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Licences to use radioactive materials and irradiating apparatus

In this section:

• General

• Licensee search

• How to apply for a licence

• Licences for medical purposes

• Licences for non-medical purposes

General

The Radiation Protection Act 1965 prohibits the use radioactive materials or irradiating apparatus for any purpose unless the user holds a licence under the Act for that purpose, or is acting under the supervision or instructions of a person holding such a licence. 

A licence under the Act is a licence to use and is not a "site/facility licence" or a licence to own or possess a piece of equipment.  A licence under the Act will generally be granted subject to conditions including a requirement to comply with a Code of Safe Practice.

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How to apply for a licence

An application for a new licence must be made on the prescribed form.  To obtain an application pack including relevant legislation, codes of safe practice, guidance notes (if applicable) and the application form contact Licensing Administration specifying which of the purposes the licence will be for (see below for further information regarding licence purposes).

The application cannot be dealt with until the prescribed fee has been paid (regulation 27(4)).  The licence application fees are:

Purpose	Fee (incl. GST)
Medical therapy restricted to superficial therapy; chiropractic diagnosis; dental diagnosis; podiatric diagnosis; veterinary diagnosis; or pathology tests	$194.22
Medical diagnosis; medical therapy; research on humans medical physics; research using a particle accelerator	$306.67
All other purposes	$230.00

If the application must be referred to the Medical Licensing Advisory Committee there is a further fee of $184.00. 

Licences must be renewed annually.  An application form for renewal is sent automatically to each licensee before the licence renewal is due.  The fee for a renewal is the same as the fee for an application for a new licence (except that referral to MLAC is generally only required for new licence applications).  Further information on fees can be found in NRL Matters No. 1.

Please Note:  the NRL does not currently support payment by credit card.  Payment options are by cheque or direct credit/electronic banking.

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Licences for medical purposes

Licences may be granted for the following medical purposes:

• Medical Diagnosis (including radiology, cardiology, nuclear medicine, endocrinology, sentinel node biopsy, musculoskeletal, haematology, general practice, medical specialist, bone densitometry, breath testing, otolaryngology)
• Medical Therapy (including oncology, ophthalmology, nuclear medicine, endocrinology, haematology, palliative, rheumatology, blood irradiation, liver cancer)
• Dental Diagnosis
• Diagnostic Imaging (including medical radiography and nuclear medicine imaging)
• Other Medical (including research on humans, podiatric, chiropractic, medical physics)

Further information regarding the licensing of medical specialists is available in NRL Matters No. 15.

Application for some classes of licence for medical purposes must be referred to the Medical Licensing Advisory Committee, a committee appointed by the RPAC.  Further information about this process is available in NRL Matters No. 19.

Cores of knowledge set out the basic level of radiation safety knowledge an applicant must demonstrate to be granted a licence.  They are available for:

• Use of DEXA bone densitometers for medical diagnosis and/or research (PDF - 501 kB)

• Use of I-131 for treatment of thyroid disease (PDF - 523 kB)

• Use of irradiating apparatus for medical imaging (cardiology, urology, orthopaedic and vascular procedures) (PDF - 50 kB)

• Use of radioactive material for medical diagnostic purposes (PDF - 43 kB)

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Licences for non-medical purposes

Licences may be granted for the following non-medical purposes:

• Veterinary (including diagnosis, therapy and diagnosis involving radioactive material)
• Industrial (including industrial radiography, industrial gauging, x-ray analysis, smoke detection, static elimination, industrial processing, electron beam welding, use of nuclear density meters, waste conditioning, quality control and safety testing, x-ray security and inspection, x-ray fluorescence, inspection (particle accelerators), glass manufacture)
• Scientific (including pathology tests, scientific practice, use of research particle accelerators, scientific practice with vets)
• Regulatory (including compliance monitoring, emergency response)
• General (including demonstration and education, installation and servicing)

Cores of knowledge set out the basic level of radiation safety knowledge an applicant must demonstrate to be granted a licence.  They are available for:

• Industrial processing (sealed source irradiators) (PDF - 75 kB)

• Installation and servicing (dental x-ray equipment) (PDF - 67 kB)

• Installation and servicing (general medical x-ray equipment - including CT, fluoroscopy and mammography equipment) (PDF - 50 kB)

• Installation and servicing (industrial gauges) (PDF - 53 kB)

• Installation and servicing (medical linear accelerators) (PDF - 50 kB)
  

• Installation and servicing (veterinary x-ray equipment) (PDF - 76 kB)

• Nuclear Density Meters (PDF - 163 kB)

• Use of radioactive materials for industrial gauging (PDF - 53 kB)

• Use of radioactive  materials for installation and servicing of nuclear medicine imaging equipment (PDF - 40 kB)

• Use of radioactive materials for veterinary therapy (PDF - 514 kB)

• Use of radioactive materials in laboratories (PDF - 190 kB)

• Use of technetium-99m for sentinel node biopsy (PDF - 504 kB)

• X-ray Analysis (PDF - 154 kB)

• X-ray inspection systems based on particle accelerator technology (PDF - 57 kB)

• X-ray security and inspection systems (PDF - 153 kB)

The NRL has also recognised the following courses for the delivery of training requirements:

Licensee Training for use of Industrial Gauges containing Radioactive Sources
National Isotope Centre
Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Ltd
Contact: Bernard Barry

NDM Training Course
Groundtest Equipment
Contact: Richard Burden

Radiation Safety for the NZ Civil Engineering Industry
Geotechnics Ltd
Contact: Brigitte Sargent

Safe Handling of Radioisotopes in Biological Laboratories
Auckland University
Contact: David Jenkins

X-ray inspection systems based on accelerator technology
National Isotope Centre
Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Ltd
Contact: Bernard Barry

X-ray security and inspection systems
National Isotope Centre
Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Ltd
Contact: Bernard Barry

Industrial Processing (Sealed Source Irradiators)
National Isotope Centre
Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Ltd
Contact: Bernard Barry

Radiation Safety for the NZ Civil Engineering Industry - correspondence course
Geotechnics Ltd
Contact: Brigitte Sargent

Service engineers radiation safety training
Department of Medical Physics & Bioengineering, Christchurch Hospital
Contact: Steven Muir

Radiation Safety in the Installation and Servicing of X-Ray Equipment (Dental)
RADSMART, Australia
Contact: Gordon Mackenzie

X-ray security and inspection systems
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Biosecurity New Zealand
Contact: Jane Foote

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