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.

For formal advice, see our Radiation Protection Adviser pages.

RPS Training Course

Published: Oct 12, 2018

A formal training course attended by those who will be appointed as a Radiation Protection Supervisor. Generally, a new RPS will attend the course before being appointed and will then receive refresher training every 3-5 years. The course will teach basic radiation physics (dose, activity, x-ray, half-life etc), the principle of ALARP, the external and internal radiation hazard, principles of protection (time, distance and shielding), monitoring and dosimetry, risk assessment, an overview of the Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017 (IRR17) contingency planning and local rules.

Ionactive provides online RPS training 24/7 on demand, to be taken at a pace of the delegates choosing. Live RPS training courses are also available.

In radiation protection I spend most of my time explaining to clients what they do not need to worry about.

– Mark Ramsay -