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Diploma/Certificate Course in Radiation Protection

The radiation protection training given by this course is designed to ensure users and potential users of ionizing radiation, both X rays and radioactive materials, have the knowledge  to work in a radiation environment with a minimum of radiation exposure to themselves and other workers.

There is no other single program available in Sri Lanka that specifically trains individuals for the radiological safety issues faced by the biotechnology, university, hospital, and medical laboratory.

This is a fundamental 180-hour lectures and 90 hr practical training program consisting of 5 modules over a period of 6 months designed to prepare researchers and radiation workers with the necessary skills to work with radiation and radioisotopes in a biotechnology, university, hospital or medical laboratory and comply with regulations and standards.

Interested applicants can also be permitted to follow selected modules. All courses are taught from 8.30 am to 4.30 pm on week days

Key Topics you will learn about:

• Operational Radiation Protection
• Radiation measurement techniques
• Radiation dosimetry
• Environmental monitoring and protection
• Emergency Preparedness
• Radioactive waste management
• Practical applications (not theory) focus on lessons learned through experience, and better prepare you to meet your responsibilities and reinforce the knowledge gained in the lectures.
• Interaction with regulators on inspection practices.
• Use of software applications that are invaluable “tools of the trade.”
• Interactive discussions follow all program assignments.

Who Should Attend

• People who want to work with radiation in a university, biotechnology center or medical facility
• Laboratory staff scientists who need radiation safety training to qualify as a “user” of radionuclides
• Biotechnology scientists who use radionuclide tracers
• Physicians and medical staff who use radionuclides
• Laboratory staff (all fields) who use radionuclides

How You will Benefit from this Course:

• Understand the fundamental principles and characteristics of radiation
• Learn how to minimize exposure in a radiation environment
• Consult with experts in Radiation Protection

  Evaluation

 Candidates will be evaluated based on an examination consisting of Four three hour written papers.

Syllabus

1.         Radiation Physics 45L (3 credits)

Atomic and nuclear structure, Radioactivity, law of radioactive decay; half life; decay constant; mean life, decay chains and equilibrium, modes of disintegration, types of spectra, nuclear reactions, Induced radioactivity,  Interaction of charge particle, X and gamma rays and neutron with matter, Neutron activation, Terrestrial radio nuclides, Cosmic radiation, alpha, beta, gamma, x-ray and neutron sources, Nuclear reactors, Charge particles, X-ray and neutron production, Safety of  radiation sources, Gas filled detectors, scintillation detectors, semiconductor detectors, photographic emulsion, thermo luminescence detectors, nuclear track detectors, scalers, rate meters, discriminators, pulse height and shape analysis, computer analysis of spectra,

2          Radiation Exposure and Biological Effects 45L (3 credits)

Radiation fluence,  cross section, mass attenuation  coefficient, mass stopping power,   Exposure, kerma;  absorbed dose; linear energy transfer,  organ dose,  Equivalent dose; radiation weighting factor; effective dose, tissue weighting factor, dose equivalent, intake, committed dose, Relationship between fluence, kerma and absorbed dose, calculation of kerma and absorbed dose, Bragg–Gray cavity principle, measurement of absorbed dose from point sources, plane sources and volume sources; absorption and scattering in air and in the body; attenuation of primary radiation and build up of secondary radiation; concepts of extended and aligned fields; influence of geometry,

            Effects of radiation at the molecular and cellular level:

            Basic radiation chemistry: Breakage of chemical bonds by radiation; direct and indirect effects of radiation; generation of free radicals; interaction with DNA; proteins

            Effects of radiation on cells: chromosome breaks; cell death; consequences of cell damage; DNA repair; cell sensitivity; radiosensitisers and protectors

Deterministic effects:

Effects of whole body irradiation: Dose response curve; threshold; severity; acute radiation syndrome; central nervous system; gastrointestinal system; haematopoietic system

Effects of partial body irradiation: skin (erythema, ulceration); gonads; threshold doses; effect of fractionation and dose rate; accidental exposures (case histories)

Stochastic effects: Damage to chromosomes; gene mutations; concept of doubling dose; ICRP risk assumptions,

Cancer induction and development; sources of data: atomic bomb survivors, dial painters, medical exposures, miners; Dose-response relationship; absolute and relative risk models; dose and dose rate effectiveness factors; ICRP risk factors

Radiation effects on the embryo and foetus: sensitivity at different stages of development; brain development and retardation; induction of leukaemia and cancers

Epidemiological studies: statistical requirements, current type of studies; prospects and pitfalls

Radiation detriment: need for an aggregated measure of harm; tissue weighting factor, effective dose; dose limits, concept of collective dose; comparison of risks from different activities

3          Radiation Protection I  45L (3 credits)

Radiation  protection against sealed and unsealed sources, safety and security of sources, , Features of facility design: Personal protection, Classification of areas, Optimisation of radiation protection,  Quality Assurance, Individual and workplace monitoring , Health surveillance: Potential exposures, accident prevention, abnormal exposures, emergency procedures, Applications of ionising radiation in medicine, industry and agriculture, Protection against occupational exposure in : industrial radiography, industrial irradiators and accelerators, use of nuclear gauges, use of tracers, well logging devices, radioisotope production plants, diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine, radiotherapy, mining and processing of raw materials

4          Radiation Protection II 45L (3 credits)

            Regulatory system, safety requirements and safety guides, system of notification, registration, licensing and control of radiation sources, waste storage and disposal; exemptions, clearance, responsibilities of licensees and employers; national inventory of radiation sources; orphan sources; import, export , transport; safety assessment; compliance with the safety requirements; inspection; enforcement; Training requirements; emergency preparedness; investigations of accident and management of emergencies, Monitoring programmes, Quality Assurance,

The role of IAEA , ICRP, ICRU, UNSCEAR and ILO in radiation protection,  The ICRP Basic Framework, Types of exposure, Control of radiation sources, The system of Radiological Protection in proposed and continuing practices; Justification of a practice; Optimisation of protection,  Dose and risk constraints; System of protection for intervention; Assessment of the effectiveness of the system of protection,  Safety culture, responsibilities of staff, Justification of medical exposures, Determination of patient dose in nuclear medicine, diagnostic radiology and radiotherapy, Minimising exposures of patients, Exposure of women in reproductive capacity, Guidance levels for the patients, accidental exposures in medical applications,  radioactive waste management; environmental monitoring

Practicals I

            Determination of characteristics of Geiger-Muller detectors

            Calibration of a gamma scintillation spectrometer in terms of energy and activity

            Analysis of a complex gamma spectrum using semiconductor detectors

            Calibration of an alpha spectrometry system   in terms of energy

            Calibration of ZnS (Ag) scintillation counter for alpha activity measurement

Identification of unknown radio nuclides

Counting statistics using a Geiger Muller counter and radioactive source

Measurement of half life

Determination of maximum energy of beta radiation by absorption

Study of attenuation of gamma radiation as a function of thickness and atomic number

            Demonstration of back scattering of beta radiation

Practicals II

Visit to a hospital: departments of radiology, radiotherapy, demonstration of procedures and specification of the information to be recorded

Determination of dose to patients (Case study)

Measurement of the absorbed dose in the body for a unidirectional exposure to ⁶⁰Co using a phantom and thermo luminescence detectors

Visit to a Department of Nuclear Medicine of a hospital

Visit to an industrial radiography facility

Shielding calculations for an x ray facility (Exercise)

Monitoring a workplace for surface and air contamination; use of gross alpha and beta measurements and gamma spectrometry

Demonstration- Use of protective equipment, preparation of a laboratory to work temporarily with unsealed sources

Technical visit to a secondary standard dosimetry laboratory

Demonstration: the use of thermo luminescence and film dosimetry for personal dose assessment

Measurement of radio nuclides in a biological sample

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