Radioactive Chemical/Material (Radioisotope) Purchasing Procedures
March 16, 2000
NC State University is licensed to purchase, use, transfer and dispose of radioactive materials and radiation producing devices. The purchase of all radioactive materials or radiation producing devices must be approved through Radiation Safety. Examples of radioactive materials include unsealed radioisotopes and sealed sources such as electron capture devices or nuclear gauges. Examples of radiation producing devices include all x-ray units and x-ray generating equipment such as electron microscopes. When in doubt that an item is radioactive or covered under radiation producing devices, contact Radiation Safety.
Processing Requirement:
Any request for a radioisotope (radioactive chemical or material), radioactive source, or radiation producing device should be processed through the Purchasing Department. Orders are then transmitted to respective vendors by written purchase order format. Radioactive materials or devices may be ordered using the Voucher Process, the Purchase Card Program, or petty cash/reimbursement. Regardless of the method of purchase, all radioactive chemical/material sources or emitting devices must be delivered to Radiation Safety unless otherwise specified by the Radiation Safety Officer. A request for radioactive materials or devices must have the approval of Radiation Safety prior to purchase processing.
Procedure:
PeopleSoft has a special category established for radioactive material or device purchases (999RA). Campus users are instructed to enter a purchase requisition, with the special category 999RA as the identifier, for all radioactive material or device purchases. Regardless of the method of purchase, all radioactive chemical/material purchases must be delivered to Radiation Safety at the Environmental Health and Safety Center Building. A request for radioactive materials or devices must have the approval of Radiation Safety prior to purchase.
Purchasing verifies the price and issues a purchase order. After a purchase order number is assigned the purchasing agent will call the vendor and place the order. The purchase requisition must contain departmental delivery requirements, vendor's product numbers, and the principal investigator's (PI) name. All purchase orders for radioisotopes are shipped as follows: ATTN: N Couch/(PI's name), NC State University, Radiation Safety, 114 Environmental Health and Safety Center, Sullivan Drive (behind Admin. Bldg.), Raleigh, NC, 27606. This address defaults to the purchase requisition/order when using the system code 210_00114. Radiation Safety will receive, inspect, and deliver the shipment to the campus user.
A blanket purchase order may be established with a vendor for a specific radioisotope and dollar amount. This blanket purchase order request is initially approved by Radiation Safety and is then routed to Purchasing for processing. A copy of the blanket purchase order document is sent to the campus end user (PI) to facilitate ordering. When a radioisotope is needed it is "released" against the blanket purchase order number. The end user must fax the request to Radiation Safety prior to placing the order. Once approval is given by Radiation Safety the end user is authorized to call the vendor to place the order, using the blanket purchase order number. The radioisotope is then delivered to Radiation Safety for inspection and delivery. Vendors are instructed to deliver only to the Radiation Safety at the Environmental Health and Safety Center, and not directly to individual campus locations. As mentioned above, Radiation Safety will perform the required package inspection and deliver to the user.
Information that must be included on the initial blanket purchase requisition includes; PI’s name, department, requested radioisotope(s), effective dates, maximum release amount desired, and the total dollar value of each isotope. The phrase "ATTN: N Couch (PI’s name), NC State University, Radiation Safety, 114 Environmental Health and Safety Center, Sullivan Drive (behind Admin Bldg.), Raleigh, NC 27606" must be included. If any of the above items are not included, the Purchase Order will not be approved and will be recycled.
All radioisotope purchases must follow the procedures outlined above. They are in place to comply with State requirements and ensure tracking and accountability of radioisotopes. To protect all users of radioisotopes on campus, an end user may lose the authorization to purchase radioisotopes if these procedures are not followed or the University’s program is jeopardized in any way.