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RE: Exposure and Irradiation: Cause and Effect



Exposure, irradiation and contamination is  difficult to people understand

during an  emergency response, and this has happened in Goiania. 

The IAEA glossary mention:

Exposure 

 The act or condition of being subject to irradiation. Exposure can be

either external exposure (irradiation by sources outside the body) or

internal exposure (irradiation by sources inside the body). Exposure can be

classified as either normal exposure or potential exposure; either

occupational, medical or public exposure; and, in intervention situations,

either emergency exposure or chronic exposure. The term exposure is also

used in radiodosimetry to express the amount of ionization produced in air

by ionizing radiation (see Average mammary glandular dose). 

 Exposure pathways 

 The routes by which radioactive material can reach or irradiate humans. 



Jose Julio Rozental

joseroze@netvision.net.il

Rio de Janeiro until Sept 02/03



Original Message:

-----------------

From: Strom, Daniel J strom@PNL.GOV

Date: Tue, 05 Aug 2003 08:46:51 -0700

To: radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu, chuck.watson@PNL.GOV, ograabe@UCDAVIS.EDU

Subject: Exposure and Irradiation: Cause and Effect





I agree with Otto Raabe's post regarding terminology. I had an epiphany

when I read, in the OECD English-French dictionary of nuclear terms, the

following translation of the English word "exposure" into French:



exposure: exposition (cause); irradiation (effet)



We're using the same word for cause and effect! I have struggled with

these notions since I entered the profession 30 years ago. I remember

hearing an HP at a power plant tell me how hard it is to teach people

"the difference between radiation and contamination." I agree.



The confusion arises, I believe, because for external irradiation,

exposure and irradiation are simultaneous. Exposure and irradiation are

not simultaneous with intakes or ontakes of radionuclides.



I wrote (with Chuck Watson) a Forum article on clarity and jargon in

radiation protection that contains a figure illustrating the difference

between exposure and irradiation (page 377). This article can be

downloaded from http://www.pnl.gov/bayesian/strom/strompub.htm, and I

will be glad to send a color version of the figure to anyone who

requests it. It is already widely used by teachers.



Reference



Strom DJ and CR Watson. 2002. "On Being Understood: Clarity and Jargon

in Radiation Protection. PNNL-SA-32216." Health Physics 82(3):373-386.



- Dan Strom



The opinions expressed above, if any, are mine alone and have not been

reviewed or approved by Battelle, the Pacific Northwest National

Laboratory, or the U.S. Department of Energy.



Daniel J. Strom, Ph.D., CHP

Environmental Technology Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Mail Stop K3-56, PO BOX 999, Richland, Washington 99352-0999 USA

Overnight: Battelle for the U.S. DOE, 790 6th St., Richland WA 99352

ATTN: Dan Strom K3-56

Telephone (509) 375-2626 FAX (509) 375-2019 mailto:strom@pnl.gov

Brief Resume: http://www.pnl.gov/bayesian/strom/strombio.htm

Pagemaster for  http://www.pnl.gov/bayesian   http://qecc.pnl.gov

http://bidug.pnl.gov







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