Glossary - doe-hdbk-1106-97

DOE-HDBK-1106-97

GLOSSARY

Airborne radioactive material or airborne radioactivity means radioactive material dispersed in

the air in the form of dusts, fumes, particulates, mists, vapors, or gases.

Annual Limit On Intake (ALI): The derived limit for the amount of radioactive material taken

into the body of an adult worker by inhalation or ingestion in a year. ALI is the smaller value of

intake of a given radionuclide in a year by the reference man (ICRP Publication 23) that would

result in a committed effective dose equivalent of 5 rems (0.05 sievert) or a committed dose

equivalent of 50 rems (0.5 sievert) to any individual organ or tissue. ALI values for intake by

ingestion and inhalation of selected radionuclides are based on Table 1 of the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency's Federal Guidance Report No. 11, Limiting Values of Radionuclide Intake

and Air Concentration and Dose Conversion Factors for Inhalation, Submersion, and Ingestion,

published September 1988. This document is available from the National Technical Information

Service, Springfield, VA.

Becquerel (Bq): The SI unit for activity equivalent to 1 nuclear disintegration per second.

Beta Decay: Radioactive decay in which a beta particle is emitted. This transformation changes

only the atomic number of the nucleus, raising or lowering the atomic number (Z) by one for

emission of a negative or positive beta particle, respectively.

Beta Particle: Charged particle emitted from the nucleus during radioactive decay, having a mass

and charge equal to that of an electron.

Bioassay: The determination of kinds, quantities, or concentrations, and, in some cases, locations

of radioactive material in the human body, whether by direct measurement or by analysis, and

evaluation of radioactive materials excreted or removed from the human body.

Biological Half-Life: See Half-Life Biological.

Characteristic X-ray: X-rays that are characteristic of the element in which they are produced.

Their emission results from the rearrangement of electrons in the shells of excited atoms.