Nevada Technical Associates, Inc.

Phone 702-564-2798
P.O. Box 93355, Las Vegas, NV 89193

Las Vegas at Night

Las Vegas, Nevada (Course fee $950)

You will have the option of adding the Radiation Safety Officer Refresher course during online registration. It is offered the same week. Combined cost of both courses is $1190.

April 28 - 30, 2010---- online registration.

November 10 - 12, 2010 -- Online registration not yet open but you may call to register.

We also offer this course in San Antonio, Texas and Orlando, Florida. See Orlando information and San Antonio information and

Our Transportation of Radioactive Materials course is designed for radiation safety officers, safety officers, technicians, managers and others who may be involved in transporting radioactive materials or in preparing radioactive materials for transport. The training course will cover the applicable 49 CFR DOT and 10 CFR NRC transportation of radioactive material regulations. The course will cover DOT 49 CFR Parts 170 - 189 with emphasis on Parts 172 - 178 and 10 CFR 71. These regulations cover hazardous material classification, hazardous waste, labeling, types of packaging and containers, packaging and container limits, radiation level standards, and reporting and record keeping requirements. Fissile and Type B materials are not covered in detail. The course will also cover 10 CFR 61 (NRC Land Disposal of Radioactive Material) and related requirements from 10 CFR 19, 20 and 40. The course includes package and shipping document preparation exercises.

Upon passing a required examination, students are provided a certificate showing they successfully completed the course. This certificate, along with the training manual, may be used to document the training for employer certification, as required by 49 CFR 172.704(d). It is important to note that the requirements for documentation of training are very specific and detailed. The exact details of those requirements can be found at this link.

The instructor for this course is Kenneth Smith, a Certified Health Physicist with substantial experience with transportation rules and regulations.

We have recently added to the course a section on regulations related to air transport of radioactive dangerous goods. The training will be based on the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR). Air cargo carriers are requiring proof that the shipper has completed IATA-based training before they will accept packages for air shipment.

For the Las Vegas course, we are offering our Radiation Safety Officer Refresher course during the same week and at the same location. Those who wish to attend both courses will get a reduced rate of $1190 as the total cost for both courses.

Registration - You may register by any of several methods. The preferred method is online registration which you can do by clicking on the link beside the course date. You may also call to register.

C.E.U. Credits - This course has been approved for 16 Continuing Education Credits by the American Academy of Health Physics.

HOTEL INFORMATION: The course will be held at the Microtel Inn and Suites at 55 East Robindale Road, in Las Vegas. This is one block off the south end of the Las Vegas Strip. The phone number of the hotel is 800-771-7171. The hotel has agreed to provide rooms at a rate no higher than the government rate and possibly less. Room rates have dropped sharply in Las Vegas in recent months and are volatile, so rather than quote a rate here, attendees are urged to contact the hotel and ask about their rates. In recent months, the normal rate has been considerably less than $100 per night.

Transportation and Packaging of Radioactive Materials

Course Outline

1. Introduction and Transportation Regulatory Agencies

1.1. Basic philosophy of RAM transportation

1.2. IAEA, ICAO. IATA, DOT, NRC, U.S. Postal Service, State Agencies

1.3. Overview of revised (2004) 10CFR71 and 49CFR170-189

1.4. Overview of IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations (2005)

2. Applicability and Limitations

2.1. Definitions

3. Classification / Identification

3.1. A1/A2 System

3.2. Types of Material

3.3. Limited Quantities, Instruments, and Articles

4. Radiation, Contamination, and Activity Limits

4.1. Limits on Contents

4.2. Limits on Packages

4.3. Limits on Vehicles/Carriers

5. Packaging of Radioactive Materials

5.1. Standards for all Packages

5.2. Industrial Packages

5.3. Excepted, Type A, Type B, Fissile

5.4. LSA and SCO

6. Markings and Labels

6.1. Marking

6.2. TI

6.3. Hazard Label Categories

6.4. CSI

6.5. Handling Labels

7. Carrier Related Requirements

7.1. Exclusive Use

7.2. Placarding

7.3. Route Control

7.4. Advance Notification

8. Documents

8.1. Shipping Papers/Manifests

8.1.1. Air Waybills

8.1.2. Dangerous Goods Deceleration

8.1.3. Competent Authority Certificates

8.2. Emergency Response Information

8.3. Reports/Notifications

8.4. Record Retention

9. Programs

9.1. Quality Assurance/Control

9.2. Training

9.3. Export Requirements

Background Information

Roles of NRC and DOT

The transportation of radioactive materials is regulated jointly by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Department of Transportation (DOT). The responsibilities of the two agencies are generally divided as follows:

* DOT - Regulates shippers and carriers of hazardous materials, including radioactive material. It is responsible for such items as vehicle safety, routing, shipping papers, and emergency response information and shipper/carrier training requirements.

* NRC - Regulates users of radioactive material in 17 states (33 states regulate material within their borders) and approves the design, fabrication, use and maintenance of shipping containers for more hazardous radioactive material shipments. It also regulates the physical protection of commercial spent fuel in transit against sabotage or other malicious acts.

Transport of Radioactive Materials

The NRC requires radioactive materials to be shipped in accordance with the hazardous materials transportation safety regulations of DOT. Millions of “packages” of radioactive material are shipped throughout the United States annually by rail, air, sea, and over roads. They contain small quantities of radioactive material that are typically used in industry and medicine.

These packages are intended to provide a safe and economical means of transporting relatively small quantities of radioactive material. It is assumed that these packages could be damaged in an accident and that a portion of the contents could be released. The DOT regulations, therefore, prescribe limits on the maximum amounts of radioactivity that can be transported in these packages, such that doses from any accidents involving these packages will have no substantial health risks. Examples could include transport of smoke detectors, watch dials, radiopharmaceuticals, and slightly contaminated equipment such as syringes used to administer radiopharmaceuticals.