# Material Innovations, Inc. — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation

**Citation:** 10-0047  
**Type / status:** guidance / guidance  
**Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration  
**Effective:** Not stated  
**Published:** 2012-06-19

10-0047 response to Material Innovations, Inc. concerning 172.101.

## Document text

<<<PAGE 1>>>

U.S. Department
of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety
Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, D.C. 20590
JW! 1 9 ~~12
Mr. Andrew Stephan, Ph.D.
Material Innovations, Inc.
1 l020 Solway School Road
Suite 108
Knoxville, TN 37931
Ref. No.: 10-0047 and 10-0057
Dear Mr. Stephan:
This responds to your letters regarding transportation of hermetically sealed stainless steel
neutron radiation detectors (electron tubes) containing various small quantities of Boron
trifluoride, 2.3, UN1008, Hazard Zone B at atmospheric pressure or less under the
Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CPR Parts 171-180).
We have reviewed the information submitted in both of your letters. In your first letter,
hermetically sealed stainless steel neutron radiation detectors (electron tubes) contain not
more than one (1) gram of Bown trifluoride filled to atmospheric pressure or less, and
packaged in specially- designed packaging. In the follow-up Jetter, the hermetically sealed
stainless steel neutron radiation detectors (electron tubes) contain up to three (3) grams of
Boron trifluoride filled to atmospheric pressure or less, and packaged in specially-designed
packaging.
PHMSA regulates the transportation in commerce of materials it determines are hazardous
in that "the amount and form [of the material] may pose an unreasonable risk to health and
satety or property." 49 U.S.C 5103, as delegated to PHMSA in 49 C.F.R 1.53(b). Based on
the information provided in your letters, including form and quantity of Boron trifluoride
contained in the radiation detector tubes, the specifications of the detector, and the specially-
designed packaging it is our determination the radiation detectors (electron tubes) containing
not more than one (l) gram of Boron trifluoride, filled to atmospheric pressure or less, and
packaged in the specially-designed packaging you described, are not in a quantity and form
that pose an unreasonable risk to health, safety or property during transportation and,
therefore, are not subject to regulation under the HMR. However, the radiation detectors
(electron tubes) containing more than one (1) gram, including those containing up to three
(3) grams of Boron trifluoride, although packaged in specially-designed packaging, are in a
form and quality that may pose an unreasonable risk and, therefore, are subject to the HMR
and regulated for purposes of transportation in commerce.

<<<PAGE 2>>>

You may wish toapply for a special permit in accordance with the requirements in
§ 107.105 to ship the radiation detectors (electron tubes) containing three (3) grams or more
of Boron trifluoride.
I hope this information is helpful. If we can be of further assistance, please contact us.
Sincery:
--h~es . Betts
~ctor
Standards and Rulemaking Division

<<<PAGE 3>>>

on ovations
Sensor Development Group
Material Innovations, Inc.
II 020 Solway School Road, Suite I 08
Knoxville, TN 3793I
Phone: (865) 927-9807
Fax: (865) 927-9809
Mrs. Hattie L. Mitchell
Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention
U.S. DOT I PHMSA PHH-12
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
East Building, 2nd Floor
Washington, DC 20590
March 15, 2010
Re: Request for Letter of Interpretation- Transportation of Small Quantities of BF 3 Gas
Dear Mrs. Mitchell,
I am writing to request a DOT/PHMSA Letter of Interpretation regarding transport of small quantities of
BF3 gas.
Material Innovations, Inc. is developing neutron radiation detectors (electron tubes) containing small
amounts of BF3 (boron trifluoride, UN1008, Division 2.3, Hazard Zone B), BF3 being essential to their
operation. Besiqes BF3, they do not contain any hazardous materials nor pose any other special risk.
DOT/PHMSA has issued the following Letters of Interpretation and a Letter of Clarification to other
companies confirming their BF3-based detectors are exempt from the HMR. These include:
• Letter of Interpretation Reference No. 07-0093 dated May 18, 2007 from Hattie L. Mitchell to
Marjory Crawford, N. Wood Counter Laboratory, Inc.
• Letter oflnterpretation (no reference number given) dated February 9, 1984 from Alan I. Roberts
(Associate Director for Hazardous Materials Regulation, Materials Transportation Bureau, DOT)
to Marjory Crawford, N. Wood Counter Laboratory, Inc.
• Letter oflnterpretation Reference No. 06-0241 dated April 18, 2007 from Hattie L. Mitchell to
Spencer Neyland, LND, Inc.
• Letter of Clarification Reference No. 07-0089 dated May 16, 2007 from Hattie L. Mitchell to
Spencer Neyland, LND, Inc.
Some of our detectors require up to three grams of BF3. To ensure their safety during transportation and
operation, we have designed them with additional safety features that we believe make them safer than
those referenced in the above mentioned letters, even with a total of three grams of BF3 gas. These safety.
features are described in detailed in the attachments to this letter for your review and determination.
We hereby request a Letter of Interpretation stating that our detectors, when containing three grams or
less of BF3 at atmospheric pressure or less, pose no unreasonable risk to health, public safety or property
during transport and thus are not subject to the HMR when designed and packaged per the specifications
described in Attachment A: Detector Design and Packaging.
We also request Confidential Treatment as per 49CFR105.30 as this submission contains confidential
information as per the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552 and 18 U.S.C. 1905. A Request for
Confidential Treatment is included as a separate letter attached to this one.
The following documents are included as attachments to this letter:
• Request for Confidential Treatment.
• Attachment A: Detector Design and Packaging.
CONFIDENTIAL

<<<PAGE 4>>>

nnovations
Sensor Development Group
Material Innovations, Inc.
II 020 Solway School Road, Suite I 08
Knoxville, TN 3793I
Phone: (865) 927-9807
Fax: (865) 927-9809
• Attachment B: BF3 Detector (Electron Tube) Safety. (Historical data relevant to our request.)
• Attachment C: Classification and Properties of Boron Trifluoride. (Included for the convenience
of DOT.)
We are submitting two copies of this package of documents; one copy contains all our confidential
information, while the other copy has the confidential information redacted.
The primary use of our detectors is for national security applications, e.g. scanning vehicles and cargo
containers entering the US for nuclear weapons I weapons material being smuggled by terrorists. The
detectors currently used are going to become unavailable due to materials supply issues, which will
severely impact the Department of Homeland Security's portal monitor deployment program beginning
this summer if no suitable replacement technology is found. While other manufacturers' BF3 detectors are
not very suitable, ours have much better performance and can meet this critical national need. Due to the
urgency and importance of this matter, we would greatly appreciate as fast a response as you can provide.
Please feel free to contact me (andrew.stephan@materialinnovations.com) with any questions.
Material Innovations, Inc.
List of Attachments:
• Request for Confidential Treatment
• Attachment A: Detector Design and Packaging
• Attachment B: BF3 Detector (Electron Tube) Safety
• Attachment C: Classification and Properties of Boron Trifluoride

<<<PAGE 5>>>

ovations Sensor Development Group
Material Innovations, Inc.
Knoxville, TN 3793I
II 020 Solway School Road, Suite I 08
Phone: (865) 927-9807
Fax: (865) 927-9809
Mrs. Hattie L. Mitchell
Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention
U.S. DOT I PHMSA PHH-12
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
East Building, 2nd Floor
Washington, DC 20590
fnqru.Wl
March 4, 2010
~n2:' 101 •.
Arr t { U<k. lrl3
l (),. () Dlf1
Re: Request for Confidential Treatment Concerning Attached Request for Letter of Interpretation
Dear Mrs. Mitchell,
We hereby request that DOT/PHMSA treat our request (dated March 4, 2010 and attached to this letter)
for a Letter oflnterpretation related to transportation of our BF3 detectors (electron tubes) as confidential.
This Request for Confidential Treatment is made under 49CFR105.30.
We have marked the appropriate pages as confidential and are submitting two copies of our submission
package, one containing confidential information and the other with the confidential information redacted.
The specific documents containing confidential information are this letter and Attachment A: Detector
Design and Packaging.
The identified information is confidential based on exemption from public disclosure under the Freedom
oflnformation Act, 5 U.S.C. 552 and due to being information referred to in 18 U.S.C. 1905.
Reasons for this include:
• The 11"''""'"
•
• Our confidential information was developed at our own expense.
• Public release of the identified confidential information would cause substantial damage to our
company, such as by harming our competitive position, jeopardizing our ability to obtain patent
coverage of our detector design innovations, impairing our ability to maintain certain pieces of
information as trade secrets and causing material financial damage to our company.
Please feel free to contact me (andrew.stephan@materialinnovations.com) with any questions.
Sincerely,
~re~
Material Innovations, Inc.
CONFIDENTIAL

## Provenance

- Official: Yes
- Source: <https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2010/100047%20%26%20100057.pdf>
- Source ID: `phmsa`
- SHA-256: `7b1199e8e859d15c13037bb623085f4b2c51592206756de70c6198e60b4b345c`
- Retrieved: 2026-08-20T00:59:31.977Z
- Exported: 2026-08-22T07:21:20.336Z
- Document slug: `phmsa-interpretation-10-0047`

### Source metadata

```json
{
  "materialSubtype": "interpretation",
  "interpretationArea": "hazardous_materials",
  "representation": "full_text_from_official_pdf",
  "companies": [
    "Material Innovations, Inc."
  ],
  "individuals": [
    "Mr. Andrew Stephan, Ph.D."
  ],
  "refIds": [
    "10-0047"
  ],
  "catalogDates": [
    "2012-06-19"
  ],
  "catalogParts": [
    172
  ],
  "catalogRowCount": 1,
  "sourceRecordUrls": [
    "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/node/48421"
  ],
  "linkedAttachmentUrls": [],
  "unavailableResponseUrls": [],
  "duplicateRepresentationUrls": [],
  "citedSections": [
    "172.101",
    "107.105"
  ],
  "catalogPageUrls": [
    "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/172101"
  ],
  "pdfUrls": [
    "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2010/100047%20%26%20100057.pdf"
  ],
  "representations": [
    {
      "viewUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2010/100047%20%26%20100057.pdf",
      "detailUrl": null,
      "detailHtmlPath": null,
      "pdfUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2010/100047%20%26%20100057.pdf",
      "pdfArtifactPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/10-0047-19c337a1f8.pdf",
      "pdfArtifactSha256": "ea927bf64fe6d6da7eee06b8dc032a3fd9167a649c8b67db705d1a45f29de5d8",
      "extractedTextPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/10-0047-19c337a1f8.v2.txt",
      "extractedTextSha256": "54af7ff19449370b86d785c06bfad48d40a3cc9cc1eedb9921f2afc3d040b3eb",
      "pageCount": 5,
      "extractionVersion": 2
    }
  ],
  "caveat": "Interpretations apply regulations to the facts presented and do not create independently enforceable requirements.",
  "jurisdiction": "US"
}
```