[ RadSafe ] Limited Quantity

[William Lipton]

You are correct, there is no activity limit for an excepted package, if
these are the only radionuclides present.  Note that these radionuclides
have very low specific activity.  Also note that the person shipping an
excepted package is NOT exempt from the DOT training requirements.

Before going to the trouble of preparing an excepted package, you should
also note that the "exempt"  concentration and activity limits of 49 CFR
173.436 for these radionuclides are high:  I-129 = 2.7 uCi, Mn-53 = 27 mCi,
Ni-59 = 2.7 mCi.  You may be able to ship your package without regard to its
radioactivity.  Please note that if you are shipping a package by an air
express service, such as Fedex, the IATA regulations apply.

On a somewhat tangential note, I am surprised that the exempt activity limit
for Co-60 is 2.7 uCi.  Assuming that all of this activity is in a point
source, the 1 cm, unshielded dose rate would be approximately 36 mrem/hr.
Yet, such a source could be shipped as nonradioactive, e.g., you could mail
it without any radioactive markings.  This seems to be a potential hazard to
an untrained person if the package fails.

Bill Lipton
It's not about dose, it's about trust.
Curies forever.




On Tue, Jan 4, 2011 at 10:44 AM, Tung, Enoch <Enoch.Tung at perkinelmer.com>wrote:

> Hi All,
>
>
>
> Quick questions about LQ.
>
>
>
> As per 10 CFR 49, limited quantities for liquid (normal form) is 10^-4 *
> A2.
>
>
>
> Now in table 173.435 there are some entries that show A2 (and A1) values
> to be "unlimited".
>
> ie.  I-129, Mn-53, Ni-59, etc.
>
>
>
> Does this mean the limited quantity for those isotopes are also
> unlimited?
>
> In effect, there is no activity limit to ship those isotopes as Excepted
> Package, as long as surface dose rate and TI criteria are met?
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Enoch
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Enoch Tung | Health Physicist
>
> PerkinElmer | For the Better
>
>
> enoch.tung at perkinelmer.com
>
> Phone:  +1 617.350.9068   |   Fax:  +1 617.350.9567   |   Mobile:   +1
> 617.438.7012
>
> 549 Albany St., Boston, MA 02118 USA
>
> www.perkinelmer.com
>
> Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
>
> This e-mail message and any attachments are confidential and proprietary
> to PerkinElmer, Inc.  If you are not the intended recipient of this
> message, please inform the sender by replying to this email or sending a
> message to the sender and destroy the message and any attachments.
> Thank you.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list
>
> Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and understood the
> RadSafe rules. These can be found at:
> http://health.phys.iit.edu/radsaferules.html
>
> For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings
> visit: http://health.phys.iit.edu
>