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.

For formal advice, see our Radiation Protection Adviser pages. 

ALARP

ALARP: As Low as Reasonably Practicable. In essence, ALARP is the UK definition of ALARA, although they are not the same since ALARP suggests a balance between Risk and benefit (UK Case Law), where as ALARA takes social and economic factors into account. ALARP is key to UK Radiation Protection and introduces a test of reasonableness ensuring that workers work down from Dose Limits rather than up to them.

Physics is, hopefully, simple. Physicists are not

– Edward Teller -