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.

006Positron Ann1_400by400

Annihilation (Positron - Electron)

Published: Oct 12, 2018

Annihilation (Positron - Electron) radiation occurs when an electron (negatively charged) collides with a Positron (positively changed & the electron 'anti-particle'). The usual result is the emission of two gamma ray photons , each of 511 KeV and travelling away from each other. The example in this glossary shows the decay of F-18 by positron emission followed by the resulting annihilation radiation. This process has application in Positron Emission Tomography (PET imaging).

In radiation protection I spend most of my time explaining to clients what they do not need to worry about.

– Mark Ramsay -