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The ICRP 2007 standard values for relative effectiveness are given below. The higher radiation weighting factor for a type of radiation, the more damaging it is, and this is incorporated into the calculation to convert from gray to sievert units. The radiation weighting factor for neutrons has been revised over time and remains controversial.
W R is the radiation weighting factor defined by regulation. Thus for example, an absorbed dose of 1 Gy by alpha particles will lead to an equivalent dose of 20 Sv, and an equivalent dose of radiation is estimated to have the same biological effect as an equal amount of absorbed dose of gamma rays, which is given a weighting factor of 1.
Neutron radiation is a form of ionizing radiation that presents as free neutrons. Typical phenomena are nuclear fission or nuclear fusion causing the release of free neutrons, which then react with nuclei of other atoms to form new nuclides —which, in turn, may trigger further neutron radiation.
In 1940, Louis Harold Gray, who had been studying the effect of neutron damage on human tissue, together with William Valentine Mayneord and the radiobiologist John Read, published a paper in which a new unit of measure, dubbed the gram roentgen (symbol: gr) was proposed, and defined as "that amount of neutron radiation which produces an ...
In astrophysics, gamma rays are conventionally defined as having photon energies above 100 keV and are the subject of gamma-ray astronomy, while radiation below 100 keV is classified as X-rays and is the subject of X-ray astronomy. Gamma rays are ionizing radiation and are thus hazardous to life.
The second weighting factor is the tissue factor W T, but it is used only if there has been non-uniform irradiation of a body. If the body has been subject to uniform irradiation, the effective dose equals the whole body equivalent dose, and only the radiation weighting factor W R is used. But if there is partial or non-uniform body irradiation ...
That model calculates an effective radiation dose, measured in units of rem, which is more representative of the stochastic risk than the absorbed dose in rad. In most power plant scenarios, where the radiation environment is dominated by X-or gamma rays applied uniformly to the whole body, 1 rad of absorbed dose gives 1 rem of effective dose. [5]
The neutron energy peaks at around 1 MeV and rapidly drops above. At sea level, the production of neutrons is about 20 neutrons per second per kilogram of material interacting with the cosmic rays (or, about 100–300 neutrons per square meter per second). The flux is dependent on geomagnetic latitude, with a maximum near the magnetic poles.