Radioactive Materials Information

Most of the radioactive sources which are located in the department are low level sources and currently all are sealed sources. The permit holder for general use is Dr. Paul Schwoebel. Dr. Dinesh Loomba is also a permit holder for his specific sources. Contact Chris Moroney and Dr. Schwoebel for any information concerning radioactive materials.

For the protection of the University and for the peace of mind of parents of any under age (below 18) visitors to our labs, please contact Chris well in advance of any "Tours" or events where these under age visitors may be entering our Radioactive Materials labs. This will facilitate our notifying EHS, and their having sufficient time to do a survey of the labs prior to the visitors arrival. See number 2 below.

Some basic rules required by the State of New Mexico, UNM, and the Department:

  1. No radioactive materials are to be used in any room that does not have a yellow and red Radioactive Materials sign, a user information sheet, and a "Notice to Employees" sign posted on the door and/or in the room.
  2. No person under the age of 18 shall be allowed into a room containing ANY radioactive materials, regardless of the activity of the source, or whether it is shielded or not.
  3. All sources shall be signed out on the log sheet in their storage compartment by a qualified user and shall be returned to the storage compartment upon completion of use.
  4. No non-qualified user shall be allowed in a room with, or shall be allowed to handle any radioactive materials without a qualified user within sight of the source at all times.
  5. If a source needs to be left in a labeled room with no qualified user present, the room must be secured by lock and key, and no other personnel are to be allowed in that room until the source has been removed to its proper storage compartment or a qualified user is present again.
  6. A QUALIFIED USER is a person who has successfully completed the EHS (Environmental Health & Safety) Radioactive Materials Safety course, or other government agency course pre-approved by EHS, who is registered with the department Radioactive Materials licensee (Chris Moroney) as a Department of Physics and Astronomy user, and who completes to EHS satisfaction an Annual Radiation Safety Training Self Learning Module each year.
  7. Violation of any of these rules, or of any training instructions from the EHS Safety course(s), will be considered appropriate for removal of all Radioactive Materials use privileges.
  8. No food or drink are to ever be in any Radioactive Materials marked room or lab, regardless of whether there are Radioactive Materials  present or not. This includes CONTAINERS, such as water bottles, coffee cups, glasses, etc., since these are indicators of use in the room.