Section 335.9010  Training for Radiation Safety Officer and Associate Radiation Safety Officer

Except as provided in Section 335.9160, the licensee shall require an individual fulfilling the responsibilities of the Radiation Safety Officer or an individual assigned duties and tasks as an Associate Radiation Safety Officer under the requirement in subsection 335.1040(b) to be an individual who:

a)         Is certified by a specialty board whose certification process has been recognized by the Agency, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission or an Agreement State and who meets the requirements described in subsection (f).  To have its certification process recognized, a specialty board shall require all candidates for certification to meet the following requirements:

1)         The candidate shall:

A)        Hold a bachelor's or graduate degree from an accredited college or university in physical science or engineering or biological science with a minimum of 20 college credits in physical science;

B)        Have 5 or more years of professional experience in health physics (graduate training may be substituted for no more than 2 years of the required experience) including at least 3 years in applied health physics; and

C)        Pass an examination administered by diplomates of the specialty board that evaluates knowledge and competence in radiation physics and instrumentation, radiation protection, mathematics pertaining to the use and measurement of radioactivity, radiation biology and radiation dosimetry; or

2)         The candidate shall:

A)       Hold a master's or doctorate degree in physics, medical physics, other physical science, engineering, or applied mathematics from an accredited college or university;

B)        Have 2 years of full-time practical training or supervised experience in medical physics:

i)           Under the supervision of a medical physicist who is certified in medical physics by a specialty board recognized by the Commission or an Agreement State; or

ii)          In clinical nuclear medicine facilities providing diagnostic or therapeutic services under the direction of physicians who meet the requirements for authorized users in Sections 335.9040, 335.9050 or 335.9160; and

iii)        Pass an examination administered by diplomates of the specialty board that evaluates knowledge and competence in clinical diagnostic radiological or nuclear medicine physics and in radiation safety; or

b)        Has successfully completed a structured educational program consisting of both subsections (b)(1) and (b)(2):

1)         200 hours of classroom and laboratory training in the following areas:

A)        Radiation physics and instrumentation;

B)        Radiation protection;

C)        Mathematics pertaining to the use and measurement of radioactivity;

D)        Radiation biology; and

E)        Radiation dosimetry; and

2)         One year of full-time radiation safety experience under the supervision of the individual identified as the Radiation Safety Officer on an Agency, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or Agreement State license or permit issued by a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission master material licensee that authorizes similar types and uses of radioactive material.  An Associate Radiation Safety Officer may provide supervision for those areas for which the Associate Radiation Safety Officer is authorized on an Agency, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or Agreement State license or permit issued by a master material licensee.   The full-time radiation safety experience shall involve the following:

A)        Shipping, receiving and performing related radiation monitoring;

B)        Using and performing checks for proper operation of instruments used to determine the activity of dosages, instruments used to measure radionuclides and survey meters;

C)        Securing and controlling radioactive material;

D)        Using administrative controls to avoid mistakes in the administration of radioactive material;

E)        Using procedures to prevent or minimize radioactive contamination and using proper decontamination procedures;

F)         Using emergency procedures to control radioactive material;

G)        Disposing of radioactive material; and

3)         This individual must obtain a written attestation, signed by a preceptor Radiation Safety Officer or Associate Radiation Safety Officer who has experience with the radiation safety aspects of similar types of use of  radioactive material for which the individual is seeking approval as a Radiation Safety Officer or an Associate Radiation Safety Officer, that the individual has satisfactorily completed the requirements in subsections (b)(1), (b)(2) and (f) and is able to independently fulfill the radiation safety-related duties as a Radiation Safety Officer or as an Associate Radiation Safety Officer for a medical use license; or

c)         Is a medical physicist who has been certified by a specialty board whose certification process has been recognized by the Agency under subsection 335.9150(a) or the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission or an Agreement State and has experience with the radiation safety aspects of similar types of use of radioactive material for which approval of the individual as Radiation Safety Officer or Associate Radiation Safety Officer is sought and meets the requirements in subsection (f); or

d)        Is an authorized user or authorized medical physicist identified on an Agency, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or Agreement State license, a permit issued by a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission master material licensee, a permit issued by an Agency, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or an Agreement State licensee of broad scope, or a permit issued by a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission master material license broad scope permittee; has experience with the radiation safety aspects of similar types of use of radioactive material for which the licensee seeks the approval of the individual as Radiation Safety Officer or an Associate Radiation Safety Officer; and meets the requirements in subsection (f); or

e)         Has experience with the radiation safety aspects of the types of use of radioactive material for which the individual is seeking simultaneous approval both as the Radiation Safety Officer and the authorized user on the same new medical use license.  The individual must also meet the requirements in paragraph (f) of this Section.

f)         Has received training in radiation safety, regulatory issues and emergency procedures for the types of use for which approval is sought.  This training requirement may be satisfied by completing training that is supervised by a Radiation Safety Officer, Associate Radiation Safety Officer, authorized medical physicist, authorized nuclear pharmacist, or authorized user, as appropriate, who is authorized for the types of use for which the licensee is seeking approval.

AGENCY NOTE:  Specialty boards whose certification processes have been recognized by the Agency, the U.S.  Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or an Agreement State will be posted on the NRC's website.

(Source:  Amended at 46 Ill. Reg. 966, effective December 21, 2021)