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Cyclotron regulation in Illinois
Verified August 2026
One entry from the 51-jurisdiction survey, read against a small, fully enclosed, sub-MeV machine whose beam terminates inside its own vacuum chamber.
- Small machine vs. definition
- Captured — Captured — accelerator/machine rules apply
Accelerator or generic radiation-machine rules clearly apply as written.
- How Illinois defines “particle accelerator”
- Broad definition — no floor, no extraction clause
- Governing citation
- 32 Ill. Adm. Code 390.20
- Register / license
- Registration
- Incidental-radiation exemption
- Parts 320/340 exemption clauses
- Notes (as verified August 2026)
- Part 390 reaches “any device other than an x-ray machine that emits ionizing radiation as a result of the acceleration of charged particles” — no energy floor; the consequence is registration (Illinois licenses only radioactive material), with installers and servicers registered under Part 322.
What to do
Identify the state radiation-control program before the machine is first energized. Ask the program in writing how it classifies the machine before purchasing or building one, rather than relying on a private reading of the definition. Document the machine’s maximum energy and the fact that its beam is internal to the vacuum chamber — that record is what any classification, exemption argument, or registration review turns on.
This is information, not legal advice. Everything on this page was verified against primary sources (statutes, administrative codes, agency publications) as of August 2026. Regulatory text moves — several states recodified or rewrote their radiation rules in 2023–2026 alone — so anything consequential should be re-checked against the current text of the cited provision, and questions about a specific machine belong to the state radiation-control program or qualified counsel.
See the legal overview for the federal layer and how the incidental-radiation exemption is read, and the full 51-jurisdiction table and map for every other state.