Radiation Glossary of Terms
ALARA
As Low As Reasonably Achievable program applies to all radiation machines, except general license consumer products.
Decay
The decrease in the [radiation intensity] of any radioactive material with the passage of time due to the spontaneous emission of radiation from an atomic nucleus.
General license
- Machines. Examples include electron microscopes, liquid scintillation counters (LSCs), moisture density gauges, and gas chromographers (GCs).
- Consumer products: Devices which produce radiation only by the use of radioactive material. Examples include balances, chemical reagents containing uranium and thorium, smoke detectors, and static eliminators.
Ionizing Radiation
Examples include: ultra violet, x-ray, gamma ray, damages DNA, medical x-rays, and isotopes.
Lasers
A device that emits light (electromagnetic radiation) through a process called stimulated emission.
Non Ionizing Radiation
Examples include: radio, micro waves, infrared, visible light, low frequency powerlines, optical-heat lamp, thermal heating, and non thermal-low current-static fields
Radiation
Energy moving in the form of particles or waves. Familiar radiations are heat, light, radio waves, and microwaves. Ionizing radiation is a very high-energy form of electromagnetic radiation.
Radioactive
Radioactivity is the spontaneous emission of ionizing radiation from the nucleus of an unstable atom. Radioisotopes lose particles and energy through this process
Radioactive Materials
Material that contains unstable (radioactive) atoms that give off ionizing radiation as they decay.
Radiation Machine
Any device capable of producing radiation when the associated control devices are operated, but excluding machines and consumer products that have a . Examples of machines that produce ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation (high electric or magnetic fields) include: general license machines, irradiators, and x-rays. Other examples currently not used on campus are accelerators and neutron generators.