WAC 246-221-250   Notification of incidents.  (1) Immediate notification. Notwithstanding other requirements for notification, each licensee and/or registrant shall immediately (as soon as possible but no later than four hours after discovery of an incident) notify the State Department of Health, Division of Radiation Protection, P.O. Box 47827, Olympia, Washington 98504-7827, by telephone (206/682-5327) and confirming letter, telegram, mailgram, or facsimile of any incident involving any radiation source which may have caused or threatens to cause:

     (a) An individual to receive:

     (i) A total effective dose equivalent of 0.25 Sv (25 rem) or more;

     (ii) A lens dose equivalent of 0.75 Sv (75 rem) or more; or

     (iii) A shallow dose equivalent to the skin or extremities or a total organ dose equivalent of 2.5 Sv (250 rem) or more;

     (b) The release of radioactive material, inside or outside of a restricted area, so that, had an individual been present for twenty-four hours, the individual could have received an intake five times the occupational ALI. This provision does not apply to locations where personnel are not normally stationed during routine operations, such as hot-cells or process enclosures; or

     (c) The loss of ability to take immediate protective actions necessary to avoid exposure to sources of radiation or releases of radioactive material that could exceed regulatory limits. Events which could cause such a loss of ability include fires, explosions, toxic gas releases, etc.

     (2) Twenty-four hour notification. Each licensee and/or registrant shall within twenty-four hours of discovery of the event, notify the State Department of Health, Division of Radiation Protection, P.O. Box 47827, Olympia, Washington 98504-7827, by telephone (206/682-5327) and confirming letter, telegram, mailgram, or facsimile of any incident involving any radiation source possessed which may have caused or threatens to cause:

     (a) An individual to receive, in a period of twenty-four hours:

     (i) A total effective dose equivalent exceeding 0.05 Sv (5 rem);

     (ii) A lens dose equivalent exceeding 0.15 Sv (15 rem); or

     (iii) A shallow dose equivalent to the skin or extremities or a total organ dose equivalent exceeding 0.5 Sv (50 rem);

     (b) The release of radioactive material, inside or outside of a restricted area, so that, had an individual been present for twenty-four hours, the individual could have received an intake in excess of one occupational ALI. This provision does not apply to locations where personnel are not normally stationed during routine operations, such as hot-cells or process enclosures;

     (c) An unplanned contamination incident that:

     (i) Requires access to the contaminated area, by workers or the general public, to be restricted for more than twenty-four hours by imposing additional radiological controls or by prohibiting entry into the area;

     (ii) Involves a quantity of material greater than five times the lowest annual limit on intake specified in WAC 246-221-290; and

     (iii) Has access to the area restricted for a reason other than to allow radionuclides with a half-life of less than twenty-four hours to decay prior to decontamination;

     (d) Equipment failure or inability to function as designed when:

     (i) The equipment is required by regulation or license condition to prevent releases exceeding regulatory limits, to prevent exposures to radiation and radioactive material exceeding regulatory limits or to mitigate the consequences of an accident;

     (ii) The equipment is required to be available and operable at the time it becomes disabled or fails to function; and

     (iii) No redundant equipment is available and operable to perform the required safety functions;

     (e) An unplanned medical treatment at a medical facility of an individual with spreadable radioactive contamination on the individual's clothing or body; or

     (f) An unplanned fire or explosion damaging any radioactive material or any device, container or equipment containing radioactive material when:

     (i) The quantity of radioactive material involved is greater than five times the lowest annual limit on intake specified in WAC 246-221-290; and

     (ii) The damage affects the integrity of the radioactive material or its container.

     (3) For each occurrence requiring notification pursuant to this section, a prompt investigation of the situation shall be initiated by the licensee/registrant. A written report of the findings of the investigation shall be sent to the department within thirty days.

     (4) The licensee or registrant shall prepare each report filed with the department under this section so that names of individuals who have received exposure to sources of radiation are stated in a separate and detachable portion of the report.

     Any report filed with the department under this section shall contain the information described in WAC 246-221-260 (2) and (3).

     (5) The provisions of this section do not apply to doses that result from planned special exposures, provided such doses are within the limits for planned special exposures and are reported pursuant to WAC 246-221-265.

     (6) Telephone notifications that do not involve immediate or twenty-four hour notification should be made to the Olympia office (360 236-3300).

     (7) Telephone notification required under this section shall include, to the extent that the information is available at the time of notification:

     (a) The caller's name and call-back telephone number;

     (b) A description of the incident including date and time;

     (c) The exact location of the incident;

     (d) The radionuclides, quantities, and chemical and physical forms of the radioactive materials involved; and

     (e) Any personnel radiation exposure data available.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 70.98.050. 01-05-110, § 246-221-250, filed 2/21/01, effective 3/24/01; 98-13-037, § 246-221-250, filed 6/8/98, effective 7/9/98; 95-01-108, § 246-221-250, filed 12/21/94, effective 1/21/95; 94-01-073, § 246-221-250, filed 12/9/93, effective 1/9/94. Statutory Authority: RCW 70.98.050 and 70.98.080. 91-15-112 (Order 184), § 246-221-250, filed 7/24/91, effective 8/24/91. Statutory Authority: RCW 43.70.040. 91-02-049 (Order 121), recodified as § 246-221-250, filed 12/27/90, effective 1/31/91. Statutory Authority: RCW 70.98.080. 87-01-031 (Order 2450), § 402-24-190, filed 12/11/86; 83-19-050 (Order 2026), § 402-24-190, filed 9/16/83. Statutory Authority: RCW 70.98.050. 81-01-011 (Order 1570), § 402-24-190, filed 12/8/80; Order 1095, § 402-24-190, filed 2/6/76; Order 708, § 402-24-190, filed 8/24/72; Order 1, § 402-24-190, filed 7/2/71; Order 1, § 402-24-190, filed 1/8/69; Rules (part), filed 10/26/66.]