NPRE 441: Principles of
Radiation Protection
Spring, 2023
Course Description
This course
provides a comprehensive coverage of the principles and methodologies underlying
radiation protection and radiation health physics. The major topics being
discussed in this course include sources of ionizing radiation, the interaction
of ionizing radiation with matter, essential tools and techniques for dosimetry
measurements, counting statistics, principles of radiation dosimetry,
biological effects of ionizing radiation, methods for deriving the radiation
dose from internal and external radiation sources, and standard approaches for
shielding design and radiation protection.
Textbook
Primary: J. Turner, "Atoms, Radiation, and Radiation
Protection", Third Edition, Wiley-VHC, Inc. (2007).
Reference Books:
[1]
H. Cember - "Introduction to Health
Physics", 4th Edition, McGraw-Hill (2010).
[2]
J. K. Shultis and R. E. Faw,
"Radiation Shielding," American Nuclear Society (2000).
[3] R. E. Faw and J. K. Shultis,
"Radiological Assessment: Sources and Doses, American Nuclear Society
(1999).
[4] E. L. Alpen, "Radiation Biophysics," Academic Press (1998).
[5] G. F. Knoll, Radiation Detection and Measurements, Third Edition, John
Wiley & Sons, 1999.
Course Website:
http://courses.engr.illinois.edu/npre441/
Grading
8 homework: 20% (towards the final score)
6 quizzes: 30%
Midterm exam: 20%
Final exam: 20%
Term project: 10%
Teaching Assistants and Office Hours:
TA: Galen Selligman, email:
galenas2@illinois.edu
Office Hours: 1-3 pm on Tuesday and 10-noon on Friday, both
at 220 Talbot.
Lecture Information:
Location: 2018 Campus Instructional Facility.
Time: Monday
and Wednesday at noon-2 throughout the Spring 2023 semester.
Office Hour
To be announced soon.
Chapter 1: The Nucleus and Nuclear Radiation
·
Nuclear
structure and nuclear binding energy
· Alpha decay, beta decay, and secondary ionizing radiations
·
Transformation
kinetics and serial decay
· Naturally occurring radioactivity
Chapter 2: Interaction of Radiation with
Matter
·
Interaction
of beta particles with matter
· Interaction heavy charged particles and phenomena associated with charged particle tracks
· Interaction of X-rays and gamma-rays I – Interaction mechanisms
·
Interaction
of X-rays and gamma-rays II – attenuation coefficients, calculation of
energy absorption and energy transfer
Chapter 3: Methods for Radiation Detection
(Note: this chapter will not be covered in NPRE441, but the conceptual understanding of basic radiation detection and measurement techniques would be needed for Chapters 4 and 5)
·
Gas-filled
detectors, ionization process, charge migration, ionization counters, and
proportional counters.
·
Scintillation
detectors
·
Semiconductor
detectors
·
Neutron
detection techniques
Chapter 4: Counting Statistics
·
Counting
statistics, error, and error propagation
·
False-positive
and false-negative errors and delectability limits
· A brief introduction to Monte Carlo techniques
Chapter 5: Radiation Dosimetry
·
Units, dose, exposure,
and dose-exposure relationship
·
Measurement
of exposure and absorbed dose, the Bragg-Gray principle
· Dose calculations associated with X-ray, gamma-ray, charged particles, and neutrons
·
Internally
deposited radioisotopes and the MIRD method
Chapter 6: Biological Effects of Radiation
·
Basic concepts of cell biology and irradiation
of cells
·
Types of radiation damage (slides attached,
these covers class2&3)
· Therapeutic ratio and the 5 Rs of radiobiology
Chapter
7: External Radiation Protection
·
Basic principles for external radiation protection
· Gamma-ray shielding considerations
·
Shielding
in X-ray installations
·
Protection against external beta radiation
·
Neutron shielding
Chapter
8: Radiation Protection Criteria and Exposure Limits
·
The
objective of radiation protection
· ICRP dosimetry models (for the respiratory system and gastrointestinal tract)
Homework
Homework 1. Due on 02-13-23 by
5 pm. Please return to me during the lecture on Monday, or to my office at 111E
Talbot Lab. Solutions.
Homework 2. Due on 02-27-23
by 5 pm. Solutions.
Term Project
Please see the instructions,
group
designation, and a template
for the short essay.
Note that short essay is due on April 30th,
at 5 pm. The term-project presentations will take place on Wednesday, April 26
(Group 1-5), and Monday, May 1 (Group 6-10).
Quizzes
Exams
Midterm Exam:
Date: Wednesday, March 8th, at
12-2 pm.
Place: 2018 CIF.
Format: Close-book, you can prepare and take a
2-page cheat-sheet to the exam.
Content covered in the exam: Chapter 1, 2 and 3 (the portion covered
before the exam)
Final Exam: To be announced.