Radiation Safety Awareness Training for Non Laboratory Personnel

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training for Non
Laboratory Personnel

• Centre for Environmental Health Safety
  Management

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training
GeneralNOTICE

• These training materials are provided for the use
  of Ryerson University students, faculty, staff,
  and are intended to provide information specific
  to the Ryerson University community.

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training
GeneralTRAINING OBJECTIVES

• Awareness of radiation safety in areas containing
  ionizing radiation

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training
GeneralTRAINING OUTLINE

• What is radiation?
• Sources of radioactive materials at Ryerson
• Health effects
• Radiation protection measures
• Radiation safety program at Ryerson

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
WHAT IS RADIATION?

• Radiation is Energy from an Atom

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
RADIOACTIVITY

• Atoms try to become stable by releasing energy
  from the nucleus
• This atomic energy is called RADIATION

Radioactive Nucleus
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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
RADIOACTIVE DECAY

• Radioactive energy is released until the atom is
  stable and becomes not radioactive
• Process called radioactive decay
• Some radioactive materials may decay for only a
  few seconds some may take days or years to become
  stable

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
Common Types of Ionizing Radiation

• Alpha Particle
• Beta Particle
• Gamma Ray
• Resulting from radioactive decay process

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
PROPERTIESALPHA particle (a)

• PENETRATING ABILITY
• - Not very penetrating
• Will not penetrate through outer layer of skin
• Travels only a few cm in air
• SHIELDING
• stopped by a sheet of paper

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
PROPERTIESBETA particle ()

• PENETRATING ABILITY
• More penetrating than alpha but still lower
  energy particles
• Can travel a few feet in air
• Unshielded sources barely penetrate outer layers
  of skin
• SHIELDING
• Higher energy particles, stopped by a few mm of
  plastic

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
PROPERTIESGAMMA rays (m )

• PENETRATING ABILITY
• Very penetrating goes through human tissues
• SHIELDING
• Requires high density material such as lead or
  concrete

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
Where Do You Find Radiation?

• Nature
• Radiation is all around us, and has been present
  since the birth of this planet.
• artificially made by humans

Both man-made and natural radiation are a part of
our lives called BACKGROUND RADIATION
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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
Where Do You Find Radiation?

• We are all exposed to radiation every day, all
  the time.
• It comes from
• The foods we eat
• The earth and sun
• Building materials
• Radon
• Medical uses of radiation
• Consumer products e.g. smoke detectors

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
SOURCES
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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
SOURCES at RYERSON

• Sealed Radioactive Source
• Typically a solid radioactive material covered by
  shielding material
• Unsealed Radioactive Source
• Usually a liquid in very small volumes used in
  research

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
SOURCESSealed Sources

• Used as detector inside a machine
• Or can be used by itself as calibration source

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
SOURCESOpen or Unsealed Sources
Arrive in small quantities in shielded containers
(less than a teaspoon of liquid)
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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
HEALTH EFFECTS
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Radiation Safety Awareness Training
General HEALTH EFFECTS

• Radiation is one of the best-investigated
  hazardous agents

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training
General HEALTH EFFECTS
TYPICAL EXPOSURES AT RYERSON ARE AT BACKGROUND
LEVELS (i.e., same as walking around and
living in Toronto)
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Radiation Safety Awareness Training
General HEALTH EFFECTSSmall Dose

• no observable effects for levels 50 times above
  background

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training
General HEALTH EFFECTS

• If radiation penetrates tissue, may be absorbed
  by cells
• at low levels cells can repair themselves
• at high levels cells may not be able to repair
  themselves and can be changed/damaged.

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training
General HEALTH EFFECTS

• Large Doses
• (NOT AT RYERSON)
• At doses gt 2500 times above background, skin
  begins to show sunburn
• Eye damage (cataracts) can results at doses gt
  3000 times above background

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training
GeneralHEALTH EFFECTS Risk of Cancer

• does not cause any unique forms of cancer that
  are not normally observed in humans
• Evaluation of risk
• From small doses, risk is so low that it cannot
  be separately and distinguished from natural
  causes
• estimates the risk of developing cancer to be
  0.8 greater for one time exposure 50 times above
  background levels in Toronto.
• Extremely low risk

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
Relative Risk
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Radiation Safety Awareness Training
GeneralRADIATION PROTECTION MEASURES

• Control of External Exposure
• Control of Contamination

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
RADIATION PROTECTION
ALARA As Low As is Reasonably Achievable
The ALARA Principle is a philosophy of radiation
safety that every reasonable effort should be
made to minimize dose. This guiding philosophy
has actually been incorporated in federal
regulations and facilitates proactive measures
for radiation protection and safety.
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Radiation Safety Awareness Training- General
BASIC SAFETY MEASURES

• Identification of Radiation Areas
• Understanding how External Radiation is
  controlled
• Guidelines for General Public

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
BASIC SAFETY MEASURESIdentification
Rayonnement - Danger - Radiation
Bilingual Canadian Symbol for radiation
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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
RADIATION PROTECTION

• Can reduce exposure to radiation using 3 methods
  
• Time
• Distance
• Shielding

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
RADIATION PROTECTION Time

• If you decrease the amount of time you spend near
  the source of radiation, you will decrease the
  amount of radiation exposure you receive.
• (To imagine this, think of a trip to the beach
  and exposure to sun as a comparison).
• Decrease Time, Decrease Exposure

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
RADIATION PROTECTION Distance

• The farther away you are from a radiation source,
  the less exposure you will receive.
• (Compare this to an outdoor concert.)
• Increase Distance, Decrease Exposure

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
RADIATION PROTECTION Shielding

• If you increase the shielding around a radiation
  source, it will decrease your exposure.
• (If you use an umbrella to shield you from the
  rain, you will remain dry and protected.)
• Increase Shielding, Decrease Exposure

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training
General RADIATION PROTECTION Comparison of
Types of Shielding
??????
Alpha
?????
Beta
00 g?
Gamma and X-rays
Increase Shielding, Decrease Dose
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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
RADIATION PROTECTION Shielded Shipping
Containers

• Shipments of packages containing liquid
  radioactive materials will be in these types of
  shielded containers with radiation levels at or
  near background.

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
RADIATION PROTECTION External Contamination

• CONTAMINATION IS
• Radioactive material in unwanted location
• Removable contamination easily cleaned from
  surface by casual contact wiping, washing

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
RADIATION PROTECTION External Contamination

• only results from PHYSICAL CONTACT with
  radioactive material (generally liquid)

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
BASIC SAFETY MEASURES Practices for General
Public

• Do not enter radioactive areas without permission
  from authorized laboratory staff.
• No food or drink in radioactive areas.
• Do not touch any labelled radioactive materials,
  equipment or work benches, etc.
• Wash hands after leaving laboratory to avoid
  contamination.

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
RADIATION SAFETY PROGRAM at RYERSON
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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
RADIATION SAFETY at RYERSON

• Ryersons radiation safety program based on
  federal legislation and best practices and
  consists of the following components
• Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission Licence
• Radiation Safety Committee
• Radiation Safety Officer
• Internal Permits
• Training
• Inspections

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
RADIATION SAFETY at RYERSON
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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
RADIATION SAFETY at RYERSON

• CNSC Licence
• issued to University from Canadian Nuclear Safety
  Commission allows strictly prescribes the type of
  amounts of radioactive materials on campus.
• Radiation Safety Committee
• advises the University administration on the
  radiation safety program, evaluates the programs
  effectiveness, develops policies and programs
  related to radiation safety

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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
RADIATION SAFETY at RYERSON

• Radiation Safety Officer
• coordinates all activities for the radiation
  safety program including training, inspections,
  regulatory liaison, etc.
• Internal Permits
• The university issues internal permits to users
  that have experience and have been trained,
  typically principal investigators. All
  facilities are inspected prior to a permit being
  issued and all users must successfully pass a
  training course before working with radioactive
  materials.

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Centre for Environmental Health, Safety and
Security Management
Radiation Safety Officer
Liz Krivonosov ekrivono_at_ryerson.ca Phone
4212 EPH 419
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Radiation Safety Awareness Training General
Radiation Safety Awareness
The End