Radiation Protection Glossary
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Also known as
Radioactive Decay
. Radioactive substances undergo radioactive decay, the rate of which is determined by the properties of the radionuclide. As decay proceeds the resulting activity of the parent
Nuclide
reduces and will eventually disappear. The daughter product may be stable (inactive) or may itself be
Radioactive
and undergo further decay (i.e. as part of a decay series). The rate of decay can be expressed in terms of its
Half-Life
(the time taken for the activity to reduce by half).
