Calculations of ionizing radiation generated doses - Principles and utilities

This book is devoted to users of ionizing radiation sources: technicians, engineers or radiation protection-skilled persons, medical personnel, researchers etc. More constraining radiation protection rules have made the use of calculation codes and programmes necessary for the estimation of dose rates generated by ionizing radiation sources. Many codes already exist but in general they are relatively complex to implement and remain for the usage of technical offices. Moreover, most of these codes are 'black-boxes' which do not allow to understand the physics hidden behind. The goal of this book is double: - presenting the physical principles allowing to understand the phenomena involved when matter is irradiated by ionizing radiations. Thus it becomes possible to develop a physical meaning when approaching such phenomena while our senses cannot detect their cause and effects. - providing the reader with simple calculation means which can be used with Excel (Dosimex pack) and covering a large range of radiation exposure situations: external exposure to gamma, beta and neutron emitters; internal exposure and atmospheric transfer calculation. These tools allow to know the dose rates with respect to the nature and activity of radiation sources as well as with respect to the geometrical conditions (screen, distance..). This book emphasises the 'radiation protection' aspects in particular with a chapter devoted to regulatory units used in this domain (equivalent dose, dose equivalent..) and with another one about the biological effects of ionizing radiations. (J.S.)