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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Radium

Published: Oct 12, 2018

Radium consists of 16 isotopes, the most abundant being the Radioactive Radium-226. This is a metallic substance, has a Half-Life of 1602 years and Decays via a complicated chain, eventually leading to stable Lead-206. Along the way it decays to Radon Gas (Rn-222). Radium was isolated from pitchblende in 1898 by Marie and Pierre Curie. The activity of 1g of radium was used to define the activity unit, the Curie (Ci). Radium is difficult to shield needing significant quantities of lead. In addition, radium contaminated dust is a particular inhalation hazard due to its abundant Alpha Particle decay.

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