This account of sources of ionizing radiation and methods of radiation protection describes units of radiation protection, measurement techniques, biological effects, environmental radiation and many applications. Each chapter contains problems with solutions.

The textbook begins with exercises related to radioactive sources and decay schemes. The problems covered include series decay and how to determine the frequency and energy of emitted particles in disintegrations. The next chapter deals with the interaction of ionizing radiation, including the treatment of photons and charged particles. The main focus is on applications based on the knowledge of interaction, to be used in subsequent work and courses. The textbook then examines detectors and measurements, including both counting statistics and properties of pulse detectors. The chapter that follows is dedicated to dosimetry, which is a major subject in medical radiation physics. It covers theoretical applications, such as different equilibrium situations and cavity theories, as well as experimental dosimetry, including ionization chambers and solid state and liquid dosimeters. A shorter chapter deals with radiobiology, where different cell survival models are considered. The last chapter concerns radiation protection and health physics. Both radioecology and radiation shielding calculations are covered. The textbook includes tables to simplify the solutions of the exercises, but the reader is mainly referred to important websites for importing necessary data.

This book provides a comprehensive yet accessible overview of all relevant topics in the field of radiation protection (health physics). The text is organized to introduce the reader to basic principles of radiation emission and propagation, to review current knowledge and historical aspects of the biological effects of radiation, and to cover important operational topics such as radiation shielding and dosimetry. The author’s website contains materials for instructors including PowerPoint slides for lectures and worked-out solutions to end-of-chapter exercises. The book serves as an essential handbook for practicing health physics professionals.

A highly practical reference for health physicists and other professionals, addressing practical problems in radiation protection, this new edition has been completely revised, updated and supplemented by such new sections as log-normal distribution and digital radiography, as well as new chapters on internal radiation dose and the environmental transport of radionuclides. Designed for readers with limited as well as basic science backgrounds, the handbook presents clear, thorough and up-to-date explanations of the basic physics necessary. It provides an overview of the major discoveries in radiation physics, plus extensive discussion of radioactivity, including sources and materials, as well as calculational methods for radiation exposure, comprehensive appendices and more than 400 figures. The text draws substantially on current resource data available, which is cross-referenced to standard compendiums, providing decay schemes and emission energies for approximately 100 of the most common radionuclides encountered by practitioners. Excerpts from the Chart of the Nuclides, activation cross sections, fission yields, fission-product chains, photon attenuation coefficients, and nuclear masses are also provided. Throughout, the author emphasizes applied concepts and carefully illustrates all topics using real-world examples as well as exercises. A much-needed working resource for health physicists and other radiation protection professionals.

Designed to prepare candidates for the American Board of Health Physics Comprehensive examination (Part I) and other certification examinations, this monograph introduces professionals in the field to radiation protection principles and their practical application in routine and emergency situations. It features more than 650 worked examples illustrating concepts under discussion along with in-depth coverage of sources of radiation, standards and regulations, biological effects of ionizing radiation, instrumentation, external and internal dosimetry, counting statistics, monitoring and interpretations, operational health physics, transportation and waste, nuclear emergencies, and more. Reflecting for the first time the true scope of health physics at an introductory level, Basic Health Physics: Problems and Solutions gives readers the tools to properly evaluate challenging situations in all areas of radiation protection, including the medical, university, power reactor, fuel cycle, research reactor, environmental, non-ionizing radiation, and accelerator health physics.

This book takes a very practical approach to radiation protection and presents very readable information for anyone working in the radiation field or with radioactive material. Offering information rarely found elsewhere, the authors describe in detail both the basic principles and practical implementation recommendations of radiation protection. Each chapter includes self-assessment review questions and problems, with answers provided, to help readers master important information. Coupled with a teacher's manual, this book is highly suitable as an undergraduate text for students preparing for careers as X-ray, radiation oncology, or nuclear medicine technologists. It can also be used as a reference for residents in radiology and radiation oncology, medical personnel, or anyone working with radioactive materials such as those involved in homeland security/emergency services, or employed at a nuclear power plant.