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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Equivalent Dose

Published: Oct 12, 2018

Equivalent Dose (can be referred to as Dose Equivalent) is a quantity which takes into effect 'radiation quality', which relates to the degree to which a type of Ionising Radiation will produce biological damage. Equivalent Dose is obtained by multiplying the Absorbed Dose by a Radiation Weighting Factor or Quality Factor if Dose Equivalent is used . The resulting quantity can then be expressed numerically in Sieverts (Sv) or in the old units of Rem. The quantity is independent of the absorbing material (i.e. tissue).

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