Many think RSO training is all one and the same, unfortunately that is not true. There are at least 16 different License Types; each with customized RSO training criteria. The training criteria for each are all customized for the device, product, or process in which radioactive materials are involved. If you look at your company/facility operating license; it will specifically detail which License Type applies.
The table below presents a high level overview of each License Type accompanied by the application, devices used, and examples of manufacturers to help you quickly identify which License Type you fit into. It also shows which trainings Radiation Solutions offers for each License Type.
Please note this is not an exhaustive list, nor are all details complete, but hopefully it will help you to find your license type and know whether or not the training we offer is right for you.
For further guidance the table below also identifies the NUREG document and volume number that details the specific training criteria. You can find these NUREG documents and download them for free from the internet. The only exception are x-ray machines of various types which are not covered by the NRC, so you will have to go to your state to learn about what criteria are needed. Most states have pretty good online resources you can research as well.
License Types | Applications | Device/Products | Manufacturers | Regulatory Guidance | Training Courses by Radiation Solutions |
Portable Gauges | Measure moisture and density of road base, asphalt thickness, structure foundation base course, coal moisture, and paint analysis | Density Gauge, Moisture Gauge, Density & Moisture Gauge | Troxler, InstroTek, CPN, Humboldt, Seaman | NUREG 1556 Volume #1 | Radiation Safety Officer, Authorized User, HazMat Shipper Refresher, Fundamentals of Radiation Safety |
Fixed Gauges | Typically used for process control in production of materials | Fill Level Gauge, Flow Gauge, Thickness Gauge, Insertion Gauge, Moisture Gauge, Density Gauge | Endress Hauser, Berthold, Ohmart, Thermo, KayRay, Mahlo, TN | NUREG 1556 Volume #4 | Radiation Safety Officer, Authorized User, HazMat Shipper Refresher, Fundamentals of Radiation Safety |
X-Ray Machines | X-ray persons, animals, or objects. | Medical, Chiropractic, Dental, Podiatric, and Veterinary X-ray machines. Non-medical: baggage x-ray units, analytical x-ray units, cabinet x-ray units, body scanners or industrial x-ray units. | For regulatory requirements, visit your local state Department of Health, or Radiation Control Program website | Fundamentals of Radiation Safety | |
Industrial Radiography | Used extensively for testing and grading of welds on pressurized piping, pressure vessels, high-capacity storage containers, pipelines, and some structural welds. Other tested materials include concrete (locating rebar or conduit), welder's test cupons, machined parts, plate metal, or pipe wall (locating anomalies due to corrosion or mechanical damage). Non-metal components such as ceramics used in the aerospace industries are also regularly tested. | Gamma Camera, Gamma Radiography Source Projector, | NUREG 1556 Volume #2 | ||
Self-Shielded Irradiators | Calibrate instruments, Irradiating blood and blood products, sterilizing or reducing microbes in or on media, supplies, and products, research, synthesizing, and modifying chemicals and polymers, eradicating insects, conducting botanical & horticulture research, conducting biomedical research, including the irradiation on small animals, performing dosimetry applications, including calibration of dosimeters | Self-shielded irradiators, self-contained irradiators, and irradiators | JL Shepherd, Hopewell Designs, Foss Therapy, AECL | NUREG 1556 Volume #5 | |
10 CFR Part 36 Irradiator | Industrial scale sized machines that expose products to very high levels of gamma radiation to kill germs and insects or for other purposes. Food, food containers, spices, fruits, plants and medical supplies are the products most commonly irradiated. | Wet and dry source-storage panoramic irradiators or teletherapy units converted to non-human use that exceed 5 Gray per hour at one meter. | Nordion, Sterigenics | NUREG 1556 Volume #6 | |
Commercial Radiopharmacy | Manufacture, preparation, or transfer for commercial distribution of radioactive drugs containing byproduct material for medical use under 10 CFR Part 35. | Manufacture, preparation, or transfer for commercial distribution of radioactive drugs containing byproduct material for medical use under 10 CFR Part 35. | NUREG 1556 Volume #13 | ||
Well Logging, Tracer, & Field Flood Study | • Sealed sources are used in cased and uncased boreholes • Tracer materials are used in single well applications • Tracer materials are used in multiple well applications (field flood study) for enhanced recovery of oil and gas wells • Sealed sources are used for calibration of applicant's survey instruments and well logging tools • Sealed sources and tracer materials are used in the research and development of new techniques and equipment. | NUREG 1556 Volume #14 | |||
Medical Use | Use of unsealed byproduct materials for uptake, dilution, excretion studies, imaging and localization studies, brachytherapy, sealed sources for diagnosis, in a photon-emitting remote afterloader unit, teletherapy unit, or gamma stereotactic radiosurgery, and preparing PET radioactive drugs for noncommercial transfer. | NUREG 1556 Volume #9 | |||
Academic, Research & Development, Electron Capture Devices, X-ray Fluorescence Analyzers | Academic, research and development, and other licenses of limited scope (ARDL) application for use of unsealed radioactive materials in laboratory studies or similar activities, veterinary uses of licensed materials, and small sealed sources such as in electron capture devices (ECDs) and X-ray fluorescence analyzers (XRF). | ECD: Electron Capture Devices (used in Chromatography), XRF: X-ray fluorescence analyzers (elemental analysis) | Agilent, Thermo Fisher, Bruker, Spectro, Olympus | NUREG 1556 Volume #7 | |
Production of Radioactive Materials Using an Accelerator | NUREG 1556 Volume #21 | ||||
Special Nuclear Material of Less than Critical Mass | NUREG 1556 Volume #17 | ||||
Distribution to General Licenses | NUREG 1556 Volume #16 | ||||
Manufacturing & Distribution (of radioactive materials) | NUREG 1556 Volume #12 | ||||
Broad Scope | NUREG 1556 Volume #11 |