General

Special Nuclear Material, which include (1) plutonium, uranium 233, uranium enriched in the isotope 233 or in the isotope 235, and (2) any material artificially enriched by any of the above, is considered a radiation source and must be handled in accordance with the requirements of this guide.   


Specific requirements

  1. All Special Nuclear Material will be stored and used in the Radiation Laboratory unless     specific approval is granted by the Radiation Safety Office for use at other locations at UML.  Reactor fuel will be stored in the reactor building or in an approved vault in the Radiation Laboratory.
  2. Special Nuclear Material will not be combined or physically altered in any way to make a single source from several sources. Consideration will always be given to maintaining Special Nuclear Material in critically safe geometries.  Use of the fuel in the reactor is obviously excluded from this consideration.
  3. Leak tests and source inventories will be performed semiannually on all Specific Nuclear Material sealed sources (excluding reactor fuel). 
  4. The Control Procedures in Appendix IV and the Radiation Laboratory Rules in Appendix V will be applicable to the laboratory use of all Special Nuclear Material.  The use of reactor fuel will be in accordance with the reactor license and specific operating procedures maintained by the reactor operations group.
  5. Special security procedures apply to the possession and use of special nuclear material which do not apply necessarily to by product material.  Such procedures will be made known to the user by the Radiation Safety Office and must be followed.