Overview

The Foundation in Radiological Protection course is a graduate quality course and the first in the Radiological Protection Training Scheme Core of Knowledge series. It is aimed primarily at science-based graduates seeking certification as Radiation Protection Advisers, though of course the Scheme may be chosen whenever a comprehensive understanding of Radiation Protection is sought.

Our courses are taught to a high standard. Learning is further supported by comprehensively equipped training venues and in-depth, reference quality printed course information. Everything is done to give students a detailed understanding and competency in the skills being taught.

Practical exercises and lectures

Some topics will be covered in depth, and whilst most lectures teach subjects in a qualitative manner, a few illustrate the learning points (decay laws, for example) using calculation. In these instances, additional learning support is provided, where needed. The course pulls together the essential strands of physics and biology, introduces the student to the concepts of radiation protection. It uses practical exercises to help develop the student's understanding by applying the learning points to solve basic problems. Through the course the student will introduced to the varied sources of information of value to the radiation protection expert.

This certificated course is assessed by examination.

Programme

By the end of the course, the student will understand:

• How risk of death and radiation detriment lead to exposure limits
• The basic principles of practical exposure control
• The concepts of ALARA, ALARP and optimisation, and the application of numerical analyses
• The concepts of the various dose quantities in common use
• The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) principles of radiation protection
• The particular radiation protection issues associated with radon
• The physical processes involved in radioactive decay
• The principal characteristics of radiations emitted in radioactive decay
• The principal methods for the measurement of radioactivity and radiation
• The principles of area, individual and biological monitoring
• The principles of radioactive waste disposal
• The role of epidemiology in establishing dose-response relationships, and outline the main factors affecting the outcome of an epidemiological study
• The roles of the international bodies which have inputs to the development of Radiation protection
• The types of health effects of radiation
• The various processes by which radiation interacts with matter