​​​​​​​​It's Broad Scope​ License Inspection Time

The NIH Broad Scope license covers our approval to possess and use radioactive materials for benchtop, animal, and clinical research. The last time this license was inspected was October 2021; it is now due for inspection again. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission visits are typically unannounced, so the time to get your lab inspection-ready is NOW. 

Below are some questions you can ask yourself as you assess your lab for its level of readiness:

• Have your survey meters been calibrated within the last year?
  
• Have your chemical fume hoods been calibrated within the last year?
• Are lab staff adhering to the prohibition of food and drink inside posted labs?
• Are all source vials being stored securely? 
• Is radioactive material, including radwaste, attended at all times when not in secure storage? 
• If issued dosimetry, are lab staff wearing it? Is it for the current wear period? 
• Are lab staff sufficiently performing a daily contamination monitoring check on days when radioactive material is used? Does it include the floor and their shoes? Remember that labs using only H-3 or low energy beta emitters should not be using a Pan-GM to survey.
• Are the Utilization/Disposal forms being completed to properly account for source vial inventory?
• Are only pre-approved (listed) users handling the source vials?
• Is all radioactive waste collected properly into the appropriate containers? 
• Are lab staff adhering to the prohibition of liquid radwaste disposal to the sink drain?
• Are the hallways free of radioactive material sources and contaminated items (not counting approved exceptions)?
• Does your lab door have a legible and visible “Caution Radioactive Material" sign? Is it up-to-date?
• Are all lab staff wearing the proper PPE when handling radioactive material?
• Has everyone in the lab received radiation safety training? 

If you have any questions about your lab's compliance status, or need additional radwaste containers or a new Caution sign for your lab door, contact your Area Health Physicist from the Division of Radiation Safety at 301-496-5774 NOW. 

​Be on the look-out for an email to all Authorized Users, which will be sent to alert you that the NRC has arrived for the Broad Scope license inspection – and be inspection-ready for that moment. Here's to a clean inspection!