ABSTRACT
Health physics is concerned with protection of people from radiation. Protection of individuals against radiation necessitates the completion of three tasks: construction of instruments that measure the intensity of radiation, foundation and creation of radiation dose and exposure units and development of safe radiation exposure limits based on the interactions of radiation with biological systems and the ensuing biological effects. The ideal unit for the measurement of biological effect should be such that a given dose, measured in that unit, predicts a certain biological effect regardless of the type and energy of radiation and also regardless of the biological effect considered. Neutrons hitting the human body deliver energy to it through elastic and inelastic collisions with nuclei, and through secondary radiation emitted by the radioisotopes produced after neutrons are captured. Radioisotopes may enter the body by inhalation, drinking, eating, injection, or through broken skin (wound).
