Glossary - doe-hdbk-1108-2002

DOE-HDBK-1108-2002

Radiological Training for Accelerator Facilities

Handouts

Glossary

Accelerator: A device employing electrostatic or electromagnetic fields to input kinetic

energy to molecules, atomic, or subatomic particles. This training is provided because

accelerators are capable of creating a radiological area or other radiological hazards.

Access control system: Engineered or administrative systems that manage radiation dose

to personnel by limiting personnel entry.

Actinide Transmutation: Transformation of actinides through neutron activation.

Activity: The rate at which a source emits radiation is called its activity. Activity is

measured in terms of the number of disintegrations that take place every second. The

unit for activity used at DOE sites is the curie (Ci). One curie is equal to 37 billion (3.7 x

1010) disintegrations per second.

Annual Limit on Intake (ALI): Means the derived limit for the amount of radioactive

material taken into the body of an adult worker by inhalation or ingestion in a year. (see

10CFR 835)

Attenuation: The process by which a beam of radiation is reduced in intensity when

passing through some material. It is the combination of absorption and scattering

processes and leads to a decrease in flux intensity.

Beam: A flow of electromagnetic or particulate radiation that is either collimated and

generally unidirectional, or divergent from a small source but restricted to a small solid

angle.

Beam scrapers: Beam scrapers remove particles that have wandered from the central area

of the beam.

Bremsstrahlung: Secondary photon radiation produced by deceleration of charged

particles passing through matter.

Collider: An accelerator in which two opposed beams of particles collide head-on.

Continuous Air Monitor (CAM): Instrument that continuously samples and measures the

levels of airborne radioactive materials on a "real time" basis and has alarm capabilities

at preset levels.

Cryostat: An instrument or device that maintains low temperature for superconducting

magnets.

Cyclotron: A cyclic accelerator in which the charged particles spiral outward from the

center of the machine as they gain energy.