RE: Children in Research Areas

["Jim F. Herrold" <Herrold@uwyo.edu>]

Kent Lambert asked:
>
>BTW, what does this definition mean for a graduate student in the 
>research lab?  The words "assigned duties" and "course of employment" 
>do not apply.

I think most of the graduate students in our labs receive a paycheck
(though a measly one) and are therefore employees like the rest of us.
As for the other students, like the ones we have in Radioisotope
Techniques class who are on the paying side of the table,.... I asked
the NRC about them at a workshop on the new 10CFR20 a few years back.
The response I got (not in writing, but from the mouth of a chief
inspector, and they're the ones who would nail you on it anyway) was
that a student who enrolls in a class where radioisotopes are used is
not a member of the public because they put themselves there willingly,
and are benefiting from the experience. I'm sure you could find other
cases where students are general public (the Freshman in English  who
gets lost in the Science building and happens on a contaminated area).
We treat the students in the Radioisotope Techniques class the same as
employees. They go through my training (as part of the class credit) and
are given film badges (though their exposures are not likely to be very
high). None of them have ever received a detectable exposure, so we're
not in trouble if a new inspector shows up with a different
interpretation.


Jim F. Herrold
Radiation Safety Officer
University of Wyoming
Environmental Health & Safety
303 Merica Hall
Laramie, WY 82071

herrold@uwyo.edu
(307) 766-3277

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