TSA offers a glossary to identify industry terms, acronyms, technical phrases, and formulas used in verifying system operations. For more information, contact your TSA representative.
| GLOSSARY OF TERMS |
|---|
TSA Systems Product Specific Terms TSA's commonly used terms |
Radiological Weapons/Detection Industry words, phrases and acronyms |
World Nuclear Association technical nuclear fuel terms (link) |
TSA Formulas used for verifying system operations (pdf) |
NIST Elemental Data Index access database holdings organized by element (link) |
TSA Systems Product Specific Terms
- ADC:
Analog to Digital Converter is an integrated circuit that converts an analog signal into a binary number that can be used by the microprocessor.
- Background Status:
- High Background Alarm/Fault:
The condition that occurs if the counts exceed the programmed high background level. This condition prevents further operation until the problem is corrected. Normally set in cps. - Low Background Alarm/Fault:
The condition that occurs if the counts fall below the programmed low background level. This condition prevents further operation until the problem is corrected. Usually set in cps. - Rolling Background:
This is the background accumulation method used in most of TSA’s instruments. Background accumulation is done in ten separate buffers, each buffer representing 1/10 of the total background time. As each buffer is filled, the background is updated. This results in a background update at background time/10. Initial background accumulation requires the full background time. - Standard Background:
Standard background requires the full background time for the initial background and updates.
- High Background Alarm/Fault:
- CPS or cps:
Counts Per Second
- LCD:
Liquid Crystal Display
- LED:
Light Emitting Diode
- LLD:
The Lower Level Discriminator provides an adjustable threshold that determines the lowest signal level that will be accepted as a nuclear pulse by the system’s electronics. Some systems have both upper and lower level discriminators that can be used to set a discriminator window. The discriminator window can be used to effectively reduce the background counts, and increase system sensitivity to certain isotopes.
- POST:
Power On Self Test
- ULDS:
The Upper Level Discriminator provides an adjustable threshold that determines the highest signal level that will be accepted as a nuclear pulse by the system’s electronics. Some systems do not have an ULD. Also see LLD.
Radiological Weapons/Detection Industry Terms
- Alpha particles:
Form of ionizing radiation consisting of positively charged particles
- Attenuation:
Reduction in intensity of radiation as it passes through a substance
- Beta particles:
Form of ionizing radiation consisting of negatively charged particles; a high-speed electron
- Decay:
A decrease in the level of radioactivity as fragments decompose to a more stable state
- Dose:
The total amount of ionizing radiation that is absorbed by an object over a specified interval of time
- Dose rate:
The rate at which a radiological dose is received (also referred to as intensity)
- External hazard:
Radiation from a source outside the body that can penetrate the body and pose a rise to internal organs
- Fission:
A nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into the nuclei of lighter elements, releasing tremendous amounts of energy
- Fusion:
A nuclear reaction in which the nuclei of lighter elements are combined with the nucleus of an atom of a heavier element, releasing tremendous amounts of energy (thermonuclear weapons)
- Gamma radiation:
A type of radiation in the form if electromagnetic energy, similar to X-rays
- Half-Life:
The amount of time it takes for the level of radiation from a specified amount of a radioactive material to decrease by one-half
- Initial radiation:
The radiation released during approximately the first minute after a nuclear detonation
- Ion:
An atom or molecule that has either gained or lost an electron
- Kiloton:
Nuclear weapon yield equivalent to the explosive energy released by 1,000 tons of TNT (abbreviated as Kt)
- Megaton:
Nuclear weapon yield equivalent to the explosive energy released by 1 million tons of TNT (abbreviated as Mt)
- Neutron:
A subatomic particle that is essentially neutral
- Rad:
A unit of absorbed radiation dose (from Radiation Absorbed Dose)
- Radiac:
Device used for measuring radioactivity (from Radiation Detection Indication And Computation)
- Residual radiation:
Radiation released after a nuclear explosion (also called fallout)
- Roentgen:
A unit of exposure to gamma or X-ray radiation
- Weathering:
The removal of radiological contamination by the natural action of the environment
The World Nuclear Association publishes a glossary of nuclear fuel terms, which gives definitive explanations of technical words and phrases used in the industry. To view their glossary please visit http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf51.html?ekmensel=185bf1b1_14_0_288_12.
TSA uses certain formulas in the systems that they manufacture. These formulas are available in PDF format. They are provided to assist in verifying system operations and to give customers a better understanding of how the systems operate.
NIST - National Institute of Standards and Technology Physics Laboratory provides elemental data index physical reference charts. To access database holdings organized by element please visit http://physics.nist.gov/PhysRefData/contents.html.
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