REGULATORY STANDARDS FOR RADIOACTIVE

Use of IR in medical, dental, and veterinary facilities is governed by either federal or state regulations. The NRC, drawing its authority from the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, regulates byproduct material, source material, and special nuclear material, and their uses. Here OSHA controls IR sources (X-ray machine, accelerators, accelerator-produced materials, electron microscopes, betatrons, and technology-enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials) not covered by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and not regulated by the NRC.

A 1989 ‘‘Memorandum of Understanding. . .’’ defined responsibilities and authorities of each agency. Each agency has arrangements with some states for regulatory enforcement. NRC has an Agreement State Program, by which a State can sign a formal agreement with the NRC to assume NRC regulatory authority and responsibility over certain byproduct, source, and small quantities of special nuclear material. There are 33 States, listed in Table 4, with two (Pennsylvania and Minnesota) in the process of becoming Agreement States.

The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 provides a statutory basis under which NRC relinquishes to the states portions of its regulatory authority to license and regulate byproduct materials (radioisotopes); source materials (uranium and thorium); and certain quantities of special nuclear materials. The mechanism for the transfer of authority to a state is an agreement signed by the Governor of the State and the Chairman of the Commission.

The NRC has established compatibility obligations with the Agreement State regarding its current rules and future regulations that it may promulgate. Because twothirds of the states have assumed Agreement status, the NRC has provided them increasing voice in their activities. This is done through the NRC Office of Tribal and State Programs and the independent Organization of Agreement States (OAS). Both can be accessed via the URL, http:// www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/state-tribal/agreement-states. html. The NRC regulations apply in federal facilities directly holding federal licenses and in the nonagreement states. Agreement states have certain periods within which state regulations must become compliant, at certain levels of compliance, with NRC regulations. During this transition period state regulatory agencies enforce their current state regulations, based on NRC regulations in force prior to the regulatory changes, as they prepare new state regulations compliant with the recent revisions changes in federal codes. Twenty-six states have OSHA-approved state plans with their individual state standards and enforcement policies.