Recordkeeping for Isotope Orders

["Sue M. Dupre" <dupre@phoenix.Princeton.EDU>]

Good Afternoon, all!

For many years, we've used a system for radioisotope ordering in which
the researchers phoned orders into the Purchasing Office.  Purchasing 
would proceed to place the order only after getting approval from my
office (Occupational Health and Safety).  After phoning the order in,
the researcher would still go ahead and submit a written purchase order, 
and a copy of the order would eventually make its way to my office so that
we'd have records of the orders to show the NRC during inspections.  

The University has recently moved to an online ordering system for all
materials, including radioactive materials, (just to be clear, we still 
approve radioisotope orders though it's through an online mechanism).  
We continue to receive copies of the purchase orders, but we're
considering giving up the keeping of paper copies of the orders.  Through
the online system we have immediately available to us purchasing records
for the previous two years and can, of course, print those records out if
needed.  Records older than two years are archived but still available,
though not immediately.  We also keep very careful receipt records as
orders are received.

Do you consider it important to keep paper copies of purchase orders
on hand?  What records do you consider essential to keep on hand
concerning the purchase of radioactive materials (remember, I'm talking
about purchase records, not inventory records).  What records do 
inspectors insist on seeing when they visit? 

Thanks for your time and comments!

Sue M. Dupre, Health Physicist 
Office of Occupational Health & Safety
Princeton University
E-Mail:  dupre@princeton.edu           Phone:  609/258-6252