American National Standard N43.4
Classification of Radioactive Self-Luminous Light Sources
The
radiation from radioactive material is used as a source of energy for
activating phosphors to produce light in self-luminous watches and
clocks, instrument dials, aircraft exit markers, luminous switches,
etc. Safety in the design and use of radioactive materials in
self-luminous products continues to be of concern to the industry,
regulatory bodies and the general public.
In 1967 Committee N43 was organized under the sponsorship of the
National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards
and Technology) to replace Sectional Committee Z54. The scope of the
new committee is "standards pertaining to products and equipment, for
non-medical scientific, industrial, and educational uses, involving
ionizing radiation sources including radioactive materials,
accelerators, and x-ray equipment but excluding nuclear reactors."
The responsibility to develop standards for self-luminous sources was
assigned to Subcommittee N43-2. In 1975 a standard for classification
of radioactive self-luminous light sources was approved by the USA
Standards Committee N43-2 Subcommittee and published as American
National Standard N-540 (NBS Handbook 116), issued January 1976. This
standard was reaffirmed as ANSI 43.2 (R1989). In 1985 Committee N43 was
organized under the sponsorship of the Health Physics Society. This
standard is an elaboration and refinement of ANSI N-540 for
self-luminous sources. The N43.4 Working group is responsible for
preparing this standard. In 1997 a standard for Classification of
Sealed Radioactive Sources was issued by the Health Physics Society
Committee N43.6, was approved November 1997 and issued in 1998, in
which some performance requirements for self-luminous devices were
provided.a
a Figures in brackets refer to the reference listed in
Section 10 of this standard. Realizing that questions may arise from
time to time concerning interpretations of this standard, provisions
have been made for an Interpretations Committee in order that uniform
handling of questionable cases may be provided. It is recommended that
anyone using this standard and desiring an interpretation of a
questionable case communicate with the Health Physics Society.
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