How Is Background Radiation Measured

Background radiation originates from a variety of sources both natural and artificial. The biological risk of exposure to radiation is measured using the conventional unit rem or the si unit sievert sv.

Fp 13 2 Background Radiation Pages 1 2 Text Version Anyflip

How is background radiation measured. Background radiation affects everyone mainly by irradiation but a small amount is from being contaminated by radioisotopes in the food and drink that is consumed. A bsorbed dose describes the amount of radiation absorbed by an object or person that is the amount of energy that radioactive sources deposit in materials through which they pass. Measuring amounts of radiation. The sensing element is the heart of the detector. There are primarily two types of detector sensor technologies that are used. Background radiation is any radiation detected by the gamma ray spectrometer not originating from the source that is being analyzed in this case the lithosphere iaea 1976.

Weather conditions also affect radiation levels as snow cover may shield these elements and radioactive particulates can wash out of the air during rain storms. Calculate background activity in the room. The units for exposure are the roentgen r and coulombkilogram ckg. With no radioactive sources in the room start a stopwatch and gm tube with counter at the same time. Background radiation level can be found as follows. Geiger mueller gm tube sensing element.

Cosmic radiation from the. Background radiation varies from place to place and over time depending on the amount of naturally occurring radioactive elements in soil water and air. The general publics understanding of ionizing radiation is limited 1. Understanding how radiation is measured with geiger counter and scintillation crystal technology. Many radiation monitors measure exposure. In the case of a laboratory spectrometer it includes radiation coming from or through the walls ceiling and floor and the lead counting chamber or shield.

These include both cosmic radiation and environmental radioactivity from naturally occurring radioactive materials as well as man made medical x rays fallout from nuclear weapons testing and nuclear accidents. Exposing a patient to radiation is a measured justified means aiding patient careeach medical imaging examination utilizing ionizing radiation adheres to the fundamental principles of radiation protection. After 60 seconds stop the gm tube and counter and record the number of counts in 60 seconds. This article provides a basic comparison of common medical imaging examinations in contrast to natural background. Background radiation is a measure of the level of ionizing radiation present in the environment at a particular location which is not due to deliberate introduction of radiation sources. The radiation dose absorbed by a person that is the amount of energy deposited in human tissue by radiation is measured using the conventional unit rad or the si unit gray gy.

Are used in most portable hand held survey detectors to locate radiation.