Radiation Protection Dosimetry: A Radical Reappraisal
Author: Jack Simmons & David WattISBN: 9780944838877 ISBN10: 0944838871
Published: 1999 | 160 pp |
OUT OF PRINT
The Physicist | May/June 1999
“This monograph is a determinedly iconoclastic work that throws down the gauntlet quite clearly in its first chapter, as follows:
“‘The whole radiation protection dosimetry system is given a spurious look of conviction by various national and international commissions, many of whose long-term members are, understandably, reluctant to change their views.’
“Many scientists consider that a critical reappraisal of the scientific basis of radiation protection is warranted. This book provides a challenging contribution. Its authors (two senior British academics) treat dosimetry, not so much as the measurement of energy absorption, but as measurement of the biological effects of ionising radiation. From a review of the development of radiation units, biophysical models and experimental data, they conclude that: • ‘absorbed dose’, and the quantities linked to it, are not useful predictors of the effects of radiation, particularly at low doses; • the ‘linear no-threshold hypothesis’ is at best, a crude approximation and, at worst, an extremely expensive way to overestimate risk; • to the extent that the measurement of low doses means anything, risks of health effects are either too small to be observed or non-existent for low-LET external radiation doses below 0.1 Sv; • practical thresholds appear to exist for lung cancer at doses ranging from about 0.8 to 4 Gy for various alpha-emitting radionuclides.
“A new system of measuring radiation is proposed, based on radiation fluence coupled with an estimation of the reciprocal mean free path of the primary ionization. Implementation of this proposal for radiation protection requires appropriate instrumentation, which the authors consider to be feasible. For low-LET radiation, absorbed dose is a convenient surrogate for fluence down to about 0.1 Gy.”
Don Higson
Consultant
Paddington NSW