Radiation Protection Glossary

In general terms, LD-50 is used as an index to describe effectiveness of some entity producing a response in a subject, where that response occurs in 50% of the subjects. In Radiation Protection it is commonly used to describe the value of Absorbed Dose in humans which would lead to Deterministic Effects and therefore radiation sickness (leading to death without medical intervention). The quantity varies depending on the literature but is likely to be between 3 and 5 Gray (Gy) (with some variance related to medical treatments).

With respect to Radiation Protection, lead together with perhaps concrete, is the most likely shielding material for attenuating X-Rays and Gamma Rays . It has a density approximately 11 times greater than that of water and is easily formed into sheets and interlocking bricks. For example, 4 cm lead will attenuate Co-60 gamma rays to 1/10th of the unshielded value (ignoring geometric and beam effects).

LET is short for Linear Energy Transfer. This quantity actually reflects the linear rate of energy absorption, by the absorbing medium, as the Ionisation event traverses the medium. In simple terms low LET radiation (e.g. Beta Particles ) transfer less energy per unit path length than high LET radiation (e.g. Alpha Particles ) to absorbing mediums. LET has most use in radiobiology and has the units of KeV/micron.

It is generally thought that Leukaemia is a likely form of malignancy which can result from whole body exposure to Ionising Radiation , the likelyhood being Probabilistic in nature and increasing linearly with dose without threshold (although there does remain a controversy around the non-threshold hypothesis).

Limitation is the last of the three principles of the ICRP system of protection. Limitation, together with Justification and Optimisation , are used as the basis of Radiation Protection internationally. Limitation is defined in ICRP 60 as '..effective dose to individuals shall not exceed the dose limits recommended..'. ICRP requires that Deterministic Effects are avoided and that Probabilistic / Stochastic effects are as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA ).

With respect to Ionising Radiation , a line source describes a Radioactive source which can be represented by a line between points A-B in any chosen plane. Calculations of Dose Rates from line sources are more complicated than those from Point Sources and in many cases direct measurements are going to always be preferable. Such calculations usually involve knowing (or estimating) the Activity per unit length of the source, then calculating the dose rate at a chosen point by integrating contributions from integral points along the line. Commercial programs such as Microshield can undertake this process automatically.

The Linear Attenuation Coefficient is used in the description and calculation of exponential absorption of Gamma Rays . The quantity normally has the dimensions cm-1 and describes the fraction of gamma rays that are attenuated per unit thickness of absorber.

Linear Dose Response in Radiation Protection relates to the zero-threshold model which predicts that every small addition of radiation exposure contributes to an increment in the probability of a Probabilistic / Stochastic effect. The response relies on the assumption that even one Photon has the ability to cause an Ionisation event in DNA which may initiate cancer (or other genetic effect). In adopting this model one has to remember that there is no certainty that an ionising radiation event actually leads to biological damage (and thus cancer etc), rather, it it the likelihood of induction which increases.

Low Level Waste (LLW) consists mainly of items such as protective clothing, laboratory equipment, packing materials, containers and site equipment which have come into contact with Radioactive material and are no longer useful. In the UK the definition of LLW is waste with a radioactive content not exceeding 4 GBq/tonne of Alpha activity or 12 GBq/tonne of Beta /Gamma activity. See Radioactive Waste for more information.