Environmental Radioactivity and Emergency Preparedness

by Mats Isaksson, Christopher L. Raaf

Overview

Radioactive sources such as nuclear power installations can pose a great threat to both humans and our environment. How do we measure, model and regulate such threats? Environmental Radioactivity and Emergency Preparedness addresses these topical questions and aims to plug the gap in the lack of comprehensive literature in this field.

The book explores how to deal with the threats posed by different radiological sources, including those that are lost or hidden, and the issues posed by the use of such sources. It presents measurement methods and approaches to model and quantify the extent of threat, and also presents strategies for emergency preparedness, such as strategies for first-responders and radiological triage in case an accident should happen.

Containing the latest recommendations and procedures from bodies such as the IAEA, this book is an essential reference for both students and academicians studying radiation safety, as well as for radiation protection experts in public bodies or in the industry.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781315355559
Publisher:	CRC Press
Publication date:	01/06/2017
Series:	ISSN
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	650
File size:	25 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Mats Isaksson is a Professor in the Department of Medical Radiation Sciences, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Christopher L Rääf, is a Professor of Medical Physics in the Department of Translational Medicine, Lund university, Malmö, Sweden.

Table of Contents

Source terms. Environmental radiation protection. Environmental exposure pathways. Radiometry and sampling. Radioecology. Nuclear and radiological safety. Emergency preparedness and countermeasures/response. A short history of radiation protection.

Editorial Reviews

"This new book from Isaksson and Raaf will be very useful for students and professionals engaged in the radiation protection of humans and the environment. It covers all of the fundamental theoretical aspects of radiation physics and radiation biology, but focuses primarily on the field’s practical aspects, including radiation detection, sample preparation, and dose assessment. The book also discusses current global concerns over radiation protection, such as modelling the transfer of radionuclides between large scale environments (like the oceans or soils) to small scale environments (like plants and animals).
After starting with a recall of facts or basic principles, each chapter introduces the relevant theory in great detail before providing example calculations and a wide variety of exercises for the reader to utilise. Notably, the last chapter tackles emergency preparedness, discussing emergency scenarios and the remedial actions and dosimetry methods to be applied to large scale accidents. This topic is usually not covered by other books in the field - instead reserved to be discussed in restricted reports – and therefore makes this book unique. Risk communication is another very important issue that is explored, which will be of interest to decision makers and also first responders who might need to deal with public concerns.
Focusing on current concerns whilst still tackling the fundamentals of the field, Environmental Radioactivity and Emergency Preparedness is a modern treatise of radiation protection and will be useful to many!"
—David Broggio, Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, France

"One particular challenge of nuclear and radiological technologies is preparing for failure, misuse, and disaster, and emergency preparedness is essential in limiting the impact of such events on our populations and environment. Emergency response teams, specifically experts in radiation protection, medical physics and radiation medicine, are imperative in carrying out such tasks and, undoubtedly, this book will become a staple for those individuals.
In contrast to the various reports and documents published by international and national organizations, the authors present a comprehensive compendium that covers nearly all aspects of nuclear and radiological emergency preparedness without getting too bogged down in the fine details.
Each chapter is complemented with references, helpful examples to be solved by the reader, and recommendations for further reading. The professional reader will particularly appreciate the physics formulas and graphs and tables, which allow for the further understanding of the concepts of dose assessment and the environmental consequences of a nuclear disaster…This book will be overwhelmingly appreciated by the whole community of professionals at all levels of competence."
—Fridtjof Nüsslin, Technical University Munich, Germany

"This book, written by two well-known Swedish researchers and lecturers, Mats Isaksson and Christopher Rääf, is not only a precious source of fundamental information on nuclear physics and radiation biology and medicine but it also provides a comprehensive account on how the generic recommendations by the International Commission on Radiological Protection and International Atomic Energy Agency have developed into practical applications in Sweden and several other countries.
This book will be very useful to radiation protection experts who have central roles in the quantitative assessment of radiological situations, though I am confident that it will also become a cornerstone in the education of graduate students and experts and decision makers from a wide range of disciplines and specialties that are involved in the crisis management of radionuclide contamination events."
—Dr. Valery Ramzaev, Research Institute of Radiation Hygiene, St.-Petersburg, Russia

From the Publisher