NPRE 441: Principles of
Radiation Protection
Spring, 2025
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
Course website:
http://courses.engr.illinois.edu/npre441/
Lecture Hours and Lecture Room
Information
Lecture hours:
Monday and Wednesday at Noon to 1:50 pm.
Lecture room: 3018
Campus Instructional Facility.
Grading
6
homework: 20% (towards the final score)
4-6
quizzes: 30%
Midterm
exam: 20%
Final
exam: 20%
Term
project: 10%
Teaching Assistants and
Office Hours
Teaching
Assistant: Runxia
Wen, email: runxiaw2@illinois.edu
Office Hours:
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm every
Thursday, 223 Talbot Lab.
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm every
Friday, at 111E Talbot Lab.
Course Contents
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
·
Interactions
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
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
Summary slides of Chapter 4
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
Summary slides of Chapter 5
Chapter 6:
Biological Effects of Radiation
(Note (01/12/24) that the contents covered in
this chapter will be subject to further adjustment)
·
Basic
concepts of cell biology and irradiation of cells, the time frame for radiation
effects
· Types of radiation damage, part 1 and
part 2
· Radiation effects (dose response curves, radiation effects to normal and tumor cells, relative biological effectiveness (RBE), dose rate fractionation, radioprotectors and radiosensitizers)
Chapter 7: External
Radiation Protection
·
Basic principles for external radiation
protection and gamma-ray shielding considerations
·
Shielding calculation for X-ray installations
·
Protection against external beta
radiation
·
Neutron shielding
Summary slides of Chapter 7
Chapter 8:
Radiation Protection Criteria and Exposure Limits
·
The objective of radiation protection
· ICRP dosimetry models (for the respiratory system and gastrointestinal tract)
Homeworks
Please return your homework through
Gradrscope. Please email our TA, Runxia Wen, at runxiaw2@illinois.edu, if you have
question about submitting your homework.
Homework 1, assigned on
02-03-25. Due at 5 pm on 02-10-25. Solutions.
Homework 2, assigned on
02-17-25. Due at 5 pm on 02-24-25. Solutions.
Homework 3, assigned on
02-24-25. Due at 5 pm on 03-03-25. Solutions.
Homework 4, assigned on
03-10-25, Due at 5 pm on 03-24-25.
Paper Review Project on Radiobiology
TBA
Quizzes
Exams
Midterm Exam:
Dat and Time: Wednesday, 03-26-25, noon-2.
Contents covered: Chapters 1 and 2 as on this website.
Format: Close book. You can bring 2 pieces of
paper of the Letter size.
Final Exam:
TBA.