Chapter DHS 157

DHS 157.03(411) (411) “Virtual source” means a point from which radiation appears to originate.

DHS 157.03(412) (412) “Visible area” means that portion of the input surface of the image receptor over which incident x-ray photons are producing a visible image.

DHS 157.03(413) (413) “Waste” means those low-level radioactive wastes containing source, special nuclear, or byproduct material that are acceptable for disposal in a land disposal facility. For the purposes of this definition, “low-level radioactive waste” means radioactive waste not classified as high-level radioactive waste, transuranic waste, spent nuclear fuel, or byproduct material as defined in sub. (50) (b) to (e).

DHS 157.03(414) (414) “Waste handling licensee” mean a person licensed to receive and store radioactive residue prior to disposal and a person licensed to dispose of radioactive residue.

DHS 157.03(415) (415) “Wedge filter” means a filter which effects continuous change in transmission over all or a part of the useful beam.

DHS 157.03(416) (416) “Week” means 7 consecutive days starting on Sunday.

DHS 157.03(417) (417) “Weighting factor” or “wT” for an organ or tissue means the proportion of the risk of stochastic effects resulting from irradiation of that organ or tissue to the total risk of stochastic effects when the whole body is irradiated uniformly. For calculating the effective dose equivalent, the values of wT are:

Organ Dose Weighting Factors

Organ or Tissue   wT

Gonads   0.25

Breast   0.15

Red bone marrow   0.12

Lung   0.12

Thyroid   0.03

Bone surfaces   0.03

Remainder   0.30a/

Whole Body   1.00b/

a/ 0.30 results from 0.06 for each of 5 “remainder” organs, excluding the skin and the lens of the eye, that receive the highest doses.

b/ For the purpose of weighting the external whole body dose, for adding it to the internal dose, a single weighting factor, wT = 1.0, has been specified. The department shall approve the use of other weighting factors for external exposure on a case-by-case basis until such time as specific guidance is issued.

DHS 157.03(418) (418) “Well” means a drilled hole in which well logging may be performed.

DHS 157.03(419) (419) “Well logging” means all operations involving the lowering and raising of measuring devices or tools which may contain sources of radiation into wells or cavities for the purpose of obtaining information about the well or adjacent formations which may be used in oil, gas, mineral, groundwater or geological exploration.

DHS 157.03(419m) (419m) ”Well logging assistant” means any individual who, under the personal supervision of a well logging supervisor, handles sources of radiation that are not in logging tools or shipping containers or who performs surveys required by s. DHS 157.55.

DHS 157.03(420) (420) “Well logging supervisor” means any individual who uses sources of radiation or provides personal supervision of the use of sources of radiation at the well site and who is responsible for assuring compliance with the requirements of this chapter.

DHS 157.03(421) (421) “Well logging tool” means a device used subsurface to perform well logging.

DHS 157.03(422) (422) “Whole body” means, for purposes of external exposure, head, trunk including male gonads, arms above the elbow or legs above the knee.

DHS 157.03(423) (423) “Wipe sample” means a piece of material used to wipe over the area of a surface or device to collect radioactive contamination.

DHS 157.03(426) (426) “Worker” means an individual engaged in work under a license or registration issued by the department and controlled by a licensee or registrant, but does not include the licensee or registrant.

DHS 157.03(427) (427) “Working level” or “WL” means any combination of short-lived radon daughters in one liter of air that will result in the ultimate emission of 1.3E+5 MeV of potential alpha particle energy. The short-lived radon daughters are for radon-222: polonium-218, lead-214, bismuth-214 and polonium-214; and for radon-220: polonium-216, lead-212, bismuth-212, and polonium-212.

DHS 157.03(428) (428) “Working level month” or “WLM” means an exposure to one working level for 170 hours. Two thousand working hours per year divided by 12 months per year is approximately equal to 170 hours per month.

DHS 157.03(429) (429) “Written directive” means an authorized user’s written order for the administration of radioactive material or radiation from radioactive material or a radiation machine to a specific patient or human research subject.

DHS 157.03(429m) (429m) “X-ray control” means a device which controls input power to the x-ray high-voltage generator or the x-ray tube. It includes equipment such as timers, phototimers, automatic brightness stabilizers, and similar devices, which control the technique factors on an x-ray exposure.

DHS 157.03(430) (430) “X-ray equipment” means an x-ray system, subsystem or component thereof that is one of the following:

DHS 157.03(430)(a) (a) Mobile x-ray equipment.

DHS 157.03(430)(b) (b) Portable x-ray equipment.

DHS 157.03(430)(c) (c) Stationary x-ray equipment.

DHS 157.03(431) (431) “X-ray exposure control” means a device, switch, button or other similar means by which an operator initiates or terminates the radiation exposure. An x-ray exposure control may include such associated equipment as timers and back-up timers.

DHS 157.03(432) (432) “X-ray field” means that area of the intersection of the useful beam and any one of the set of planes parallel to and including the plane of the image receptor whose perimeter is the locus of points at which the exposure rate is one-fourth of the maximum in the intersection.

DHS 157.03(433) (433) “X-ray high-voltage generator” means a device that transforms electrical energy from the potential supplied by an x-ray control to the tube operating potential. The device may also include means for transforming alternating current to direct current, filament transformers for an x-ray tube or tubes, high-voltage switches, electrical protective devices and other appropriate elements.

DHS 157.03(434) (434) “X-ray system” means an assemblage of components for the controlled production of x-rays. It includes minimally an x-ray high-voltage generator, an x-ray control, a tube housing assembly, a beam-limiting device and the necessary supporting structures. Additional components, which function with the system, are considered integral parts of the system.

DHS 157.03(435) (435) “X-ray table” means a patient support device with its patient support structure (tabletop) interposed between the patient and the image receptor during radiography or fluoroscopy. An x-ray table includes any stretcher equipped with a radiolucent panel and any table equipped with a cassette tray, cassette tunnel, image intensifier or spot-film device beneath the tabletop.

DHS 157.03(436) (436) “X-ray tube” means any electron tube designed to be used primarily for the production of x-rays.

DHS 157.03(437) (437) “Year” means the period beginning on January 1st used to determine compliance with the provisions of this chapter. The licensee or registrant may change the starting date of the year used to determine compliance by the licensee or registrant provided that the change is made at the beginning of the year and that no day is omitted or duplicated in consecutive years.

DHS 157.03 History History: CR 01-108: cr. Register July 2002 No. 559, eff. 8-1-02; CR 06-021: am. (1), (2), (13), (46), (98), (140), (141), (198) (a), (c), (199) (b), (200) (intro.), (c), (201), (210) (a) (intro.), (224), (225), (296), (326), (327), (334), (353), (376) (b), (390), (398), (418), (419) and (428); cr. (17m), (32m), (57g), (57r), (75m), (82m), (84m), (87m), (101m), (103m), (124m), (143m), (150m), (185m), (185r), (197m), (210) (a) 5., (247m), (251m), (264m), (279m), (295m), (371m), (402m) and (419m); r. and recr. (32), (68), (198) (d) and (267); r. (210) (d), (e), (424) and (425) Register October 2006 No. 610, eff. 11-1-06; correction in (97) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 6., Stats., Register January 2009 No. 637; CR 09-062: am. (5), (6), (32m) (a), (33) (a), (50) (intro.), (a), (191), (200) (intro.), (222), (374) (c), (d), (382), (388), (402m), (407) and (413), cr. (50) (c) to (e), (75r), (103r), (221m), (264r) and (429m) Register April 2010 No. 652, eff. 5-1-10; CR 16-078: cr. (6m), (12m), (25m), (36m), (56g), (56r), (77m), r. and recr. (84m), cr. (108m), (109m), (124g), (139m), (143g), (150g), (166m), (189m), (193m), r. and recr. (198), am. (200) (c), (208), cr. (215m), (219m), am. (221m), cr. (228m), (230m), (318m), (319g), (319r), (331g), (331r), (374m), (392m), (393m), (402g), am. (404), (419m) Register January 2018 No. 745, eff. 2-1-18; correction in (25m) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 7., Stats., and correction in (1), (2), (16) (a), (56g), (56r), (77m), (198) (d), (397) made under s. 35.17, Stats., Register January 2018 No. 745, eff. 2-1-18; CR 22-015: am. (22), cr. (30m), (40m), (45m), (57c), (57w), (66m), am. (143), cr. (193e), am. (204), cr. (235m), (239m), renum. (251m) to (252g) and am., cr. (252r), am. (267), cr. (288m), am. (295m), cr. (331m), (336m), am. (374c), am. (391) Register June 2023 No. 810, eff. 7-1-23; correction in (239m) (a) made under s. 35.17, Stats., Register June 2023 No. 810.

DHS 157.04 DHS 157.04 Exemptions from the regulatory requirements.

DHS 157.04(1) (1) General. The department may, upon application or upon its own initiative, grant such exemptions or exceptions from the requirements of this chapter as it determines are authorized by law and will not result in undue hazard to public health and safety or property or endanger the common defense and security.

DHS 157.04(2) (2) U.S. DOE and NRC contractors. U.S. department of energy contractors or subcontractors and any NRC contractor or subcontractor in any of the following categories operating within this state are exempt from this chapter to the extent that the contractor or subcontractor under their contract receives, possesses, uses, transfers or acquires sources of radiation:

DHS 157.04(2)(a) (a) Prime contractors performing work for the U.S. department of energy at U.S. government owned or controlled sites, including the transportation of byproduct material to or from such sites and the performance of contract services during temporary interruptions of such transportation.

DHS 157.04(2)(b) (b) Prime contractors of the U.S. department of energy performing research in, or development, manufacture, storage, testing or transportation of atomic weapons or components of atomic weapons.

DHS 157.04(2)(c) (c) Prime contractors of the U.S. department of energy using or operating nuclear reactors or other nuclear devices in a United States government owned vehicle or vessel.

DHS 157.04(2)(d) (d) Any other prime contractor or subcontractor of the U.S. department of energy or of the NRC when the state and the NRC jointly determine all the following:

DHS 157.04(2)(d)1. 1. The exemption of the prime contractor or subcontractor is authorized by law.

DHS 157.04(2)(d)2. 2. Under the terms of the contract or subcontract, there is adequate assurance that the work may be accomplished without undue risk to the public health and safety.

DHS 157.04 History History: CR 01-108: cr. Register July 2002 No. 559, eff. 8-1-02.

DHS 157.05 DHS 157.05 Prohibitions.

DHS 157.05(1) (1) Devices. The following devices may not be used in Wisconsin:

DHS 157.05(1)(a) (a) A hand-held fluoroscopic screen unless it has been listed in the Registry of Sealed Source and Devices.

DHS 157.05(1)(b) (b) A shoe-fitting fluoroscopic device.

DHS 157.05(2) (2) Deliberate misconduct. No person may do any of the following:

DHS 157.05(2)(a) (a) Engage in deliberate misconduct that causes or would have caused, if not detected, a licensee, registrant or applicant under this chapter to be in violation of any rule or order of the department; or any term, condition or limitation of any license or registration issued by the department under this chapter.

DHS 157.05(2)(b) (b) Deliberately submit to the department; a licensee, registrant or applicant under this chapter; or a contractor or subcontractor of a licensee, registrant or applicant under this chapter; any information that the person knows to be incomplete or inaccurate.

DHS 157.05(3) (3) Radiation survey instrumentation. No person may operate a portable device containing radioactive material designed to measure moisture content or density of materials unless calibrated and operable radiation survey instrumentation that meets the requirements of s. DHS 157.52 (4) (a), (b) and (c) is available for use at each site where the portable devices are used.

DHS 157.05(4) (4) Training.

DHS 157.05(4)(a) (a) No person may use a portable device containing radioactive material used to measure moisture content or density of materials or determine lead content of paint unless the person has completed 8 hours of manufacturer’s training or equivalent training that meets the requirements of ch. DHS 157 Appendix S.

DHS 157.05(4)(b) (b) A person providing equivalent training under par. (a) for certified lead inspectors or risk assessors shall meet the qualification requirements of s. DHS 163.24 (3) (a) 1. and 3. and shall complete an additional 8 hours of radiation safety training.

DHS 157.05(5) (5) Physical controls. No person may use a portable device containing radioactive material designed to measure moisture content or density of materials unless there is a minimum of 2 independent physical controls that form tangible barriers to secure the device from unauthorized removal, whenever the device is not under the control and constant surveillance of the licensee.

DHS 157.05 History History: CR 01-108: cr. Register July 2002 No. 559, eff. 8-1-02; CR 06-021: am. (1) (a) and (3), cr. (5) Register October 2006 No. 610, eff. 11-1-06; correction in (4) (b) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 7., Stats., Register January 2009 No. 637; CR 09-062: cr. (5) (title) Register April 2010 No. 652, eff. 5-1-10; correction in (4) (a) made under s. 35.17, Stats., Register January 2018 No. 745.

DHS 157.06 DHS 157.06 General regulatory requirements.

DHS 157.06(1) (1) Records. A licensee or registrant shall maintain records showing the receipt, transfer and disposal of all sources of radiation until the department terminates the license or registration authorizing possession of the device or material, and for 3 years following transfer or disposal of the device or material.

DHS 157.06 Note Note: Additional record requirements are specified elsewhere in this chapter.

DHS 157.06(2) (2) Inspections.

DHS 157.06(2)(a) (a) A licensee or registrant shall afford the department at all reasonable times opportunity to inspect sources of radiation, packaging and the premises and facilities on which the sources of radiation are used or stored and consult with workers.

DHS 157.06(2)(b) (b) Each licensee and registrant shall make available to the department for inspection, upon reasonable notice, records maintained under this chapter.

DHS 157.06(2)(c) (c) The department shall provide official notification in writing of the inspection findings, including any notice of violation, to the licensee or registrant.

DHS 157.06(3) (3) Tests. A licensee or registrant shall perform upon instructions from the department, or shall permit the department to perform, such reasonable tests as the department deems appropriate or necessary including tests of any of the following:

DHS 157.06(3)(a) (a) Sources of radiation.

DHS 157.06(3)(b) (b) Facilities wherein sources of radiation are used or stored.

DHS 157.06(3)(c) (c) Radiation detection and monitoring instruments.

DHS 157.06(3)(d) (d) Other equipment and devices used with utilization or storage of licensed or registered sources of radiation.

DHS 157.06(4) (4) Units of exposure and dose.

DHS 157.06(4)(a) (a) The unit of exposure is the coulomb per kilogram of air. One roentgen is equal to 2.58E-4 coulomb per kilogram of air.

DHS 157.06(4)(b) (b) The units of dose are any of the following:

DHS 157.06(4)(b)1. 1. Gray is the SI unit of absorbed dose. One gray is equal to an absorbed dose of one joule per kilogram (100 rad).

DHS 157.06(4)(b)2. 2. Rad is the special unit of absorbed dose. One rad is equal to an absorbed dose of 100 erg per gram or 0.01 joule per kilogram.

DHS 157.06(4)(b)3. 3. Rem is the special unit of any of the quantities expressed as dose equivalent. The dose equivalent in rem is equal to the absorbed dose in rad multiplied by the quality factor.

DHS 157.06 Note Note: 0.01 sievert equals one rem.

DHS 157.06(4)(b)4. 4. Sievert is the SI unit of any of the quantities expressed as dose equivalent. The dose equivalent in sievert is equal to the absorbed dose in gray multiplied by the quality factor.

DHS 157.06 Note Note: One sievert equals 100 rem.

DHS 157.06(4)(c) (c) The quality factors for converting absorbed dose to dose equivalent are shown in Table DHS 157.06A.

- See PDF for table