Radiation Safety Training for Industrial Radiography IAEA Technical Meeting Vienna, June 2014 Richard van Sonsbeek

Training for who? RT Technicians/Operators  Qualified and certified at least as RT level 1  Operates the RT equipment RT Assistants  Not necessarily qualified or certified as RT technician  Does not operate the RT equipment Radiation Protection Officers  Qualified according to the requirements of the licensing authorities  May be member of a Radiation Protection Unit / Team Any other persons involved in RT  selling, planning, purchasing,…? | 2

Training for what? Radiation Protection during Normal operation  Gamma Radiography  X-ray Radiography  Local Rules Radiation Protection during Emergency Situations  Emergency Procedures How to raise an alarm How to create a safe situation –any RT technician How to retrieve a source –only dedicated persons / teams | 3

IAEA ISEMIR – Initial and Refresher Training RT Technicians / Operators Initial radiation protection (RP) training appears to be well accepted and established 98% of the responding operators had received RP training Refresher training was less well established 70% of Regulatory Bodies required refresher training 80% of companies offered theoretical refresher RP training 60% of companies offered practical refresher RP training | 4

IAEA ISEMIR – Emergency response training RT Technicians / Operators 89% of radiographers stated that procedures for emergencies were included in the radiation protection training, and of these: 65% said that the training included practical exercises for creating a safe situation until the source is able to be recovered; 57% said that the training included practical exercises for source recovery. About 75% of radiographers stated that they were not allowed to perform a source recovery on their own without first contacting a specialized source recovery person. | 5

What does ISO 9712:2012 say? ISO 9712 defines three competence levels in NDT methods, i.e. level 1, 2 and 3; General Examination for RT level 1 and 2  Where not otherwise addressed by national regulations, there shall be an additional examination on radiation safety for the radiographic test method. No further requirements are stated for RP training and examination | 6

IAEA ISEMIR – Emergency response training Radiation Protection Officers Almost all responding regulatory bodies (57 out of 59) stated that they require a person wishing to act as an RPO for a company that performs on-site radiography to have had radiation protection training to an acceptable level. Of these Nearly 70% (39 out of 56) stated that the regulatory body would require a higher level of radiation protection training for the RPO than that for an operator; About 80% (42 out of 52) stated that there was an examination. | 7

International Standard for RP training? Should we consider an international standard for RP training similar to ISO 9712? The following slides provide some suggestions / questions that may be considered Please note that these do not represent a standpoint of Applus RTD in anyway | 8

Potential benefits of a standard for RP training Training, Examination Qualification, Certification Define a minimum level of competence in RP for  RT assistants  RT technicians  RPOs Analogy with NDT method level 1, 2 and 3? Mutual Recognition of RP competence through (3 rd party) certification  Easier cross border movement of RT technicians However we should not forget: –Verification of competence and authorization by employer is a crucial step –Additional instruction on national / local rules remains necessary, including emergency procedures –Additional training in specific equipment remains necessary | 9

Potential content of a standard for RP training (based on ISO 9712) Define minimum level of competence  Training hours an subjects (syllabus) Theoretical Practical  Examination and subjects Theoretical Practical  Qualification proven field experience  Certification based on examination and proven field experience  Re-certification (e.g. after 5 years) Proven continued work experience Based on yearly re-fresher training and an examination | 10

IAEA ISEMIR – Initial and Refresher Training Standard for Training Hours Based on the responses the standard for RP training hours for RT Technicians (“level 2”) could be PartDurationUnit Initial Theoretical 30 – 40*Hours Initial Practical 20 – 40*Hours Refresher Theoretical 8Hours Refresher Practical 8Hours Refresher Interval 1Year | 11 *Range between in-house and third party providers of RP training

Challenges Technical competences vs. Behavioral competence  For example: RPOs need to communicate effectively with different stakeholders, Operational Management, Radiographers, Clients, Regulators, etc… Conflict with existing RP training /qualification / certification / registration / licensing of  RT technicians and  RPOs | 12