Training & Certification
Training overview
A successful Ac-225 program trains every role that touches the workflow — not just the AU and RSO. The single most common training gap is environmental services and nursing staff, who often receive a generic radiation-safety briefing and are expected to extrapolate from beta-emitter experience.
Treat training as a license deliverable, not an HR checkbox. Regulators inspect training records alongside procedures and survey logs; a gap in documented competency for a named individual is one of the most common Notice of Violation findings in therapy programs. Build the matrix once, version it, and tie every entry to a named role on the radioactive-materials license.
Minimum requirements
An alpha-program training plan typically includes:
Initial training
- Alpha-specific radiobiology and contamination control (all restricted-area staff)
- Role-specific competencies signed off by the RSO and AU
- Hands-on instrument training for ZnS and alpha counting
- Written-directive workflow walkthrough with the AU before first patient
Ongoing
- Annual refresher covering procedure updates and incident debriefs
- Spill drills at least annually, ideally with simulated alpha contamination
- Competency re-verification on equipment or procedure changes
- Re-training trigger after any reportable event or near-miss
Documentation
- Training records linked to each named staff member on the license
- Procedure sign-offs retained per regulator requirements (typically 3 years minimum)
- Patient-education materials versioned and date-controlled
- Drill after-action reports with corrective actions tracked to closure
Carries over from RLT
- 10 CFR §35.27 supervision and §35.59 recentness-of-training apply identically
- Annual radiation-worker refresher cadence
- Written-directive procedure structure under §35.40
- RSO training-record retention and inspection readiness
New for alpha
- Curriculum must explicitly cover alpha radiobiology, RBE, and daughter chain
- Hands-on time required on ZnS / alpha-capable survey instruments
- Spill response drills use alpha-specific surrogate protocols
- Patient counseling content rewritten — reused RLT scripts are not adequate