May/June 2026 Issue
Radiation Safety: Safety Check
By Rebekah Moan
Radiology Today
Vol. 27 No. 3 P. 6
Simulation Advances in Nuclear Medicine Training
Working in nuclear medicine comes with some risks. Radiation exposure—whether it’s from a radioactive spill or normal handling and preparation of radiotracers—is inevitable. But the level of risk can be lowered with the right equipment. That includes not only personal shielding devices, but also safe simulations that can mimic dangerous situations without an actual threat.
Various regulations require all employers working with ionizing radiation to prepare contingency plans for any reasonably foreseeable incidents identified through risk assessments. Spills are among the most likely incidents for nuclear medicine professionals. For everyone associated with nuclear medicine, it’s important to not only have a plan in place but also rehearse it because training ensures teams can respond quickly and effectively, minimize radiation exposure, prevent the spread of contamination, and protect both personnel and the environment.
Without proper training, even a small radioactive spill could escalate into a serious health hazard. “Regular practice builds confidence, improves coordination, and ensures that emergency procedures are carried out correctly when it matters most,” says Felipe Arrighi, director of business development at Argon Electronics.
Successful training for radiation exposure relies on four key elements. One, the authenticity of the teaching scenarios; two, the opportunity for hands-on learning using true-to-life instrumentation; three, the creation of a safe training environment; and four, the ability to set up (and reset) exercises with ease.
Configurable Simulations
Argon Electronics has created simulators that are exact replicas of real detectors, matching both appearance and functionality. These include survey simulators, spectrometers, dosimeters, contamination simulators, and simulators that can mimic a radiation source. Instead of training with real radiation sources, customers can use environmentally friendly and safe training systems. Doing so also eliminates the time constraints that are inherent to working with real radiation sources because they don’t need to keep the time as short as possible due to radiation dose exposure.
“Staying safe during nuclear or radiological emergency training is crucial, especially when the scenario becomes stressful,” Arrighi adds. “To achieve this, responders need training tools that feel genuinely real and build true situational awareness.”
Argon Electronics has both standard and custom simulator kits depending on what an organization requires. Typically, a kit will include the detection simulator and the appropriate sources. For radiation, Argon Electronics’ GS4 source, RADSIM GS4, creates “live sourcelike” radiological survey exercises to enable survey teams to experience the following:
• dose rate and dose readings that trigger personal safety actions and the provision of recommendations leading to effective decision making;
• alarms indicating potentially hazardous radiation levels;
• inverse square law (1/r2) response;
• shielding effects of different materials;
• the importance of using shielding for personal dose reduction; and
• consistent readings across instruments each time the student revisits the same location within the exercise.
The simulator also penetrates walls, floors, and ceilings. For contamination simulations, the company’s Radsim DS3 Mini 900, which detects safe, colored powder, liquid, and cream simulants on various surfaces, including protective gloves. The simulants are made from common dyes, food additives, and cosmetic-grade bases. All are nontoxic, with full ingredient transparency.
The simulators don’t require preventative maintenance or regular calibration. They can be used alone or integrated with live or virtual training solutions that allow customers to create and repeat a wide variety of safe, “regulation-free” scenarios to fulfill their radiological hazard training needs. Also, scenarios can be set up in minutes and mimic the functionality and user interfaces of real-life detectors. Argon Electronics supports customers if they need help using the simulators, but the company doesn’t provide scenario training.
Real-Life Training
One facility that employed the Radsim DS3 Simulator was the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Treliske, United Kingdom, an acute National Health Service hospital providing medical diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine services using unsealed radioactive sources. Mark Hiskens, a hospital spokesperson, says the simulator demonstrated to the trainees “how easily contamination is missed if the probe is moved too quickly over the area being monitored.”
He adds that it was a relief that the hospital no longer had to train in a radiation-controlled area. “We can now deliver the training offsite, easily, without the previously encountered difficulty of transporting radioactive sources or using a radiation-controlled area for training,” Hiskens says.
Hiskens says prior to simulator training, they used small amounts (<2 MBq) of a short-lived radioactive isotope such as technetium-99m. It has a radioactive half-life of six hours for radioactive spill training. “The main challenge this presented was that it exposed those involved in the training to a small radiation dose,” he says. And that exposure isn’t necessary nor in keeping with “as low as reasonably practicable” principles established by Ionising Radiations Regulations.
“In addition, it was not always possible to plan training in advance with confidence because it relied on enough spare radioactivity being left after patient treatments for training use,” Hisken says. Now, those problems are eliminated, resulting in a safe, timely, and effective training.
— Rebekah Moan is a freelance journalist and ghostwriter based in Oakland. Her specialties are health care and profiles.
