• Is the science of protecting peoples
and the environment from the
harmful effect of ionizing radiation
which includes both particle
radiation and high energy
electromagnetic radiation
Radiation exposure limits or standards were
introduced as early as the start of the twentieth
century when the potential hazards of radiation
were realized .
There are 3 important international players:
1. United Nations Scientific Committee on the
Effects of Atomic Radiations (UNSCEAR)
closely monitors the progress of radiation
research and publishes extensive, critical and
authoritative reviews at regular intervals
2.The International Commission on Radiological
Protection (ICRP), an independent charity, issues
recommendations on radiation protection, based
primarily on the scientific foundation provided by
the UNSCEAR reports. In essence the ICRP
develops policy.
3. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a
member of the UN family, uses the ICRP
recommendations as the basis for developing
regulatory-style radiation protection
requirements. The IAEA also assists in the
application of these Safety Standards.
Background radiation
Radiation is a part of the natural
environment. This background radiation is
contributed principally by:
A) Natural sources
B) Man made sources
A. Natural sources
External sources
Radon,Terrestrial radiation & Cosmic
radiation
Internal sources: radiation from
radioactive elements in our bodies,
arises mainly from 40K in our body.
The terrestrial
radiation varies
over the earth
because of
differences in
the amount of
naturally
occurring
elements in the
earths surface
Cosmic radiation
levels change with
elevation. For
example, air travel
exposes individuals to
increased radiation
exposure
Internal sources
k40 Is essential element for life,and because0.01%
of potassium is radioactive,most food s contain
radioactive potassium
Present in bannanas, rice,spinach,fish, green tea, dry
milk,potato chips.
K40 emit 89%beta and 11% gamma
(T1\2 of K40=1.3billion yrs)
Carbon -14…..2 %
Rubidium 87…..1 %
Tritium ….2%
Lead and polonium
B.Man made sources
• Medical radiation
• Building materials
• Industrial sources
• Atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons
• The total Effective dose equivalent
for a member of the population in the
United States from various sources
of natural background radiation is
approximately 3.0 mSv/year .
• Annual dose from natural radiation
(global average)=2.4 msv\year
Types of exposure
• The ICRP distinguishes between 3 categories of
exposures:
A)Normal exposure :exposures that
anticipated to occur
• Occupational exposures, incurred by workers in
the course of their work;
• Medical exposures, incurred by patients for the
purpose of diagnosis or treatment;
• public exposure,: the public who do not benefit
from exposure
Controlling the dose delivered in this normal
exposure is specified by IAEA
B) Potential exposure
• These are exposures that are feasible but
not certain to occur
• Become actual exposure if there is
equipment malfunction, design flaws of
operating failure
• The primary means of preventing potential
exposure is by optimizing the design of
installations, equipment, operating
procedures with the following aims:
To restrict the probability of occurrence of
events that could lead to unplanned
exposure
To restrict the magnitude of exposure that
could result if such events were to occur
Do we need radiation
protection
• Death
• Cancer
• Skin burn
• Cataract
• Infertility
• Genetic effects
Justificati
on.
Principles
Optimizatio
of n
radiation
protection Application
of Dose
limits
Principles of radiation
protection
ICRP recommend Three fundamental principles of
radiation protection
Justification
Radiation should never be delivered with no
benefit, considering its harmful effects.
Optimization
The dose should be as low as possible,
considering personal doses, the number of
irradiated persons.
This is known as the ALARA (as low as
reasonably achievable) principle.
Application of Dose limits
Radiation dose to normal individuals
should not exceed the permissible organ
and tissue equivalent doses.
MPD (maximum permissible dose):
The dose which is not expected to cause
appreciable bodily injury to the person to
any point during his life time
ICRP has recommended a series of maximum
permissible doses (MPD)for different body
tissues
The quoted values are maximum and every
effort should be made to keep the doses to
absolute minimum
What are the
ways to do this
ALARA
• Time: the less time that people are
exposed to a radiation source, the less
the absorbed dose.
• Distance: the farther away people are
from a radiation source ,the less their
exposure(inverse square law)
• Shielding: The most effective method of
protecting from external radiation is
shielding. Shielding can be made from
highly protective materials like soil,
concrete, steel, and lead
