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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Unsealed Source

Published: Oct 15, 2018

    Tags:
  • Unsealed radioactive source
  • Open radioactive source
  • Contamination

With respect to Radiation Protection, an unsealed source is is a source of Ionising Radiation in the form of Radioactive material which is not encapsulated or otherwise contained. The implication is that unsealed radioactive material can move around and if uncontrolled would lead to Contamination. It should be noted that unsealed sources are used extensively in biological research and medicine. See Open Source for a related definition, and Sealed or Closed Source for alternative types. For a more detailed explanation please head over to the following Ionactive technical guidance: What is the difference between sealed and unsealed radioactive source?

The ultimate paradox, of course, is that even though we're all going to die, we've all got to live in the meantime…

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