S.C. Code Regs. § § 61-63.I.RHB 1.2

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 10, October 25, 2024

Section 61-63.I.RHB 1.2 - Definitions

As used in these regulations:

1.2.1 "Accelerator-produced material" means any material made radioactive by a particle accelerator.

1.2.2 "Act" means Act No. 223, Atomic Energy and Radiation Control Act enacted by the 1967 Session South Carolina Legislature. (Section 13-7-40 et. seq, 1976 S.C. Code of Law [as amended]).

1.2.3 "Agreement State" means any State with which the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission has entered into an effective agreement under Section274b. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (73 Stat. 689).

1.2.4 "Airborne radioactive material" means any radioactive material dispersed in the air in the form of dusts, fumes, particulates, mists, vapors or gases.

1.2.5 "Airborne radioactivity area" means a room, enclosure, or area in which airborne radioactive materials, composed wholly or partly of licensed material, exist in concentrations--

i) In excess of the derived air concentrations (DACs) specified in Appendix B, RHA 3.53, or ...

ii) To such a degree that an individual present in the area without respiratory protective equipment could exceed, during the hours an individual is present in a week, an intake of 0.6 percent of the annual limit on intake (ALI) or 12 DAC-hours.

1.2.6 "Byproduct material" means:

(1) Any radioactive material (except special nuclear material) yielded in, or made radioactive by, exposure to the radiation incident to the process of producing or using special nuclear material;

(2) The tailings or wastes produced by the extraction or concentration of uranium or thorium from ore processed primarily for its source material content, including discrete surface wastes resulting from uranium solution extraction processes. Underground ore bodies depleted by these solution extraction operations do not constitute "byproduct material" within this definition;

(3)

(i) Any discrete source of radium-226 that is produced, extracted, or converted after extraction, before, on, or after August 8, 2005, for use for a commercial, medical, or research activity; or

(ii) Any material that

(A) Has been made radioactive by use of a particle accelerator; and

(B) Is produced, extracted, or converted after extraction, before, on, or after August 8, 2005, for use for a commercial, medical, or research activity; and

(4) Any discrete source of naturally occurring radioactive material, other than source material, that

(i) The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, (NRC) in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the head of any other appropriate Federal agency, determines would pose a threat similar to the threat posed by a discrete source of radium-226 to the public health and safety or the common defense and security; and

(ii) Before, on, or after August 8, 2005, is extracted or converted after extraction for use in a commercial, medical, or research activity.

1.2.7 "Calendar quarter" means not less than 12 consecutive weeks nor more than 14 consecutive weeks. The first calendar quarter of each year shall begin in January; and subsequent calendar quarters shall be such that no day is included in more than one calendar quarter or omitted from inclusion within a calendar quarter. No licensee shall change the method observed by him of determining calendar quarters except at the beginning of a calendar year.

1.2.8 "Department" means the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

1.2.9 "Depleted Uranium" means the source material uranium in which the isotope Uranium-235 is less than 0.711 weight percent of the total uranium present. Depleted uranium does not include special nuclear material.

1.2.10 "Discrete source" means a radionuclide that has been processed so that its concentration within a material has been purposely increased for use for commercial, medical, or research activities.

1.2.11 "Dosimetry processor" means an individual or an organization that processes and evaluates personnel monitoring equipment in order to determine the radiation dose delivered to the equipment.

1.2.12 "High Radiation Area" means an area, accessible to individuals, in which radiation levels from radiation sources external to the body could result in an individual receiving a dose equivalent in excess of 0.1 rem (1 mSv) in 1 hour at 30 centimeters from the radiation source or 30 centimeters from any surface that the radiation penetrates.

1.2.13 "Human Use" means the intentional internal or external administration of radiation or radioactive material to any individual.

1.2.14 "Individual" means any human being.

1.2.15 "License" except where otherwise specified, means either a general license or specific license issued pursuant to these regulations as further defined in Part II of these regulations.

1.2.16 "Licensing State" means any State with regulations equivalent to the Suggested State Regulations for Control of Radiation.

1.2.17 "NARM" means any naturally occurring or accelerator produced radioactive material. It does not include byproduct, source, or special nuclear material.

1.2.18 "Natural radioactivity" means radioactivity of naturally occurring nuclides.

1.2.19 "Occupational dose" means exposure of an individual to radiation (i) in a restricted area; or (ii) in the course of employment in which the individual's duties involve exposure to radiation; provided that occupational dose shall not be deemed to include any exposure of an individual to radiation for the purpose of medical diagnosis or medical therapy of such individual.

1.2.20 "Particle accelerator" means any machine capable of accelerating electrons, protons, deuterons, or other charged particles in a vacuum and of discharging the resultant particulate or other radiation into a medium at energies usually in excess of 1 megaelectron volt. For purposes of this definition, "accelerator" is an equivalent term.

1.2.21 "Person" means any individual, corporation, partnership, firm, association, trust, estate, public or private institution, group agency, political subdivision of this State, any other state or political subdivision or agency thereof, and any legal successor, representative, agent or agency of the foregoing, other than United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and other than Federal Government Agencies licensed by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

1.2.22 "Personnel monitoring equipment" means devices designed to be carried or worn by an individual for the purpose of measuring the dose which an individual receives (e.g. film badges, film rings, pocket chambers, pocket dosimeters, thermoluminescent dosimeters, etc.).

1.2.23 "Pharmacist" means an individual licensed by the State of South Carolina to compound and dispense drugs, prescriptions and poisons.

1.2.24 "Physician" means an individual licensed by the State of South Carolina to dispense drugs in the practice of medicine.

1.2.25 "Principal activities" means activities authorized by the license which are essential to achieving the purpose(s) for which the license was issued or amended. Storage during which no licensed material is accessed for use or disposal and activities incidental to decontamination or decommissioning are not principal activities.

1.2.26 "Radiation" means gamma rays, X-rays, alpha and beta particles, high-speed electrons, neutrons, and other nuclear particles; but not sound or radio waves, or visible, infrared, or ultra-violet light.

1.2.27 "Radiation Area" means any area, accessible to individuals, in which there exists ionizing radiation at such levels that the whole body could receive a dose equivalent in excess of 5 millirem in 1 hour at 30 centimeters from the radiation source or from any surface that the radiation penetrates.

1.2.28 "Radiation safety officer" means any person directly responsible for protection against radiation.

1.2.29 "Radioactive material" means any material, solid, liquid, or gas, which emits radiation spontaneously.

1.2.30 "Research and development" means (i) theoretical analysis, exploration, or experimentation or (ii) the extension of investigative findings and theories of a scientific or technical nature into practical application for experimental purposes, including the experimental production and testing of models, devices, equipment, materials, and processes. "Research and development" as used in these regulations, does not include the internal or external administration of radiation or radioactive materials to human beings.

1.2.31 "Restricted area" means any area to which access is controlled by the licensee for purposes of protection of individuals from exposure to radiation and radioactive materials. "Restricted area" shall not include any areas used for residential quarters, although a separate room or rooms in a residential building may be set apart as a restricted area.

1.2.32 "Sealed source" means radioactive material that is permanently bonded or fixed in a capsule or matrix designed to prevent release and dispersal of the radioactive material under the most severe conditions which are likely to be encountered in normal use and handling.

1.2.33 "Source material" means: (1) uranium or thorium, or any combination thereof, in any physical or chemical form or (2) ores that contain by weight one-twentieth of one percent (0.05 percent) or more of (i) uranium, (ii) thorium, or (iii) any combination thereof. Source material does not include special nuclear material.

1.2.34 "Source of radiation" means any radioactive material, or any device or equipment emitting or capable of producing radiation.

1.2.35 "Special nuclear material in quantities not sufficient to form a critical mass" means uranium enriched in the isotope U-235 in quantities not exceeding 350 grams of contained U-235; Uranium-233 in quantities not exceeding 200 grams; plutonium in quantities not exceeding 200 grams; or any combination of them in accordance with the following formula: for each kind of special nuclear material, determine the ratio between the quantity of that special nuclear material and the quantity specified above for the same kind of special nuclear material. The sum of such ratios for all of the kinds of special nuclear material in combination shall not exceed "1" (i.e., unity). For example, the following quantities in combination would not exceed the limitation and are within the formula, as follows:

[175 (grams contained U-235)]/350 +" [50(grams U-233)]/200 +" [50 (grams Pu)]/200 = 1

1.2.36 "Storage container" means a device in which sealed sources are transported or stored.

1.2.37 "Survey" means an evaluation of the radiological conditions and potential hazards incident to the production, use, transfer, release, disposal, or presence of sources of radiation. When appropriate, such evaluation includes a physical survey of the location of materials and/or equipment and measurements of levels of radiation or concentrations of radioactive material present.

1.2.38 "Unrefined and unprocessed ore" means ore in its natural form prior to any processing such as grinding, roasting, beneficiating, or refining. Processing does not include sieving or encapsulation of ore or preparation of samples for laboratory analysis.

1.2.39 "Unrestricted area" means any area access to which is not controlled by the licensee for purposes of protection of individuals from exposure to radiation and radioactive materials, and any area used for residential quarters.

1.2.40 "These regulations" means Parts I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, and XI of Regulation 61-63.

1.2.41 "Whole body" means the entire body, or a major portion thereof, or the head and trunk, or the active blood forming organs, or the lens of the eyes or the gonads. Whole body does not refer to the skin of the whole body.

1.2.42 Definitions of certain other words and phrases as used in these regulations are set forth in other sections.

S.C. Code Regs. § 61-63.I.RHB 1.2

Amended by State Register Volume 38, Issue No. 10, eff. 10/24/2014.