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.

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Contingency

With respect to Radiation Protection, contingency means preparing for, and taking action, in the event of an unplanned release of Radioactive material or other unplanned Radiation incident which could lead to radiation exposure to the individual, the population or environment. Contingency may be determined by simple risk assessment or by a more comprehensive Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) as part of a Safety Case. Usually contingency arrangements deal with Reasonably Foreseeable (credible) events, although for some industries (e.g. nuclear), the contingency plans have to be extendable.

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

– David Grinspoon -