Fusion Message Board

In this space, visitors are invited to post any comments, questions, or skeptical observations about Philo T. Farnsworth's contributions to the field of Nuclear Fusion research.

Subject: Re: Regulatory requirements
Date: Oct 19, 2:51 pm
Poster: Jim Lux

On Oct 19, 2:51 pm, Jim Lux wrote:

>Does anyone out there know anything about the regulatory requirements (if there are any) of operating a fusor? I was wondering if one could get in trouble for operating an unlicensed personal neutron source (and X-ray source for that matter).

Check the past posts and there is some discussion of this. In summary, your best strategy is probably "don't ask, don't tell". NRC is probably not your worst problem, it'll be state and local(!) laws that bite you. In California, radiation emitting devices of all types are regulated...

Keep it as a laboratory experimental device, and use "best practices" and you'll probably be ok. If you ask, they WILL say NO.. It's easier to just tell you no, than to figure out what the real requirements are, and you'll have to prove safety. Proving safety is more a matter of documentation than anything else (you were going to operate safely, weren't you). You'll need film badges, monitoring, review by radiation physicists, etc. All available at a price..

More to the point is that you aren't going to be doing any of this in your garage if you ask, because the first (and probably only) reaction to permission to generate ionizing radiation in a residential area will be NO.

Now, if you are in a formal lab, or an industrial facility, you stand a better chance... They expect dangerous stuff there.