UMB Initial Radiation Safety Training (RST)
1. Radioactive material must be secured against unauthorized access or removal:
Answer:
Only when an authorized person is handling the material
Any time the material is in storage, or not under the direct control of an authorized person
When the level of radioactivity is less than 1 mCi
None of the above
2. Occupational exposure to radiation is limited to 5 REM for the whole body and 50 REM for the extremities. Upon diagnosis of a brain tumor, your doctor recommends the use of the gamma knife for treatment. Your medical treatment will be limited to:
Answer:
50.0 REM because the head is an extremity
5.0 REM because the head is part of the whole body
No limit because it is a medical procedure
100 REM because it is a medical procedure
3. The most radiosensitive mammalian organs are:
Answer:
Blood forming organs
Digestive organs
Nerve cells
Calcified bone
4. Geiger-Mueller survey instruments:
Answer:
Can ONLY be used to report dose rate information (i.e., mR/h).
Are operated at the lowest voltage of any gas filled detector.
Should only be relied upon for qualitative measurements.
Can be used to determine exactly how much contamination is present.
5. What is the best way to prevent internal exposure?
Answer:
Do not eat, drink or smoke in the laboratory
Use a fume hood when working with volatile I-25
Ensure you wear protective clothing when working with radioactive material
All of the above
6. An experiment you are working on calls for the use of 135 millicuries of I-131 in one administration. The lab received 500 millicuries on 11/04 and todays date is 11/20 of the same year. 131I has a half-life of 8.02 days. The following should
Answer:
Use 135 millicuries and let the next person worry about it
You will need to order more 131I
Use the remaining 100 millicuries and borrow some from the lab next door
Use a smaller lab rat
7. The Hazardous Waste Division of EHS:
Answer:
Charges for all radioactive waste to be removed from your laboratory
Will not provide laboratories with any radioactive waste containers
Will not remove radioactive waste directly from the laboratory
Requests that Authorized Users utilize non-hazardous scintillation cocktails in their research
8. How long should radioactive materials users keep dosimetry exposure reports on file?
Answer:
10 years
5 years
2 years
1 year
9. An individual who is going to pick up a shipment of radioactive material from the Radiation Safety Office should:
Answer:
Have their assigned bar code ID
Have their photo ID
Be wearing their assigned whole body dosimeter
All of the above
10. What should you always do with used radioactive needles?
Answer:
Recap the needle
Dispose of the needle in a radioactive waste box
Dispose of the needle in a radioactive sharps container
None of the above
11. As you are transferring the stock solution containing 0.1 Curies of P-32 labeled proteins, you accidentally tip its contents onto your lab coat, shoes, and the floor. Good radiation protection practice dictates that you would:
Answer:
Inform the other people in the room that you have spilled the radioactive material
Absorb the spilled solution with paper towels, while someone in the room calls the Radiation Safety Office
Remove all contaminated clothing, placing them into plastic bags and have someone assist you in surveying the area to determine the extent of the contamination
All of the above
12. To prevent the spread of contamination after a minor spill, a person should immediately:
Answer:
Take off their lab coat and gloves
Exit the area and call Radiation Safety for assistance
Cover the spill with absorbent material
Wash the bench top after working and before conducting a contamination check
13. The annual extremity dose limit for radiation workers in the Maryland regulations is:
Answer:
5 rem
7.5 rem
12 rem
50 rem
14. The annual whole body radiation dose limit for radiation workers in Maryland regulations is:
Answer:
0.5 rem
3 rem
5 rem
None of the above
15. Ion chambers are useful for:
Answer:
Detecting contamination on a given surface
Locating a missing gamma emitting source
Determining exposure risks from unknown sources
None of the above
16. Which of the following is NOT a type of detector:
Answer:
Ion chamber
G-M counter
NaI
HVL
17. How long can you work in a 200 mR/hr radiation field and limit your exposure to 50 mR:
Answer:
15 minutes
4 hours
30 minutes
None of the above
18. When should dosimeters be returned to the Radiation Safety Office?
Answer:
Before the end of the year
The next time you have to go to the Radiation Safety office
The first day of the next wear period
Within 15 days after receiving your new dosimeters
19. The inverse square rule can be used to:
Answer:
Determine the level of exposure at a given distance from a point source
Determine the level of radioactivity (mCi) in a point source
Determine the decay rate of a specific isotope
None of the above
20. Which organization issues the license for radioactive materials use to the University of Maryland Baltimore?
Answer:
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The Maryland Department of the Environment
The Radiation Safety Committee
None of the above
21. Beta particles have a spectrum of energies because:
Answer:
The beta particle is emitted from the nucleus of the atom
The decay product, beta particle and antineutrino are created together and must share the decay energy
The proton that is created absorbs some of the decay energy
The decay products must conserve charge
22. Isotopes are:
Answer:
Atoms with a unique arrangement of protons and neutrons
Atoms with the same number of protons and neutrons
Atoms with differing numbers of protons and neutrons
Atoms with the same number of protons, but differing numbers of neutrons
23. Which of the following must be posted in a Radioactive Material lab:
Answer:
Notice to Employees
Radiation Emergency Procedures
Caution Radioactive Material sign
All of the above
24. Who is responsible for ensuring that radioactive materials are used safely at the University of Maryland Baltimore?
Answer:
The Radiation Safety Officer
The Authorized User
The Radiation Worker
All of the above
25. Two foot cubic boxes should only be used for:
Answer:
Liquid waste
Dry solid waste
Both a. and b.
None of the above
26. Which of the following are true statements:
Answer:
The only isotopes that can be commingled into the same waste container without approval from EHS are C-14 and H-3
Animals injected with radioactive materials are not regulated for their radioactive properties
All scintillation cocktails are non-hazardous
Once the original source vials are emptied of the radioactive materials they can be disposed in the regular trash
27. One of the basic methods to control radioactive contamination and to prevent internal radiation exposure is:
Answer:
Proper use of time, distance and shielding
The use of remote handling devices (such as forceps)
Monitoring and surveying of the work area
None of the above
28. The Rem is:
Answer:
The unit of dose equivalent that is equal to the dose in rad times the quality factor
A unit of exposure to x or gamma radiation based on the ionizations that these radiations produce in air
A unit of absorbed dose for any ionizing radiation that is equal to 100 ergs of absorbed energy per gram of substance
None of the above
29. When you want to have a dry radioactive waste box removed from your laboratory, you should:
Answer:
Tape and close your container
Completely fill out the radioactive waste removal request form
Make sure the total activity, nuclide, assay date, and chemical identification is filled out on the Caution - Radioactive Material label
All of the above
30. During a survey with a GM detector, the probe should be held:
Answer:
At least 6 inches away from the surface while it is rapidly passed back and forth
At contact with the surface while moving slowly
Near contact with the surface while moving slowly
None of the above
31. A G-M detector operates by:
Answer:
Converting ionizing radiation to UV photons
Collecting the charge created by ionizations in the wall of the probe
Collecting the charge created by ionization in the gas contained in the probe
All of the above
32. Detection efficiency is calculated by:
Answer:
Dividing the number of microcuries by the decay constant (0.693/T)
Dividing the number of counts by the number of actual disintegrations
Dividing the atomic weight of an atom by its Z number
None of the above
33. If you exceeded one of the ALARA Levels, which level would require you to send a response to the Radiation Safety Office?
Answer:
Level I
Level II
All of the above
None of the above
34. The energy of a particular beta particle is most likely to be:
Answer:
The maximum beta energy for the nuclide
Approximately 1/2 of the maximum beta energy for the nuclide
Approximately 1/3 of the maximum beta energy for the nuclide
Approximately 1/10 of the maximum beta energy for the nuclide
35. What is the average annual background exposure to a non-smoking individual living in the United States:
Answer:
125.0 millirem
0.125 rem
125.0 curies
360.0 mrem
36. A radioactive source is measured at 32 mrem/hr at one meter. What would the exposure rate be at 10 cm:
Answer:
0.32 mrem/hr
3.2 mrem/hr
320 mrem/hr
3200 mrem/hr
37. Before sending in a request to have radioactive animal waste removed from your laboratory, you should:
Answer:
Double bag the animal carcass and place it into a freezer
Label the bag with isotope, activity, date, and authorized user name
Call EHS for assistance if you have questions
All of the above
38. The radioactive waste log sheet needs to be filled out:
Answer:
Only after the container is full and going to be disposed of
As soon as the first radioactive material goes into the container and every addition of radioactive waste thereafter
Never needs to be filled out
All the above
39. Low energy gamma emitters, such as I-125, are best detected during a survey for fixed contamination by using:
Answer:
A GM thin-window detector
A sodium iodide (NaI) detector
A liquid scintillation counter
None of the above
40. The primary difference between gamma rays and x-rays is:
Answer:
Gamma rays are higher in energy
Gamma rays originate in the nucleus, X-rays originate in the electron shells
X-rays are used in medical applications
X-rays originate in the nucleus, gamma rays originate in the electron shells
41. Who is not required to wear a dosimeter?
Answer:
Anyone who works with only H-3 and/or C-14
Anyone who can possibly receive 10% of the dose limit
Anyone who works with a radiation-producing machine
All of the above
42. The purpose of the radiation dosimeter e.g., film badge, is to:
Answer:
To provide a temporary record of the dose of ionizing radiation received
To protect the individual from ionizing radiation
To provide a permanent record of individual exposure to ionizing radiation
None of the above
43. Monitoring for radioactive contamination while handling radioactive material during an experiment:
Answer:
Need only be done at the end of the experiment
Must be fully documented each time there is a negative result found
Should be done frequently to determine if contamination is present
All of the above
44. If you have a source of radiation which emits ONLY high energy beta radiation e.g. P-32, what is the most appropriate shielding material to use:
Answer:
A container of iron or lead
A container of Plexiglas
A container of thin leaded glass
A container of lead inside a container of Plexiglas
45. A scintillation detector operates by:
Answer:
Converting ionizing radiation to UV photons
Collecting the charge created by ionizations in the wall of the probe
Collecting the charge created by ionization in the gas contained in the probe
All of the above
46. A strand break in the DNA, resulting from the initial ionizing event in the molecule, is an example of what kind of biological effect:
Answer:
Unidirectional
Direct
Indirect
None of the above
47. You are involved in an accident that results in a 300 REM (3 Sv) exposure in a very short period of time. With in the next 60 days you can expect to experience the following:
Answer:
Cataracts
Leukemia
Skin burns
All of the above
48. Radioactive materials Receipt/Use/Disposal forms issued by the Radiation Safety Office with every radioisotope delivered to the authorized user should be:
Answer:
Filled out each time material is withdrawn from the stock vial
Stored in the laboratory's radiation safety records
Returned to the Radiation Safety Office when the isotope is expended, transferred and/or disposed of as waste
All of the above
49. A bioassay is a measurement used to determine:
Answer:
The extent of damage caused by exposure to an unknown source of radiation
The presence of radioactive material in the body
The current physical conditioning of the body
The length of time it will take for the body to repair damage caused by exposure to ionizing radiation
50. The Chart of the Nuclides:
Answer:
Lists nuclides by number of protons and neutrons
Can be used to see the line of stability for the isotopes
Can be used to determine what decay modes and products are likely for a given nuclide.
All of the above
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