Re: Leak Testing Sealed Sources

[Alex.Zapantis@ea.gov.au (Alex Zapantis)]

If I remember correctly (which is a large leap of faith), ISO 9978 - Radiation
Protection - Sealed Radioactive Sources - Leakage Test Methods (or something
like that) specifies particular tests for sealed sources to determine whether
they are leaktight. The criteria for "leaktightness" being that less than 200Bq
of removable activity is detected following the tests. As for the technical
reasoning behind this number........???
_______________________________________________________________________________
Subject: Leak Testing Sealed Sources
From:    Kun-Woo CHO <k201ckw@pinpoint.kins.re.kr> at Internet
Date:    3/2/98  8:15 PM

Dear Radsafers,
I would like to be enlightened about the technical background of numerical 
values in the following statement.
In the book, "Introduction to Health Physics"(second edition, by Herman 
Cember), on page 394, it says "The source is considered free of surface 
contamination if less than 200 Bq(0.005uCi) alpha or less than 2000 
Bq(0.05uCi) beta activity was wiped off."
It would be also appreciated if the corresponding values in US regulations 
be provided.
Thanks in advance.

Kun-Woo CHO
Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, Korea
Tel:82-42-862-9975, Fax: 82-42-868-0531
E-mail: k201ckw@pinpoint.kins.re.kr