Radiation Safety

Safety of Radiation - Benefit and Risk

Ionizing radiation produces ion pairs, radicals, primary, secondary, and tertiary chemical reactions. All these affect our health state. Thus, safety is an important issue in working with nuclear technology. Exposure to ionizing radiation should be avoided as much as possible.

Ionizing radiation damages living tissues and organisms. Its effect on life depends on the type of radiation, the rate at which the radiation is received, and dosages (amounts) of radiation received. The (tradional) cgs unit for dose is roentgen equivalent man (rem) whereas the SI unit for it is the sievert (1 Sv = 100 rem).

How much natural radiation do we receive each year? What doses are we receiving in a dental or chest examination? To make sense of answers these questions, we need to understand the quantities or dose units in radiation measurements.

Early Experience of Radiation Effects

Researchers and experimentalists usually take risks because they are highly interest in the subjects.

Early X-ray and uranium workers suffer dermatitis, skin lesions, lung cancers and other occupational diseases. The danger of radiatin exposure was realized soon after their discovery. There was a collective response to these risks.

In 1928, the International Committee on X-ray and Radium Protection was formed. It looked into the risks and effects of ionizing radiation.
In 1942, the term health physics was coined in the Metallurgical Project at University of Chicago to mean safety issues of radiation. A group of health physicists were given the responsibility to assess problems and implement safe operation procedures for the project.
The (American) National Council of Radiation Protection (NCRP) was formed in 1946, after the war.
The NCRP has been responsible for setting the guidelines for safe operation procedures for the U.S.A. from the experience learned from the health physics group.
Other countries establish similar organizations, and most of them follow the U.S. guidelines with a modification.
Today, safety officers or group is responsible for implementing procedures for jobs involving ionizing radiations.
Many nuclear technology researchers and workers suffered radiation sickness at advanced ages. Atomic energy workers in Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, Hanford, and the former U.S.S.R. suffered various degrees of anorexia (loss of appetite), fatigue, headache, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Their experiences provide information on the delayed effects of ionizing radiation.

Topics Related Radiation Safety

In this unit on radiation safety, the following topics are discussed.

Resources on the Internet

International Commission on Radiological Protection
Environmental Health Directorate of Canada also looks after radiation protection.
Limitations of the ICRP Recommendations
Statement Opposing the deterioration of the radiation protection system by ICRP