Radiological Protection

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Radiological Protection
The Society for Radiological Protection

• Name of speaker

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A general discussion on the history, ethics and
basic science of radiological protection

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NOTE TO THE SPEAKER

• Before using this presentation, please refer to
  the notes "Public Presentations - Standard
  Format" at http//www.srp-uk.org
• Afterwards, please email the Society that you
  have used the presentation. We would like to know
  how it went, and would particularly like to have
  your modified version.
• Issue 1 - April 2001

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CONTENT

• Introduction
• What is radiation?
• Demonstration
• Background radiation
• Effects of radiation
• Setting limits
• Benefits from the use of ionising radiation
• Living with risks
• Conclusion

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INTRODUCTION

• Me
• The Society for Radiological Protection

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Me

• Who am I?
• What's my job?
• Why I do what I do.
• Why I'm a radiological protection professional.
• How I keep up to date with the profession, share
  experiences, learn from others.

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The Society forRadiological Protection

• Joining the club (learned society)
• What's in it for me
• access to independent forum on safety issues
• access to the best brains in the business
• access to international information
• peer recognition as competent professional
  (certification scheme)

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How?

• Journal
• web site
• meetings
• conferences

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Why am I speaking to you?

• Many people worried by radiation - confused by
  the contradictions (diagnostic x-rays
  good/radioactive waste bad).
• We believe that to help workers, patients and the
  public deal safely and rationally with radiation,
  they should understand something about it.
• SRP can do this independent of both the nuclear
  industry and anti-nuclear protest groups.

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WHAT IS RADIATION?
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The difference between...

• non-ionising electromagnetic fields
• optical radiation
• ionising radiation

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The electromagneticspectrum

• visible / invisible - detect directly /
  indirectly.
• Radio waves, microwaves, infra red, visible
  light, ultra violet, X-rays, gamma rays

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X-ray generators

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Ionisation
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Radioactivity /Radioactive decay
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Atomselementsisotopes

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Particle radiation

• Alpha
• Beta
• neutrons

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Half-life

• radioactivity disappears naturally

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Natural radioactivity

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DEMONSTRATION

• End window Geiger or
• dual phosphor scintillation probe
• Cornish granite
• potash fertiliser
• Lo-salt
• thorium coated gas mantle or welding rod
• luminous watches (radium and tritium)
• A small air sampler
• radon daughters

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BACKGROUNDRADIATION

• Components
• terrestrial (including radon)
• cosmic
• medical
• man-made

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A radioactive world

• Humans and animals evolved in a radioactive
  world
• We are all exposed to radiation and the human
  race always has been
• Remember half-life

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EFFECTSOF RADIATION

• What radiation does and doesn't do
• Cell damage and acute and chronic consequences

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Effects of sunlight

• Short-term local heating, sunburn
• limit time of exposure
• shield with sun creams
• long term skin cancer
• can't predict who will get it, but we find more
  cancers in people who have been exposed to the
  most sun (Australia)

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Acute effects oflarge doses of ionising
radiation

• radiation burns, organ damage
• shielding
• limit working times
• protective clothing (tools of the trade)
• internal / external contamination (dung heap
  analogy).

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Long term effects

• epidemiology and difficulties with statistics -
  impact of "normal" cancer levels and background
  radiation exposure
• compare with skin cancer and sun

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Dose

• one unit (Sievert) has been derived to allow
  comparisons between the different effects of
  alpha, beta, gamma and whether exposure is to the
  whole body or to specific organs

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SETTING LIMITS

• Internationally agreed rules have evolved to
  protect workers and the public from the effects
  of radiation
• Standards have changed with time
• The profession is not arrogant enough to think
  that we will ever get them absolutely right - so
  continuous process of review.

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Threefundamental principles

• Keep radiation as low as reasonably practicable
  to minimise long term effects
• Justify all exposure by considering the benefits
• Keep all exposure within legal limits

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Limits

• set to prevent acute effects and to provide a
  legal backstop
• just exceeding a limit is not a life or death
  matter but it does show that safety may not be
  given the right level of management priority

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BENEFITSFROM THE USE OF IONISING RADIATION

• Medicine
• diagnostic x-rays
• CAT scanners
• tracers
• cancer therapy

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• Industrial
• large-scale electricity generation
• marine propulsion
• thickness detectors
• level detectors
• fire detectors
• tracers
• industrial radiography

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• Research
• tracers in biological research, geology, carbon
  dating etc.

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LIVINGWITH THE RISKS

• System of radiological protection is there
  because society recognises that there is a risk

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Living is a risky business
common annual risks of death
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The radiological protection specialists' job is...

• to minimise the risks from using radiation.

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CONCLUSION

• Radiological protection is about trust
• Members of the Society who work for the big users
  of radiation do so in the knowledge that they and
  their employers have a legal responsibility not
  only for the safety of workers, but also the
  public who live around their factories, hospitals
  or power stations.

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• They achieve safety by gaining the trust of these
  people by an honest approach on the risks of
  radiation, discussing safety openly.
• This is done with regular staff training, working
  with Trades Union appointed Safety
  representatives and regular meetings with
  representatives of the local community.

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• The ability to empathise with the full
  cross-section of society, from managing directors
  to shop stewards to concerned members of the
  public is a key quality of radiological
  protection specialists.

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Legal framework ofprotection

• Many Society members work for the Nuclear
  Installations Inspectorate the Environment
  Agency the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries
  and Food. (Or Scottish/Welsh equivalents).
• These bodies enforce the various regulations
• but also provide advice and can act as sounding
  boards when users are deciding how to approach a
  particular issue.

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Independent advice...

• to everyone in the business comes from the
  National Radiological Protection Board
• a statutory body

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People meet together

• People from all these organisations and
  businesses meet together in the Society for
  Radiological Protection. Our Society provides a
  forum for radiation safety issues to be debated
  in a proper scientific manner.

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Objective

• Our members all share the same objective - that
  the benefits of working and living with radiation
  will always outweigh the risks.

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www.srp-uk.org
The Society for Radiological Protection