The Radiation Safety Office, managed by the Director of Radiation Safety, is responsible for assuring compliance with relevant Federal, State and University regulations and enforces policies established by the Radiation Safety Committee.

The Radiation Safety Office maintains a staff adequate to assure the safe receipt, use, storage and disposal of radioactive materials and is authorized to intervene to prevent hazardous conditions from developing or to eliminate existing unsafe conditions on any matter related to radiation safety.

Safety Stoppages

The Radiation Safety staff is granted the right to immediately stop all radiation related work in a laboratory determined to be out of compliance with accepted radiation safety standards and practices. Such stoppages may proceed for no more than 48 hours without the expressed approval of either the Director of Radiation Safety or the Chairman of the Radiation Safety Committee or, in their absence, their designee.

Office Rights and Responsibilities

Members of the Radiation Safety Office have the right to petition the Radiation Safety Committee to ban workers or laboratories from using radioactive materials or radiation producing devices if these individuals or laboratories have been identified as exhibiting a history of non-compliance with university, state or federal rules and regulations.

The Director of Radiation Safety reserves the right to revoke a staff member’s enforcement authority in the event that a staff member is found to abuse this policy.

Director of Radiation Safety

The Radiation Safety Office, managed by the Director of Radiation Safety, is responsible for assuring compliance with relevant Federal, State and University regulations and enforces policies established by the Radiation Safety Committee. The Radiation Safety Office maintains a staff adequate to assure the safe receipt, use, storage and disposal of radioactive materials and is authorized to intervene to prevent hazardous conditions from developing or to eliminate existing unsafe conditions on any matter related to radiation safety.

In this capacity, the Radiation Safety staff is granted the right to immediately stop all radiation related work in a laboratory determined to be out of compliance with accepted radiation safety standards and practices.

Such stoppages may proceed for no more than 48 hours without the expressed approval of either the Director of Radiation Safety or the Chairman of the Radiation Safety Committee or, in their absence, their designee. Members of the Radiation Safety Office have the right to petition the Radiation Safety Committee to ban workers or laboratories from using radioactive materials or radiation producing devices if these individuals or laboratories have been identified as exhibiting a history of non-compliance with university, state or federal rules and regulations.

The Director of Radiation Safety reserves the right to revoke a staff member’s enforcement authority in the event that a staff member is found to abuse this policy.

The DRS oversees the daily affairs of the campus radiation safety program and serves as the Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) on each university radioactive materials broad scope license. As the Radiation Safety Officer, the DRS is responsible for developing and managing the radiation safety program within the limits set forth by federal and state regulations. This program contains the policies and procedures relating to the safe use of radiation sources in the University and is distributed in the form of a Radiation Safety Guide for the university.

Applications for the generation, purchase, use or disposal of radioactive sources or devices shall be reviewed by the DRS and may approve the purchase of radioactive materials for previously reviewed experimental protocols. With agreement from the Accelerator or Reactor Supervisor (as appropriate), or their designees, the DRS may also approve applications for routine accelerator or reactor use provided that such use has been previously reviewed by the appropriate Safety Subcommittee.

Researchers wishing to perform a new, and therefore un-reviewed, experiment using radiation emitting materials or devices must submit an application to the DRS for a radiological safety review. The DRS shall review the protocol for content and, when complete, submit it to Radiation Safety Committee for approval. The Committee may either directly review the application or, when necessary, appoint an Ad Hoc Subcommittee to review the safety issue. The Ad Hoc Subcommittee decision is binding subject to approval by the Committee. As a requirement of the UMass Lowell radiation safety program, the Director of Radiation Safety shall serve as a permanent member of the Radiation Safety Committee and all its subcommittees.

In his absence, the DRS may designate an individual to act on his behalf for all management, safety, and approval issues related to the campus radiation safety program.

Radiation Safety Office Services

  • Personnel Monitoring
  • Radiation and Radioactivity Monitoring
  • Radiation Instrument Calibration
  • Waste Pick-Up and Disposal
  • Consultant Services
  • Transportation and Shipping Assistance
  • Emergency Assistance
  • Radiation Safety Training

For a description of these services, please see Appendix II of the Radiation Safety Guide (pdf).