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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Published: Oct 26, 2023
Simply stated, the HVT is the thickness of a radiation shield that will reduce radiation gamma / x-ray dose rate (or dose) to 1/2 of the of the pre-shielded value. There are a number of factors that will potentially interfere with this approach, but HVT is still a good approximation in many cases.
HVT is related to TVT by the expression 3.32 HVT = 1 TVT. Head over to the TVT resource for a fuller explanation of this concept.
The definition of 'safe' is not strictly an engineering term; it's a societal term. Does it mean absolutely no loss of life? Does it mean absolutely no contamination with radiation? What exactly does 'safe' mean?