Virginia Law

A. Licensees shall notify the agency as soon as possible but not later than four hours after the discovery of an event that prevents immediate protective actions necessary to avoid exposures to radiation or radioactive materials that could exceed regulatory limits or releases of licensed material that could exceed regulatory limits (events may include fires, explosions, toxic gas releases, etc.). Licensees shall:

1. If required by this subsection and subsection B, notify the agency of any event, via telephone, during normal business hours to (804) 864-8150 or after hours to the State Emergency Operations Center at (804) 674-2400.

2. Submit a written report, either by mail or by hand delivery to the agency at 109 Governor Street, 7th Floor, Richmond, VA 23219.

B. Licensees shall notify the agency within 24 hours after the discovery of any of the following events involving licensed material:

1. An unplanned contamination event that:

a. Requires access to the contaminated area by workers or the public to be restricted for more than 24 hours by imposing additional radiological controls or by prohibiting entry into the area;

b. Involves a quantity of material greater than five times the lowest annual limit on intake specified in Appendix B to 10 CFR Part 20; and

c. Has access to the area restricted for a reason other than to allow isotopes with a half-life of less than 24 hours to decay prior to decontamination.

2. An event in which equipment is disabled or fails to function as designed when:

a. The equipment is required by regulation or license condition to prevent releases exceeding regulatory limits, to prevent exposures to radiation and radioactive materials exceeding regulatory limits, or to mitigate the consequences of an accident;

b. The equipment is required to be available and operable when it is disabled or fails to function; and

c. No redundant equipment is available and operable to perform the required safety function.

3. An event that requires unplanned medical treatment at a medical facility of an individual with spreadable radioactive contamination on the individual's clothing or body.

4. An unplanned fire or explosion damaging any licensed material or any device, container, or equipment containing licensed material when:

a. The quantity of material involved is greater than five times the lowest annual limit on intake specified in Appendix B to 10 CFR Part 20; and

b. The damage affects the integrity of the licensed material or its container.

C. Notifications of any event made by licensees in response to the requirements of subsections A and B of this section shall be made to the agency, via telephone, during normal business hours to (804) 864-8150 or after hours to the State Emergency Operations Center at (804) 674-2400 and provide the following:

1. To the extent that the information is available at the time of the notification, provide a name and call back telephone number;

2. A description of the event, including date and time; if known, the sequence of occurrences leading to the event including degradation or failure of structures, systems, equipment, components; and activities of personnel relied on to prevent potential accidents;

3. The exact location of the event and whether the remaining structures, systems, equipment, components, and activities of personnel relied on to mitigate the consequences are available and reliable to perform their function;

4. Radiological or chemical hazards involved including the isotopes, quantities, and chemical and physical form of the licensed material;

5. Actual or potential health and safety consequences to the workers, the public, and the environment, including relevant chemical and any radiation data for actual personnel exposures to radiation or radioactive materials or hazardous chemicals produced from licensed material;

6. External conditions affecting the event;

7. Status of the event including actions taken by the licensee in response to the event and the current and planned site status;

8. Notification, related to the event, that were made or are planned to be made to any other local, state, or federal agencies; and

9. Status of any press releases related to the event that were made or are planned.

10. Each licensee that makes a report required by subsection A or B of this section shall submit a written follow-up report within 30 days of the initial report. Written reports prepared pursuant to other regulations may be submitted to fulfill this requirement if the report contains all necessary information and the appropriate distribution is made. These written reports must be sent to the agency at 109 Governor Street, 7th Floor, Richmond, VA 23219, and must include the following:

a. All information required from the telephone notification included in this subsection;

b. The probable cause of the event, including all factors that contributed to the event and the manufacturer and model number (if applicable) of any equipment that failed or malfunctioned;

c. Corrective actions taken or planned to prevent occurrence of similar or identical events in the future and the results of any evaluations or assessments; and

d. For licenses subject to 10 CFR Part 70 Subpart H, whether the event was identified and evaluated in the integrated safety analysis.

D. In addition to the notifications required by 12VAC5-481-1100 or subsections A and B of this section, each licensee shall submit a written report within 30 days after learning of any of the following occurrences, either by mail or by hand delivery, to the agency at 109 Governor Street, 7th Floor, Richmond, VA 23219:

1. Any incident for which notification is required by 12VAC5-481-1100 or subsections A and B of this section;

2. Doses in excess of any of the following:

a. The occupational dose limits for adults in 12VAC5-481-640;

b. The occupational dose limits for a minor in 12VAC5-481-700;

c. The limits for an embryo/fetus of a declared pregnant woman in 12VAC5-481-710;

d. The limits for an individual member of the public in 12VAC5-481-720;

e. Any applicable limits in the license; or

f. The ALARA constraints for air emissions established under 12VAC5-481-630 D;

3. Levels of radiation or concentrations of radioactive material in:

a. A restricted area in excess of any applicable limit in the license; or

b. An unrestricted area in excess of 10 times any applicable limit set forth in this part or in the license, whether or not involving exposure of any individual in excess of the limits in 12VAC5-481-720; or

4. For licensee subject to the provisions of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's generally applicable environmental radiation standards in 40 CFR Part 190, levels of radiation or releases of radioactive materials in excess of those standards, or of license conditions related to those standards.

E. Each report, required by subsection A of this section shall:

1. Describe the extent of exposure of individuals to radiation and radioactive material, including, as appropriate:

a. A description of the event, including the probable cause, the exact location, the isotopes and quantities, chemical and physical form of the licensed material involved, date and time of the event, and if applicable, the manufacturer and model number of any equipment that failed or malfunctioned;

b. Estimates of each individual's dose;

c. The levels of radiation and concentrations of radioactive material involved;

d. The cause of the elevated exposures, dose rates, or concentrations; and

e. Corrective steps taken or planned to ensure against a recurrence, including the schedule for achieving conformance with applicable limits, ALARA constraints, generally applicable environmental standards, and associated license conditions and the results of all evaluations or assessments.

2. Include for each individual the name, social security number, and date of birth. With respect to the limit for the embryo/fetus, the identifiers should be those of the declared pregnant woman. The report shall be prepared so that this information is stated in a separate and detachable part of the report and shall be clearly labeled for protection under privacy laws.