In a supervised area, working conditions are kept under review but special procedures to control exposure to ionizing radiation are not normally necessary.

See also Controlled Area.

(TLD) A thermoluminescent dosimeter contains a crystalline material (lithium fluoride, phosphor) for measuring radiation dose. TLDs are usually small crystals measuring 3 mm square by 1 mm thickness. Additional filters (absorbers) help to characterize the types of the impinging radiation. When heated, TLD crystals that have been exposed to ionizing radiation give off light proportional to the received energy.

X-rays are a part of the electromagnetic spectrum. X-rays and gamma rays are differentiated on the origin of the radiation, not on the wavelength, frequency, or the energy. X-rays are emitted by electrons outside the nucleus, while gamma rays are emitted by the nucleus. X-rays have wavelengths in the range of about 1 nanometer (nm) to 10 picometer (pm), frequencies in the range of 10^-16 to 10^-20 Hertz (Hz) and photon energies between 0.12 and 120 kilo electron Volt (keV). The energy of rays increase with decreased wavelengths. X-rays with energies between 10 keV and a few hundred keV are considered hard X-rays. The cutoff between soft or hard X-rays is around a wavelength of 100 pm.
Because of their short wavelength, X-rays interact little with matter and pass through a wide range of materials. These interactions occur as absorption or scattering;; primary are the photoelectric effect, Compton scattering and, for ultrahigh photon energies of above 1.022 mega electron Volt (MeV), pair production.
X-rays are produced when high energy electrons struck a metal target. The kinetic energy of the electrons is transformed into electromagnetic energy when the electrons are abruptly decelerated (also called bremsstrahlung radiation, or braking radiation) similar to the deceleration of the circulating electron beam in a synchrotron particle accelerator. Another type of rays is produced by the inner, more tightly bound electrons in atoms;; frequently occurring in decay of radionuclides (characteristic radiation, gamma ray, beta ray). The energy of an X-ray is equivalent to the difference in energy of the initial and final atomic state minus the binding energy of the electron.
Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen discovered this type of rays (also called Roentgen-rays) in 1895 and realized that X-rays penetrate soft tissue but are absorbed by bones, which provides the possibility to image anatomic structures; the first type of diagnostic imaging was established. Radiographic images are based on this difference in attenuation for tissue and organs of different density. Today ionizing radiation is widely used in medicine in the field of radiology.

See also Exposure Factors, X-Ray Tube, and X-Ray Spectrum.

(Sv) The sievert is the SI unit of a dose equivalent, which accounts for relative sensitivities of different tissues and organs exposed to radiation. The effective dose, usually measured in millisievert (mSv), attempts to reflect the biological effects of radiation. One sievert equals an ionizing x-ray or gamma radiation energy loss of 1 joule per kilogram of body tissue (1 gray). One sievert is equivalent to 100 rem.
It is named after Rolf Sievert, a Swedish medical physicist.

Air KERMA (Kinetic Energy Released per unit MAss of air) measures the amount of radiation energy in air, unit is J/kg. This include the initial kinetic energy of the primary ionizing particles such as photoelectrons, Compton electrons, positron//negatron pairs from photon radiation, and scattered nuclei from fast neutrons, when for example air is irradiated by an x-ray beam. J/kg (gray) is also the unit of the radiation quantity 'Absorbed Dose'.