Basic Concepts in Dosimetry. A Critical Analysis of the Concepts of Ionizing Radiation and Energy Imparted

The concepts of ionizing radiation and energy imparted defined by the ICRU in 1971 (Radiation Quantities and Units. Report 19, International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements, Washington, D. C., 1971) are critically analyzed. It is found that the definitions become more consistent by ch...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Radiation research 1978-09, Vol.75 (3), p.462-470
Main Author: Carlsson, Gudrun Alm
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Charged particles
Electrons
Elementary particles
Energy
Ionization
Ionizing radiation
Kinetic energy
Nuclear transformations
Particle collisions
Particle energy
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Summary:The concepts of ionizing radiation and energy imparted defined by the ICRU in 1971 (Radiation Quantities and Units. Report 19, International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements, Washington, D. C., 1971) are critically analyzed. It is found that the definitions become more consistent by changing them at two points. Charged particles with insufficient kinetic energy to ionize by collision but which are capable of initiating nuclear and elementary particle transformations are suggested to be classified as ionizing particles. In addition, the expressions "the energy released" or the "energy expended" in a nuclear or elementary particle transformation are suggested to be specified as "the change in rest-mass energy of nuclei and elementary particles." Then the ionization caused by, for instance, nuclear reactions contributes to the energy imparted and the Q-value of an excitation or deexcitation of the electron structure, regarded as an elementary particle transformation, is zero.
ISSN:0033-7587
1938-5404
DOI:10.2307/3574834