A highly practical resource for health physicists and other professionals in radiation protection. This third edition has been completely revised and updated with an emphasis on basic concepts as they apply to radiation issues such as the incident at the Fukushima-Daichi plant in Japan.
Designed for readers with limited as well as basic science backgrounds, the book presents thorough and up-to-date explanations of radiation physics and the major concepts that underpin it. Extensive discussion is provided of radioactivity, including sources, materials and decay schemes for about 100 of the most common radionuclides encountered by practitioners. The text emphasizes practical calculations for radiation sources and levels in the workplace and the environment, and presents methods, including shielding, for modifying them. Comprehensive appendices and more than 400 figures are provided for such calculations; these are based on current resource data. Excerpts from the Chart of the Nuclides, activation cross sections, fission yields, fission-product chains, photon attenuation coefficients, and nuclear masses are also provided. Real-world examples and exercises demonstrate concepts and their use.