Unwanted radioactive material deposited on surfaces, mixed into liquids or air, on skin and clothing, or taken into the body. It may be fixed or removable, and it is measured in counts per minute with a probe or in disintegrations per minute per 100 square centimetres from smears. Contamination can spread and be inhaled or ingested, which is why plants control it with boundaries, protective clothing, step-off pads and frisking.
Contamination on the pump flange is 50,000 dpm per 100, bag it before it leaves the area.
Also heard as
- radioactive contamination
- contam
Do not mix it up with
- Exposure: Contamination is radioactive material where it should not be; exposure is being irradiated, which does not make a person radioactive.
Related terms
Exposure
Being subjected to ionising radiation, from outside the body or from material within it.
Removable contamination
Radioactive contamination that can be transferred by wiping or touching, as opposed to fixed contamination.
Frisking
Slowly scanning a person or object with a contamination probe to find radioactive material before it leaves an area.
Decontamination
Removal of radioactive contamination from people, tools, surfaces or systems to reduce dose and spread.
Smear
A wipe of a surface with filter paper, counted to measure how much removable contamination is present.