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Purpose of the Dictionary

The main purpose of this dictionary is to serve as a resource for the Health Physicist and other interested individuals. This dictionary is a compilation of terms selected from various sources typically used by Radiation Safety professionals. These references include:
International Standards, such as the ICRP, ICRU, and IEC;
National Standards, such as ANSI and the NCRP;
U.S. Federal Regulations, such as 10CFR20 and 10CFR835
Technical Publications, and other scientific resources.

Because of the variety of sources used, multiple definitions for the same term are included to illustrate how concepts have evolved over time and to illustrate differences amongst authoritative sources. This allows the user to select a definition most appropriate for their needs and to cite the source of the definition if needed.

The secondary purpose of the dictionary is to make the health physics community aware of the variety and inconsistency of terms and definitions used in their field and to promote improved consistency amongst standards setting organizations and regulatory authorities.
See the International Terminology Project.

How to use this Dictionary

Select the beginning letter of your term from the main menu. Use your browser's search capability to locate a specific term or phrase. All terms are referenced with active links to the source document. Clicking on this link takes you to the reference page and the appropriate reference.

When a defintion suggests the reader see another term, the other term is linked to the original definition. The reader can return to the original definiton by using the "BACK" key on their browser. At the top of each page a link will take you back to the main menu.

Some definitions include equations as part of their definitions. These equations have been converted to GIF images and are viewable in the browser. These images are available to the user in the stand-alone version of this dictionary. Please see the order information.

The publications of the NCRP, ICRP, and ICRU are available by clicking on their links on the main menu.

Submitting your reference to be included

Thank you for using this dictionary. It is my intent to periodically add additional terms and definitions as they become available. If you or your organization would like to have additional references cited in the dictionary please contact me with the details. I would be glad to hear from you with any comments or suggestions. Please send them to rborders@msn.com

Rex J. Borders, CHP

Acknowledgements: The Borders' Consulting Group gratefully acknowledges Mr. Doug Minnema and Mr. Paul Krumpe of the U.S. Department of Energy, Defense Programs Office and Dr. Mark Hoover of Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute for the support in the development of the web-based version of the ©Borders' Dictionary of Health Physics