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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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