Radioactive Facility

The radioactive facility supervises the use of radioactive products and equipment that emits ionizing radiation, which are essential for carrying out CIMA research, in accordance with the regulations established by the Nuclear Safety Council. It also provides advice to the different research groups on radiation protection and monitors the radioactive waste generated and manages its disposal in accordance with the established regulations.

Operators

The Radioactive-Facility Operator license is only required to handle specific equipment, such as the gamma irradiator and the microCT x-ray unit.

Furthermore, the Radioactive Facility has 25 operators accredited by the Nuclear Safety Council who oversee the correct use of the radioactive material employed, and train and advise the rest of the staff on handling it.

Premises

The CIMA radioactive facility has the following premises, all of which have access controls and signage in accordance with regulations:
 

     Rooms for working with non-encapsulated sources: Lab 1.26, 2.26, 3.26 and 4.26

    Control Center: Lab 2.26

    Irradiator Room: Lab S. 34

    X-Ray Room: Lab A.34 (inside the animal facilities)
 

Working Regulations

Staff

In order to be able to work in the CIMA Radioactive Facility, you must complete a registration application (Application for Registration at the Facility.pdf) and submit it to the facility's supervisors. If the application meets the conditions for acceptance, the applicant will be sent a copy of the Operating Regulations of the Radioactive Facility (Operating Regulations.pdf on the intranet) to be studied; the applicant will then be asked to sign a document accepting the regulations that govern the facility.

All personnel of the Radioactive Facility have a personal thermoluminescence dosimeter to monitor their exposure.

Non-encapsulated sources

The radioactive isotopes that can be used at CIMA as non-encapsulated sources are the following: 3H, 14C, 33P, 32P, 35S, 125I, 51Cr. No orders may be placed for radioactive material without the knowledge and approval of the facility's supervisors.

The supervisors must be informed of all radioactive material used via the computer application for managing the radioactive facility (GIR), available on the website (https://irad.unav.edu/iRad/index.jsp)

Any waste generated must be taken to the waste storage facility following the procedures described in the Operating Regulations, and that the established time (Wednesdays, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.).

Irradiator

The Radioactive Facility has a Nordion Gammacell 3000 unit located in premises S.27, which makes it possible to irradiate cells and small animals. The equipment may only be handled by the supervisors and/or by authorized operators. Use of this equipment must be booked via the calendar.

After using the irradiator, the supervisors should be notified of its use via the computer application for managing the radioactive facility (GIR), available on the website https://irad.unav.edu/iRad/index.jsp

X-Ray Machines

There are two x-ray machines located in room A. 34 of the animal facility, which can be used to take non-invasive images in laboratory animals. 

These machines are the following:

    -  Faxitron MX-20 from the X-Ray Corporation. Coordinator: Dr. Fernando Lecanda

  -  High-resolution computed axial tomography x-ray unit (microCT). Operator in charge: David Corbacho (ext. 5021).