II.13 — Radiation safety

The purpose of this lecture is to provide insight into the importance of managing ionising radiation hazard. Unfortunately, this hazard cannot be removed when operating with accelerators, and the level of the risk depends on the type and usage of the accelerators. Understanding why radiation safety is needed and the lessons learned from serious accidents involving the ionising radiation hazard is essential. Also, the role of international organisations providing an external and rigorous approach to handling this hazard is covered, as well as the main principles of radiation safety, in particular, the term ALARA. A brief definition of the most relevant magnitudes and the meaning of the limit values are essential to understand how to interpret the official dosimetry data. A very simple and general approach to how the main particles interact with the matter is given through some characteristic examples. As a very summarised guidance, it explains how to proceed with a radiation shielding analysis and also the objective of the interlock systems. Finally, a recommendation on what type of radiation detector to use depending on the radiation environment is given in a very broad outline. Most of the examples provided come from electron and proton synchrotron accelerators due to the experience and background of the author.