Recent developments and trends in radiation protection instrumentation

A survey is given on the influence of modern technology on radiation protection instruments. The recent developments are reviewed critically with regard to their advantages and benefits for applied radiation protection. The main topics treated are: - Why and how far are new instruments better than old ones. - the technological changements of the past years. - Radiation detectors, - the crucial link in the chain of reliability of measurements. - With microprocessors and computers, we can do almost everything, - but should we. - Improvements in the human/instrument interface lead to more ease of operation. - What shall we do with all those figures. - Storage and registration of measured values. - All this progress in technology, does it really mean progress in radiation protection, too. (Author)