Chapter Eight - Radiation Safety

Film Badges and Dosimeters:

All visitors and personnel at CHESS are required to wear radiation badges when in designated radiation areas.  If visitors are touring with a group, the tour group leader must wear a dosimeter.  Badges are collected and replaced (for regular personnel) once per month.  Badges for short-term visitors or users are issued when they arrive and collected when the depart.  Proper record-keeping is essential to meet this mandate, and to generate statistics on CHESS users.  It is the CHESS Operator's responsibility to sign out and sign in badges, and to make sure that users have completed the appropriate safety training and have received a safety tour within the past 2 years before they can be issued a radiation badge.

Radiation badges do not protect you from radiation or give an immediate reading of your exposure to radiation - they read neutron, beta, gamma, and x-ray radiation exposure over a period of time.  Unusual exposures will show up when the badges are processed and would be brought to your attention immediately.

Dosimeters are for use when a group will make a brief visit to the facility and will be moving as a unit through the facility.  In this case, it is appropriate for the tour guide to carry a single dosimeter rather than assigning each person an individual badge (Tour guides, which must be CHESS personnel, must also wear a radiation badge).  Be careful not to drop the dosimeter - this will invalidate any readings.

Last Update: 2006-09-21