Ionizing radiation protection and safety

• apply the basic atomic and nuclear physics relevant for radiation protection computations involving electrons, protons, photons and neutrons.
• explain the main radioactive decay modes and apply data from isotope databases relevant for radiation protection assessments.
• analyze irradiation situations using key dosimetric concepts like activity, fluence, kerma, charged particle equilibrium, absorbed dose, equivalent dose, effective dose, and committed and collective dose quantities.
• explain the key concepts of microdosimetry and perform simple computations using restricted stopping powers and linear energy transfer (LET) coefficients.
• explain methods for ionization radiation detection and radiation protection measurements and how such instruments are calibrated to obtain metrological traceability.
• describe key aspects of the radiation environments (natural and man-made) and radiation protection issues found in nature (including indoor radon), health (including nuclear medicine, radiotherapy and diagnostic radiology), nuclear energy production and research (including criticality), air travel, space and industry (including radiation processing).
• compute doses to humans from given internal and external sources of ionizing radiation.
• compute cancer risks for the workers and the general population from given doses of ionizing radiation.
• explain how ionizing radiation can lead to ozone production and functional changes of plastics and semiconductors.
• apply the key radiation protection concepts of justification, optimization and dose limits for planned exposure situations (e.g., nuclear facilities and medical uses), emergency exposure situations (e.g., accidents) and existing exposure situations (e.g. indoor radon) as recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection in ICRP publication 103.
• analyze and communicate basic radiation protection requirements, vulnerability analyses, and risk assessments related to selected cases at a level where the student can engage in technical discussions with regulators, co-workers, and the general public.
• demonstrate ability to critically assess the output of generative AI applications in radiation protection assessments.

Ionizing radiation plays an important role in a wide variety of applications within nuclear energy production, health applications, space exploration, waste management, and science and industry in general.

As exposure to ionization radiation can induce both cancer and acute effects in humans, it is important to have a good understanding of these risks. This knowledge is important for people working directly with ionizing radiation, for the general population that potentially may be exposed also, and for authorities that regulate this field or that provide emergency assistance in case of accidents.

This course therefore establishes a fundamental understanding of the chain of physical, chemical, and biological processes involved, combined with the terminology and framework of current radiation protection regulations as recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP).

Basic electromagnetism and classical mechanics. An elementary knowledge about relativity (such as matter-energy equivalence), quantum theory, and the atomic model would be useful, but is not required. The textbook used for the course includes introductory chapters with this knowledge.

This course comprises lectures and dialog-based teaching. The course will involve case study discussions mainly relating to health applications, nuclear energy and environmental exposures.

It is foreseen that the course will include teaching by external guest teachers.