UMB Initial Radiation Safety Training (RST)
1. 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
2. When first using a radiation detection instrument, you should:
Answer:
Familiarize yourself with the instruments operation
Check the detector response to radiation using a known source of radiation
Perform a battery check and check instrument calibration
All of the above
3. During a spill of radioactive material, decontamination should be performed in the following manner:
Answer:
Facility, Equipment, Personnel
Equipment, Facility, Personnel
Personnel, Facility, Equipment
Only need to clean spill and not worry about additional items being contaminated
4. The radioactive waste plastic jar containers should never:
Answer:
Be picked up by the lid only
Left in UV-light from a bio-safety cabinet
Both a. and b.
None of the above
5. Nitrogen-16 contains how many protons and neutrons in its nucleus?
Answer:
9 protons and 7 neutrons
8 protons and 8 neutrons
7 protons and 9 neutrons
6 protons and 10 neutrons
6. 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
7. A major concern when selecting shielding for high energy beta emitters is:
Answer:
Generation of secondary x-rays from bremsstrahlung radiation
Making the shielding thick enough to prevent backscatter from occurring
Shielding the neutrons that will be released as the betas interact with the shielding
None of the above
8. A sewer disposal log must be maintained:
Answer:
Only upon disposing of material in the sink
Never needs to be filled out
On a monthly basis regardless of use
None of the above
9. When do you need to take precautions for possible external exposure?
Answer:
When working with a low energy beta emitter like C-14
When working with a gamma emitter like Cr-51
When working with a high energy beta emitter like P-32
Both b. and c.
10. 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.
11. The first steps in ordering radioactive material are to:
Answer:
Call vendor and order product
Ensure that isotope is listed on authorization and that possession limits are not exceeded
Obtain a control number from the Radiation Safety Office
Both b. and c.
12. 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
13. 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
14. Contamination should be measured in what units?
Answer:
Disintegrations per minute (dpm) per 100 square centimeters
Counts per minute (cpm) per 100 square centimeters
Disintegrations per minute (dpm)
Millicuries (mCi)
15. 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
16. 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
17. Which of the following items should not be placed in a radioactive waste container:
Answer:
Contaminated lead shielding
Sharps or needles that have not been placed into a sealed sharps container
Waste materials that are known to be non-radioactive
All of the above
18. 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
19. 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
20. Where should you store your dosimeter?
Answer:
On the window ledge away from radiation
In an area free of excessive heat, and moisture
Inside the radioactive material lab on the workbench
None of the above
21. Medical procedures using radiation can include which of the following:
Answer:
X-rays needed for diagnostics
Nuclear medicine procedures
Radiation oncology procedures
All of the above
22. Beta decay is the process of:
Answer:
The nuclear transformation of a proton into a neutron
The nuclear transformation of an electron into a proton
The atomic transformation of an electron into a beta particle
The nuclear transformation of a neutron into a proton
23. 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
24. The Caution - Radioactive Material label on each waste container should be used to annotate only the total activity of each nuclide and final assay date of the radioactive waste in the container. What should be used to keep a running total?
Answer:
Anything you can write on
Radioactive Waste Disposal Log Sheet
Nothing because you don’t need to keep a running total
Caution Radioactive Material label
25. The least radiosensitive mammalian cells are:
Answer:
Nerve cells
Germ cells
White blood cells
Endothelial cells
26. 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
27. Beta radiation is characterized by:
Answer:
Particles of nuclear origin having properties identical to an electron
Particles of nuclear origin having properties identical to a helium nucleus
High energy electromagnetic radiation of nuclear origin which is very penetrating
None of the above
28. A charged particle (beta or alpha) can interact directly with matter by:
Answer:
Ionization and excitation
Compton scattering
Pair production
The photoelectric effect
29. 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
30. When deciding which liquid scintillation cocktail to use, you should:
Answer:
Use any hazardous or non-hazardous liquid scintillation cocktail
Preferably use only non-EPA regulated cocktail
Check with EHS to ensure your choice of liquid scintillation cocktails is not regulated
Both b. and c
31. 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
32. 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
33. 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
34. A radioactive atom is one that has:
Answer:
Excess orbital electrons and therefore, an overall negative charge
Excess number of electrons in the nucleus
An equal number of neutrons and protons in the nucleus with no excess energy
None of the above
35. 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
36. 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
37. The annual whole body dose limit for a member of the public at large is:
Answer:
0.1 rem
0.3 rem
5.0 rem
50 rem.
38. 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
39. Dry solid waste can contain:
Answer:
Syringes
Surgical instruments
Gloves
Organic liquids
40. 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
41. 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
42. 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
43. 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
44. What is the LD50/60 for x or gamma ray radiation?
Answer:
Roughly 750 rad
Nearly 925 Gy
Approximately 500 rad
Almost 10 rad
45. The primary hazard from an alpha emitter is:
Answer:
An internal exposure upon intake of the material into the body
An external exposure of the skin
An external exposure to the thyroid
None of the above
46. The theory that small amounts of radiation are necessary for good health is:
Answer:
A lie put out by the food irradiation industry
True only if it is alpha radiation
True only if it is x and/or gamma radiation
Radiation hormesis
47. The Roentgen 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
48. Dose Equivalent (DE), Effective Dose Equivalent (EDE), Committed Dose Equivalent (CDE), Committed Effective Dose Equivalent (CEDE), and Total Effective Dose Equivalent (TEDE) are expressed in units of:
Answer:
Grays (Gy) and Sieverts (Sv)
Roentgen or ergs
Rads and coulombs
Sieverts (Sv) or REM
49. 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
50. Two foot cubic boxes should only be used for:
Answer:
Liquid waste
Dry solid waste
Both a. and b.
None of the above
First Name:
Last Name:
Email: