Further Reading — Chapter 29

Textbooks and Monographs

Attix, F.H. Introduction to Radiological Physics and Radiation Dosimetry (Wiley, 1986). The standard graduate-level text on the physics of radiation measurement. Chapters 1–8 cover the energy-transfer and dose concepts used throughout this chapter.
Knoll, G.F. Radiation Detection and Measurement, 4th ed. (Wiley, 2010). The definitive reference on radiation detectors. Chapter 19 covers personal dosimetry (TLD, OSL, film). Chapters 2–4 on gas-filled, scintillation, and semiconductor detectors are essential background.
Turner, J.E. Atoms, Radiation, and Radiation Protection, 3rd ed. (Wiley-VCH, 2007). An excellent intermediate-level text that bridges nuclear physics and health physics. Chapters 12–15 cover natural radioactivity, dose calculations, and protection standards at a level closely aligned with this chapter.

Hall, E.J. and Giaccia, A.J. Radiobiology for the Radiologist, 8th ed. (Wolters Kluwer, 2019). The standard text for radiation biology. Chapters 1–3 on DNA damage and repair, and Chapters 9–11 on carcinogenesis, are directly relevant to Sections 29.5–29.6 of this chapter.
Joiner, M.C. and van der Kogel, A. Basic Clinical Radiobiology, 5th ed. (CRC Press, 2018). A more clinically oriented companion to Hall; useful for understanding the biological basis of radiation protection concepts.

Eisenbud, M. and Gesell, T. Environmental Radioactivity from Natural, Industrial, and Military Sources, 4th ed. (Academic Press, 1997). The classic comprehensive text on environmental radioactivity. Dated in some data but unsurpassed in scope and clarity.
Cember, H. and Johnson, T.E. Introduction to Health Physics, 4th ed. (McGraw-Hill, 2009). A practical, problem-oriented text widely used in health physics courses. Excellent chapters on dose calculation, shielding design, and regulatory standards.

BEIR VII (2006). Health Risks from Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation. National Academies Press. The definitive US assessment of low-dose radiation risks. Free PDF available at nap.edu. Chapter 1 (executive summary) and Chapter 12 (conclusions) are essential reading.
UNSCEAR (2008). Sources and Effects of Ionizing Radiation. United Nations. Volume I covers sources (the authoritative global source for the dose data in Section 29.8). Volume II covers health effects. Available at unscear.org.
NCRP Report No. 160 (2009). Ionizing Radiation Exposure of the Population of the United States. National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. The source of the US dose breakdown in Section 29.3.2.
ICRP Publication 103 (2007). The 2007 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. Annals of the ICRP 37(2-4). Defines the current system of radiation protection: dose quantities, weighting factors, dose limits, and the three principles.

Tubiana, M. et al. (2009). "The Linear No-Threshold Relationship Is Inconsistent with Radiation Biologic and Experimental Data." Radiology 251(1): 13–22. A forceful critique of LNT by prominent French radiation biologists.
Brenner, D.J. et al. (2003). "Cancer Risks Attributable to Low Doses of Ionizing Radiation: Assessing What We Really Know." PNAS 100(24): 13761–13766. A balanced assessment that supports LNT while acknowledging uncertainties.
Calabrese, E.J. (2013). "How the US National Academy of Sciences Misled the World Community on Cancer Risk Assessment: New Findings Challenge Historical Foundations of the Linear Dose Response." Archives of Toxicology 87(12): 2063–2081. A provocative historical critique arguing that LNT was adopted through flawed process rather than strong evidence.
Shore, R.E. et al. (2017). "Implications of Recent Epidemiologic Studies for the Linear Nonthreshold Model and Radiation Protection." Journal of Radiological Protection 38(3): 1217–1233. A careful review by LSS researchers, supporting continued use of LNT while noting that alternatives cannot be excluded.

WHO (2009). WHO Handbook on Indoor Radon: A Public Health Perspective. World Health Organization. Comprehensive guide to the health effects, measurement, and mitigation of indoor radon. Freely available online.
Darby, S. et al. (2005). "Radon in Homes and Risk of Lung Cancer: Collaborative Analysis of Individual Data from 13 European Case-Control Studies." BMJ 330: 223. The definitive European residential radon study.
Krewski, D. et al. (2005). "Residential Radon and Risk of Lung Cancer: A Combined Analysis of 7 North American Case-Control Studies." Epidemiology 16(2): 137–145. The North American companion to the Darby study.

UNSCEAR (2008, Annex D). Health Effects Due to Radiation from the Chernobyl Accident. The most authoritative scientific assessment of Chernobyl health effects.
WHO (2013). Health Risk Assessment from the Nuclear Accident after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. The WHO's assessment of Fukushima health risks.
UNSCEAR (2014). Levels and Effects of Radiation Exposure Due to the Nuclear Accident after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. Complementary to the WHO report with more detailed dose reconstruction.

NNDC Chart of Nuclides — nndc.bnl.gov/chart — Interactive chart with decay data for all nuclides. Essential for verifying decay chains and half-lives.
EPA RadNet — epa.gov/radnet — Real-time environmental radiation monitoring data for the US.
EURDEP — eurdep.jrc.ec.europa.eu — European Radiological Data Exchange Platform. Near-real-time gamma dose rates from >5,500 stations.
EPA Radon Information — epa.gov/radon — Practical information on testing and mitigation, including radon zone maps.
ICRP Publications — icrp.org — Access to ICRP recommendations and reports. Many older publications are freely available.
RERF (Radiation Effects Research Foundation) — rerf.or.jp — Home of the Life Span Study. Publications, dose estimates, and summary data available online.

Welsome, E. The Plutonium Files: America's Secret Medical Experiments in the Cold War (Delta, 1999). The history of radiation experiments on human subjects — essential context for understanding why radiation protection regulations exist.
Brown, K. Plutopia: Nuclear Families, Atomic Cities, and the Great Soviet and American Plutonium Disasters (Oxford, 2013). Comparative history of Hanford and the Soviet nuclear complex; vivid account of environmental contamination.
Plokhy, S. Chernobyl: The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe (Basic Books, 2018). The most comprehensive historical account of the Chernobyl accident, including the technical, political, and human dimensions.