Radiation Protection Glossary

A radiation protection glossary for Radiation Protection Supervisors (RPS), Radiation Protection Advisers (RPA) and anyone else interesting in radiation safety terms and definitions. The glossary is a mixture of health physics , phrases related to radiation protection legislation, transport, practical safety, technical terms and similar.

Search the Glossary by either clicking on a letter or typing a keyword into the search box. This glossary is relational so when looking at one term you can click through to other related terms as required.

Classified person

A classified person is a designation given in the UK Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017 (IRR17). A classified person is someone who could be exposed to ionising radiation, through occupational exposure including reasonably foreseeable incidents, who could receive more than the following exposures: 6mSv/year whole body effective dose, 150 mSv/year equivalent dose to the extremities, and 15mSv/year to the lens of the eye. It also specifically applies to an employee who works with a source of ionising radiation where a dose rate could deliver a whole body exposure of 20mSv (or 500 mSv to the extremities or 20 mSv to the lens of the eye) within a few minutes from a reasonably foreseeable event.

Radiation is one of the important factors in evolution. It causes mutation, and some level of mutation is actually good for evolution

– David Grinspoon -