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. 

Dead Time

Dead Time is used in counting / detector systems to describe the time between two recorded events (e.g. where an Ionisation event has been recorded), where either the detector, or its electronics, are unable to detect other incoming events. A counting system which has a large dead time will more than likely miss true events that occur at intervals less than the dead time.

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one

– Albert Einstein -