New Zealand Legislation: Regulations

23 Restrictions on use of irradiating apparatus in radiotherapy

• (1) No person shall use an irradiating apparatus to administer any beam of radiation for therapeutic purposes to a human being unless the radiation output and the quality of the radiation produced by the particular arrangement and adjustment of the apparatus have been determined by a method approved by the Director-General.

  (2) For the purpose of subclause (1) of this regulation, the expression the particular arrangement and adjustment of the apparatus means—

  • (a) Where the source is a radioactive material, any combination of source, filter, and source-surface distance; or

  • (b) Where the source is an X-ray tube, any combination of tube, tube voltage, tube current, filter, and source-surface distance; or

  • (c) Where the source is any other form of irradiating apparatus, the corresponding parameters.

  (3) The determination of radiation output and the quality of the radiation required under subclause (1) of this regulation shall be repeated at such intervals as the Director-General may require.

  (4) No person shall use a radiation measuring instrument for the purposes of this regulation unless—

  • (a) It is of a type approved by the Director-General; and

  • (b) It has been checked for accuracy by a person approved by the Director-General for that purpose; and

  • (c) Since that check, regular checks have been made that demonstrate that it has retained its accuracy.

  (5) No person shall use any timer in connection with radiation beam therapy unless it complies with subclause (4) of this regulation, and is found to be accurate to within 1 percent for times greater than 100 seconds, and to within 1 second for shorter times.

  (6) No person shall use an irradiating apparatus to administer any beam of radiation for therapeutic purposes to another person unless the delivered radiation dose is within 5 percent of the prescribed radiation dose.