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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K
KERMA
The term is short for Kinetic Energy Released per Unit Mass (although many refer to the term 'Kinetic Energy Released in Material'). Either term can mean the same thing although by definition the former term is more accurate since the quantity is based on functions of energy and mass. KERMA is a quantity which expresses the initial kinetic energy of all charged Ionising Radiations (e.g. photo-electrons) which are produced as a result of indirectly ionising radiations (e.g. Photons) interaction with material. The quantity is material specific (e.g. air-KERMA or water-KERMA) and has the units J/kg or Gray. KERMA is related to Absorbed Dose but is not the same quantity.
The term is short for Kinetic Energy Released per Unit Mass (although many refer to the term 'Kinetic Energy Released in Material'). Either term can mean the same thing although by definition the former term is more accurate since the quantity is based on functions of energy and mass. KERMA is a quantity which expresses the initial kinetic energy of all charged Ionising Radiations (e.g. photo-electrons) which are produced as a result of indirectly ionising radiations (e.g. Photons) interaction with material. The quantity is material specific (e.g. air-KERMA or water-KERMA) and has the units J/kg or Gray. KERMA is related to Absorbed Dose but is not the same quantity.
This revolution, the information revolution, is a revolution of free energy as well, but another kind: free intellectual energy.