRC rules plainly state that there is no restriction on 
ownerships.etc and transferring the material.

It says that in plain language, but the NRC also gives guidance that an 
unlicensed person may not "enter the sources into the marketplace", and 
further states that is is laughable that anyone would thing the rules 
mentioned above would allow someone to purchase the sources from a licensed place, then give them 
away.

That certainly seems contradictory, and no one at the NRC office will defend 
either application of the rule. It is not their job to do that.
That is the job of the NRC legal department, and they will not do that for 
you for free. It is not their job to do that.





George Dowell


 

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