UMB Initial Radiation Safety Training (RST)
1. 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
2. The radiosensitivity of the digestive tract would be considered:
Answer:
Radiosensitive
Relatively radiosensitive
Moderately radiosensitive
Extremely radiosensitive
3. The portable survey meter (Geiger counter) must be calibrated as follows:
Answer:
Following repairs
On an annual basis
Before the first use
All of the above
4. 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
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. 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
7. 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
8. 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
9. What type of shielding is required for a low beta energy isotope like H-3?
Answer:
1 cm of plexiglas
0.02 mm of lead
5 cm of concrete
None of the above
10. 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
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. Eating, smoking, drinking, or the storage of food, beverages, and tobacco in radioactive materials areas is prohibited because:
Answer:
Laboratory cleanliness is easier to maintain
Radiation protection organizations enjoy making people uncomfortable
The radiation causes food to spoil rapidly
It reduces the possibility of internal contamination
13. What additional precautions are taken when a person declares they are pregnant?
Answer:
Their dosimeter frequency changes from quarterly to monthly, if worker was not already badged monthly
They can no longer work in a radioactive material lab
They can only work one day a week with radioactive material
None of the above
14. Two foot cubic boxes should only be used for:
Answer:
Liquid waste
Dry solid waste
Both a. and b.
None of the above
15. 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
16. 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
17. It is acceptable to wear another persons dosimeter when:
Answer:
They work in the same area and handle the same radioactive material
They are on vacation and will not need their dosimeter
You should never wear another person’s dosimeter
None of the above
18. 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
19. 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
20. 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
21. 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
22. 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
23. 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
24. The Geiger-Mueller region differs from the other voltage regions in that:
Answer:
It has the highest voltage of all the regions
It has the highest efficiency of all the regions
It does not distinguish between particles of different energies
All of the above
25. 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
26. A charged particle (beta or alpha) can interact directly with matter by:
Answer:
Ionization and excitation
Compton scattering
Pair production
The photoelectric effect
27. 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
28. 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
29. 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
30. A sewer disposal permit authorizes the disposal of the following via the sanitary sewer:
Answer:
Hazardous materials
Alpha emitters
Any isotope and quantity
Only the isotopes and quantities specified on the sewer permit
31. The most radiosensitive mammalian organs are:
Answer:
Blood forming organs
Digestive organs
Nerve cells
Calcified bone
32. 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
33. An ALARA program (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) is intended to:
Answer:
Reduce the amount of radioactive material used at a single location
Reduce the level of radiation exposure that individuals receive
Reduce the quantity of radioactive waste that is generated from an experiment
None of the above
34. The only atomic particles that can activate or make another material radioactive are:
Answer:
Alpha particles
Beta particles
Neutrons
Gammas
35. The primary sources of background radiation are exposure from:
Answer:
Cosmic, terrestrial and medical sources
Consumer electronic products and irradiated foods
Radioactive material in other persons bodies
Nuclear power generation
36. Dry solid waste can contain:
Answer:
Syringes
Surgical instruments
Gloves
Organic liquids
37. All radioactive waste containers should be labeled with:
Answer:
The isotope and activity
The chemical composition of liquids if the waste container is for liquid radioactive or scintillation vial waste
The date that the isotope and activity were assayed
All of the above
38. A sample of Phosphorus-32 has an initial activity of 10 mCi. How much radioactive material is left after 42 days later (P-32 half-life = 14.28 days):
Answer:
0.625 mCi
1.300 mCi
2.500 mCi
5.000 mCi
39. Delayed effects of radiation exposure include:
Answer:
Tissue effects
Life span shortening
Carcinogenesis
All of the above
40. If you pass a beam of x-rays through 3 half value layers (HVLs) of a material, what will be the resulting beam intensity?
Answer:
97%
33.30%
12.50%
3%
41. A wipe sample of your radioactive work area measures 100 cps (counts per sec) above background on your portable GM survey meter. If the efficiency of the detector for the nuclide of interest is 5%, how much activity (in dpm) is really present?
Answer:
200 dpm
20000 dpm
1200 dpm
120000 dpm
42. During an accidental medical exposure, you and your lab colleagues find that you have experienced a 100 rem (1 Sv) exposure in a very short period of time. You can expect to have:
Answer:
An incidence of vomiting in 50% of those present
Moderate to severe leukopenia
A blood transfusion and antibiotics administered
No noticeable ill effects and an excellent prognosis
43. 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
44. 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.
45. 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
46. 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
47. Written notification must be provided to the Radiation Safety Office:
Answer:
When an authorized user leaves the University
When an additional room is needed for radioactive material work
When vacating a room where radioactive material was used
All of the above
48. 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
49. The following statements are true regarding sewer disposal permits:
Answer:
A sewer disposal application must be completed and approval granted prior to using sink for disposal
If sharing a room, each authorized user is required to obtain a permit
Disposal can only be in the room and sink stated on the permit
All of the above
50. 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
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