This new book from Isaksson and Raaf will be very useful for students and professionals engaged in the radiation protection of humans and the environment. It covers all of the fundamental theoretical aspects of radiation physics and radiation biology, but focuses primarily on the field's practical aspects, including radiation detection, sample preparation, and dose assessment. The book also discusses current global concerns over radiation protection, such as modelling the transfer of radionuclides between large scale environments (like the oceans or soils) to small scale environments (like plants and animals).
After starting with a recall of facts or basic principles, each chapter introduces the relevant theory in great detail before providing example calculations and a wide variety of exercises for the reader to utilise. Notably, the last chapter tackles emergency preparedness, discussing emergency scenarios and the remedial actions and dosimetry methods to be applied to large scale accidents. This topic is usually not covered by other books in the field - instead reserved to be discussed in restricted reports - and therefore makes this book unique. Risk communication is another very important issue that is explored, which will be of interest to decision makers and also first responders who might need to deal with public concerns.
Focusing on current concerns whilst still tackling the fundamentals of the field, Environmental Radioactivity and Emergency Preparedness is a modern treatise of radiation protection and will be useful to many!
-David Broggio, Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire, France
One particular challenge of nuclear and radiological technologies is preparing for failure, misuse, and disaster, and emergency preparedness is essential in limiting the impact of such events on our populations and environment. Emergency response teams, specifically experts in radiation protection, medical physics and radiation medicine, are imperative in carrying out such tasks and, undoubtedly, this book will become a staple for those individuals.
In contrast to the various reports and documents published by international and national organizations, the authors present a comprehensive compendium that covers nearly all aspects of nuclear and radiological emergency preparedness without getting too bogged down in the fine details.
Each chapter is complemented with references, helpful examples to be solved by the reader, and recommendations for further reading. The professional reader will particularly appreciate the physics formulas and graphs and tables, which allow for the further understanding of the concepts of dose assessment and the environmental consequences of a nuclear disaster...This book will be overwhelmingly appreciated by the whole community of professionals at all levels of competence.
-Fridtjof Nusslin, Technical University Munich, Germany
This book, written by two well-known Swedish researchers and lecturers, Mats Isaksson and Christopher Raaf, is not only a precious source of fundamental information on nuclear physics and radiation biology and medicine but it also provides a comprehensive account on how the generic recommendations by the International Commission on Radiological Protection and International Atomic Energy Agency have developed into practical applications in Sweden and several other countries.
This book will be very useful to radiation protection experts who have central roles in the quantitative assessment of radiological situations, though I am confident that it will also become a cornerstone in the education of graduate students and experts and decision makers from a wide range of disciplines and specialties that are involved in the crisis management of radionuclide contamination events.
-Dr. Valery Ramzaev, Research Institute of Radiation Hygiene, St.-Petersburg, Russia
