US NRC PR on Tritium in Timepieces

[Mike Grissom <mikeg@SLAC.Stanford.EDU>]

Radsafers,

Since there is a constant thread on radsafe regarding
radioactivity in consumer products, I thought this
particular press release from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission would be of general interest:

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Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Office of Public Affairs
Washington DC 20555
Telephone: 301/415-8200 -- E-mail: opa@nrc.gov

No. 98-88

June 11, 1998

   NRC AMENDS REGULATIONS GOVERNING TIMEPIECES
CONTAINING TRITIUM

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is amending its
regulations to simplify the licensing process for
timepieces containing tritium. The amended regulations will
permit timepieces containing Gaseous Tritium Light Sources
(GTLS) to be licensed under the same regulatory requirements
as timepieces containing tritium paint.

The amendments are in response to a petition for rulemaking
submitted by mb-microtec, Inc. of North Tonawanda, New York.

Tritium, a radioactive material, interacts with various
radioluminescent materials incorporated in hands, numbers or
other parts of timepieces to make the dials and hands
visible in the dark. The tritium may be either in the form
of a gas contained in tiny sealed tubes -- or in a
luminescent paint. The amendments will not change the level
of radiation protection provided to users and wearers of
tritium-illuminated timepieces. In fact, the dose to the
public from timepieces using GTLS is expected to be less
than that from timepieces using the same quantity of tritium
as paint, because the tritium leak rate from sealed glass
tubes is significantly lower than from paint.

Under existing regulations, timepieces containing tritium
paint may be licensed under a section of the regulations
that contains specific prototype testing requirements.
License applicants able to meet these prototype tests and
whose products do not exceed the quantity limits per
timepiece are able to meet the NRC licensing requirements.
Some of these prototype tests, however, are not suitable
for testing GTLS timepieces, so that applicants for a
license to manufacture timepieces containing gaseous tritium
cannot apply under this section of the NRC regulations. They
must now apply for a license under a separate section of the
regulations that requires submittal of much additional
information, such as detailed drawings, dimensions, and
materials of construction for each model or series.

The revised regulations remove the specific requirements for
prototype testing from the regulations but do not change the
intent of the existing product performance standard.
Specific tests applicable to timepieces containing either
tritium paint or gaseous tritium light sources will be
incorporated in an NRC document for license applications for
distribution of such products. The document, "Standard
Review Plan for Applications for Licenses to Distribute
Byproduct Material to Persons Exempt from the Requirements
for an NRC License," (NUREG-1562) will be issued for use by
the effective date of the rule. The effective date will be
60 days after publication of a Federal Register notice on
this subject, expected shortly.

This amendment simplifies the licensing process for
timepieces containing GTLS, facilitates the use of a new
technology in self-illuminated timepieces, and results in
significant savings to licensees and to the NRC.

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The above may be viewed on the Web at URL:

http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/gmo/nrarcv/98-88.htm