Radiation Protection Requirements for Source Exchange in Industrial Radiography

Source Exchange is undertaken to temporarily remove and return a Source Assembly from a Gamma Source Projector to allow examination, maintenance and test to be undertaken on the projector or to allow a redundant Source Assembly (spent) to be removed and replaced with a new Source Assembly.

Ideally Source Exchange should be undertaken off-site in dedicated facilities operated by a specialist Source Supplier. If not then it should be undertaken within a suitable Shielded Radiography Enclosure using the Installed Safety System, with the Source Exchange activities undertaken by suitability qualified and experienced personnel from the specialist supplier or from the industrial radiography employer. There are no circumstances when a Site Radiography Gamma Windout may be used to undertake Source Exchange within an enclosure.

For Source Exchange undertaken within a Shielded Radiography Enclosure, the first step is the completion of a suitable Radiation Risk Assessment in conjunction with the appointed Radiation Protection Adviser (RPA). The enclosure selected must be suitable for undertaking the Source Exchange in accordance with the Operation Limitations for the enclosure derived from the Critical Examination.

A Source Exchanger is typically an approved Type A or Type B Transport Package that is designed to safely contain one or more Source Assemblies during shipment and storage. Only approved and compatible Source Assemblies from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) must be used.

There must be clarity on who is undertaking the Source Exchange – the Industrial Radiography employer or the Source Supplier. For the latter there must be evidence of Handover of Radiation Controlled Area (RCA)/Radiography Equipment (normally a suitable form completed by both parties) or the work could proceed under the client’s Radiation Risk Assessment, Local Rules and Contingency Plans, provided they address Source Exchange.

Personnel undertaking Source Exchange must be Classified Persons, be wearing a suitable personal dosimeter and Personal Electronic Dosimeter (PED) and using a suitable range handheld doserate instrument, which is used to confirm the source assembly is within the safe shielded position when first re-entering the enclosure.

Before commencing the Source Exchange, personnel must understand the requirements of the specific Source Exchange model to be used. There must be copies of the applicable Source Exchanger Operations & Maintenance Manual and also its applicable Transport Package Approval Certificate available for review.

The required Pre-Use Safety Checks on the Installed Safety System, visual checks on the projector, windout gear, guidetube (dedicated source exchange model) and the Go/No-Go Checks on the Teleflex/Source Assembly connections are completed and recorded. Confirm that the Radiography Emergency Equipment is available at Control Point before commencing the Source Exchange activities.

L2 Business Consulting Limited is a HSE recognised RPA Body with significant experience in provision of RPA advice (including completion of the new Safety Assessments to support Consent Certificate applications) and training for Industrial Radiography.