ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to acquaint the reader with a scheme for determining adequate and “cost-effective” facilities, procedures, and equipment for handling various types and quantities of radioactive materials. This scheme appropriately considers “relative radiotoxicity” in determining levels of radioactive material above which specific safety provisions, such as hoods, glove boxes, and bioassay sampling, should be considered in the design of a new operation. “Relative radiotoxicity” is defined to be inversely proportioned to the maximum single intake dose per unit activity inhaled. This order is also approximately proportional to the “maximum permissible concentration in air” (MPCa) or to the “derived air concentration” (DAC). By either single intake in most hazardous forms to give unit maximum organ dose or by MPC or DAC, the radionuclides “naturally” order themselves over about eight orders of magnitude.
