Wash. Admin. Code § 246-237-010

Current through Register Vol. 24-23, December 1, 2024

Section 246-237-010 - Definitions, abbreviations, and acronyms

The definitions, abbreviations, and acronyms in this section and in WAC 246-220-010 apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(1) "Access control" means a system for allowing only approved individuals to have unescorted access to the security zone and for ensuring that all other individuals are subject to escorted access.

(2) "Act" means the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, including any amendments thereto.

(3) "Aggregated" means accessible by the breach of a single physical barrier that would allow access to radioactive material in any form, including any devices that contain the radioactive material, when the total activity equals or exceeds a Category 2 quantity of radioactive material.

(4) "Agreement state" means any state with which the Atomic Energy Commission or the NRC has entered into an effective agreement under subsection 274b of the act. Nonagreement state means any other state.

(5) "Approved individual" means an individual whom the licensee has determined to be trustworthy and reliable for unescorted access in accordance with WAC 246-237-021 through 246-237-033 and who has completed the training required by WAC 246-237-043(3).

(6) "Background investigation" means the investigation conducted by a licensee or applicant to support the determination of trustworthiness and reliability.

(7) "Becquerel (Bq)" means the SI unit of activity. One becquerel is equal to one disintegration or transformation per second (s^-1).

(8) "By-product material" means:

(a) Any radioactive material (except special nuclear material) yielded in, or made radioactive by, exposure to the radiation incident to the process of producing or using special nuclear material;

(b) The tailings or wastes produced by the extraction or concentration of uranium or thorium from ore processed primarily for its source material content, including discrete surface wastes resulting from uranium solution extraction processes. Underground ore bodies depleted by these solution extraction operations do not constitute "byproduct material" within this definition;

(c)

(i) Any discrete source of radium-226 that is produced, extracted, or converted after extraction, before, on, or after August 8, 2005, for use for a commercial, medical, or research activity; or

(ii) Any material that:

(A) Has been made radioactive by use of a particle accelerator; and

(B) Is produced, extracted, or converted after extraction, before, on, or after August 8, 2005, for use for a commercial, medical, or research activity; and

(d) Any discrete source of naturally occurring radioactive material, other than source material, that:

(i) The NRC, in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the head of any other appropriate federal agency, determines would pose a threat similar to the threat posed by a discrete source of radium-226 to the public health and safety or the common defense and security; and

(ii) Before, on, or after August 8, 2005, is extracted or converted after extraction for use in a commercial, medical, or research activity.

(9) "Carrier" means a person engaged in the transportation of passengers or property by land or water as a common, contract, or private carrier, or by civil aircraft.

(10) "Category 1 quantity of radioactive material" means a quantity of radioactive material meeting or exceeding the Category 1 threshold in Table 1 of WAC 246-237-900 Appendix A: Table 1-Category 1 and Category 2. This is determined by calculating the ratio of the total activity of each radionuclide to the Category 1 threshold for that radionuclide and adding the ratios together. If the sum equals or exceeds one, the quantity would be considered a Category 1 quantity. Category 1 quantities of radioactive material do not include the radioactive material contained in any fuel assembly, subassembly, fuel rod, or fuel pellet.

(11) "Category 2 quantity of radioactive material" means a quantity of radioactive material meeting or exceeding the Category 2 threshold but less than the Category 1 threshold in Table 1 of WAC 246-237-900 Appendix A: Table 1-Category 1 and Category 2. This is determined by calculating the ratio of the total activity of each radionuclide to the Category 2 threshold for that radionuclide and adding the ratios together. If the sum equals or exceeds one, the quantity would be considered a Category 2 quantity. Category 2 quantities of radioactive material do not include the radioactive material contained in any fuel assembly, subassembly, fuel rod, or fuel pellet.

(12) "Curie" means a unit of quantity of radioactivity. One curie (Ci) is that quantity of radioactive material which decays at the rate of 3.7 x 10¹⁰ transformations per second (tps).

(13) "Diversion" means the unauthorized movement of radioactive material subject to this chapter to a location different from the material's authorized destination inside or outside of the site at which the material is used or stored.

(14) "Escorted access" means accompaniment while in a security zone by an approved individual who maintains continuous direct visual surveillance at all times over an individual who is not approved for unescorted access.

(15) "FBI" means the federal bureau of investigation.

(16) "Fingerprint orders" means the orders issued by the NRC or the legally binding requirements issued by agreement states that require fingerprints and criminal history records checks for individuals with unescorted access to Category 1 and Category 2 quantities of radioactive material or safeguards information modified handling.

(17) "Government agency" means any executive department, commission, independent establishment, corporation, wholly or partly owned by the United States of America which is an instrumentality of the United States, or any board, bureau, division, service, office, officer, authority, administration, or other establishment in the executive branch of the government.

(18) "License" means, except where otherwise specified, a license for radioactive material issued pursuant to the regulations in chapters 246-232, 246-233, 246-235, 246-240, 246-243, or 246-244 WAC.

(19) "License issuing authority" means the licensing agency (the department, NRC, or an agreement state) that issued the license.

(20) "LLEA (local law enforcement agency)" means a public or private organization that has been approved by a federal, state, or local government to carry firearms and make arrests, and is authorized and has the capability to provide an armed response in the jurisdiction where the licensed Category 1 or Category 2 quantity of radioactive material is used, stored, or transported.

(21) "Lost or missing licensed material" means licensed material whose location is unknown. It includes material that has been shipped but has not reached its destination and whose location cannot be readily traced in the transportation system.

(22) "Mobile device" means a piece of equipment containing licensed radioactive material that is either mounted on wheels or casters, or otherwise equipped for moving without a need for disassembly or dismounting; or designed to be hand carried. Mobile devices do not include stationary equipment installed in a fixed location.

(23) "Movement control center" means an operations center that is remote from transport activity and that maintains position information on the movement of radioactive material, receives reports of attempted attacks or thefts, provides a means for reporting these and other problems to appropriate agencies, and can request and coordinate appropriate aid.

(24) "No-later-than arrival time" means the date and time that the shipping licensee and receiving licensee have established as the time at which an investigation will be initiated if the shipment has not arrived at the receiving facility. The no-later-than arrival time may not be more than six hours after the estimated arrival time for shipments of Category 2 quantities of radioactive material.

(25) "NRC" or "commission" means the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

(26) "Person" means any individual, corporation, partnership, firm, association, trust, estate, public or private institution, group, government agency other than NRC or the Department of Energy, any state or any political subdivision of, or any political entity within, a state, any foreign government or nation, or any political subdivision of any such government or nation, or other entity, and any legal successor, representative, agent or agency of the foregoing.

(27) "Reviewing official" means the individual who makes the trustworthiness and reliability determination of an individual to determine whether the individual may have, or continue to have, unescorted access to the Category 1 or Category 2 quantities of radioactive materials that are possessed by the licensee.

(28) "Sabotage" means deliberate damage, with malevolent intent, to a Category 1 or Category 2 quantity of radioactive material, a device that contains a Category 1 or Category 2 quantity of radioactive material, or the components of the security system.

(29) "Safe haven" means a readily recognizable and readily accessible site at which security is present or from which, in the event of an emergency, the transport crew can notify and wait for the local law enforcement authorities.

(30) "Security zone" means any temporary or permanent area determined and established by the licensee for the physical protection of Category 1 or Category 2 quantities of radioactive material.

(31) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

(32) "Telemetric position monitoring system" means a data transfer system that captures information by instrumentation or measuring devices about the location and status of a transport vehicle or package between the departure and destination locations.

(33) "Trustworthiness and reliability" are characteristics of an individual considered dependable in judgment, character, and performance, such that unescorted access to Category 1 or Category 2 quantities of radioactive material by that individual does not constitute an unreasonable risk to the public health and safety or security. A determination of trustworthiness and reliability for this purpose is based upon the results from a background investigation.

(34) "Unescorted access" means solitary access to an aggregated Category 1 or Category 2 quantity of radioactive material or the devices that contain the material.

(35) "United States" means when used in a geographical sense includes Puerto Rico and all territories and possessions of the United States.

Wash. Admin. Code § 246-237-010

Adopted by WSR 16-13-079, Filed 6/14/2016, effective 7/15/2016

Amended by WSR 22-11-063, Filed 5/16/2022, effective 6/16/2022

Amended by WSR 23-21-056, Filed 10/11/2023, effective 11/11/2023