The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission requires the tracking of all radioactive materials and sources from ‘cradle to grave.’ The Research Safety Office must be notified of all purchases, transfers and disposals of radioactive materials. This is mainly done through our online purchasing system.

Purchasing Radioisotopes at UBC

Who can purchase radiation?

Permit holders and any lab member who has been designated as an authorized purchaser may place orders through the Radiation Safety Purchasing System in the SRS online purchasing system. To use the system, you must:

• have a current Radiation Safety Training Certificate;
• be an authorized user on a Radioisotope Permit in good standing; and,
• have been designated an authorized purchaser by the permit holder.Note: Permit holders are automatically authorized purchasers. If you can log in but not order radioisotope, check to see that the calibration date of your survey meter recorded in the system is within the past calendar year. Calibration dates should be updated though the RISe system.^ Back to Top
  

  What is required for managing your radioisotope inventory?

  All usage of the Radiation Safety Purchasing System is done using your CWL to log into the SRS Consolidated Database. Once logged, you can access isotope order history with activity and possession limit tracking, see all information associated with your permit in one place including:

  • isotopes
  • isotope orders & inventory
  • authorized users and purchasers
  • rooms that are on the permit

  You can also:

  • print your own permit
  • give your employees access to the system as your authorized personnel and authorized purchasers

  See the instructions on using the isotope purchasing system (PDF).

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  What is required for inventory reporting?

  All permit holders are required to:

  • maintain Radioisotope Inventory Sheet for daily use in their Radiation Records Binder
  • update the online purchasing system when stock vials are received or disposed of
  • file an annual inventory report on their use of radioisotopes.

  The annual reporting is done on-line through the same site as radioisotope purchasing. A report should be filed for each radioisotope listed on the permit, regardless of the amount used. The reports should be filed in January of each year by an authorized user of radioisotopes for the laboratory. Reports are kept accessible on-line for previous year’s entries.

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  What is required for radiation disposal?

  Important!

  Before starting any experiment, plan for the volume, activity, and form of the waste that will be generated.

  All radioactive waste is part your inventory. Your records must be updated each time radioactive material is:

  • held for decay
  • diluted down the drain
  • sent to a landfill
  • sent to for incineration as anatomical or pathological waste

  Note: both the activity/kg and the 2.5 uSv/hr (0.25 mR/h) disposal limits must be met prior to disposal. Where this is truly not possible, special arrangements for disposal of high activity, long lived isotopes can be made by emailing the SRS Research Safety Office. Please refer to the Radiation Safety Manual.

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  What radiation safety questions are frequently asked?

  How do I become an authorized user?

  • Complete the Radiation Safety Training and ask your supervisor to designate you as an authorized user on his or her permit via an amendment in RISe. To do so, your supervisor will require that you create a user profile in RISe that includes your Radiation Safety Training Certificate number(s)

  I’m an authorized user, so why can’t I purchase radioisotope?

  • To purchase you must be designated as an authorized purchaser by the permit holder. Speak to your supervisor about changing your status on the radiation purchasing system.

  I want to purchase an isotope that is not on my permit, what do I need to do?

  • Request a permit amendment through RISe. You will need the name and amount of the radioisotope you wish to add to your permit, as well as a brief description of usage and disposal.

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