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.

Dose Limits

With respect to Radiation Protection, dose limits (an accumulated dose) are recommended by international bodies such as the ICRP, and then set as legal limits within individual counties legislation. For example, in the UK Dose Limits to employees, members of the public, pregnant employees etc are set out in the Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017 (takes you to our guide). Whilst dose limits set a legal maximum, the practice of radiation protection requires that all doses are kept as low as reasonably practical (ALARP) as required by the ICRP concepts of Optimisation and Limitation.

Imagination is more important than knowledge

– Albert Einstein -