Radioactive Waste Management

EH&S’s Radioactive Waste Management Program oversees radioactive material use and disposal under the requirements set by federal and state rules and regulations, and the UW Radioactive Materials License issued by the State of Washington Department of Health.

EH&S’s Radioactive Waste Management Program provides training, consultation and resources to ensure safe and compliant storage, packaging, labeling, collection, sampling and disposal of radioactive waste.

Radioactive waste generators are required to:

Radiation Detection Instrument Calibration

EH&S operates a radiation detection instrument repair and calibration facility that can accommodate a wide variety of equipment.

Routine calibration of radiation detection instruments is a required condition of regulatory and radioactive material licensing. All portable count rate meters (commonly referred to as GM Survey meters or “Geiger “ counters) and exposure rate meters (commonly referred to as ion chambers) require annual calibration.

Radiation Producing Devices

All radiation producing devices (RPD) are regulated by the Washington State Department of Health and must be registered with the state prior to use. The University possesses one registration managed by EH&S’s Radiation Safety team. Depending on the type of device and its intended use, there are requirements for facility design, worker training and protection, and device operation.

Radiation Producing Devices Registration Form

 

Radiation producing devices are any equipment that when energized capable of emitting ionizing radiation. Types of radiation producing devices include X-ray diffraction or fluorescence units, electron microscopes, particle accelerators, E-beam evaporator, and veterinary/dental/medical radiography devices.

All radiation producing devices used in UW owned or leased facilities must be registered using this form.

 

Control of Radioactive Materials

The use of radioactive materials at the University is regulated by the Washington State Department of Health and strictly controlled by Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S).

Radioactive material is ordered by authorized users and delivered to EH&S’s Radiation Safety Team, which distributes the material to authorized personnel.