**6. Conclusion**

Sources of ionizing radiation as well as other nuclear-related technologies have been used extensively in medicine (from cancer treatment to sterilization of medical equipment), industrial applications (nuclear power plants, production of radiopharmaceuticals, industrial radiography, radioisotope thermoelectric generators, oil well logging, industrial gauges, etc.), research, chemistry, agriculture, and in many other areas. These applications have been here for decades for the benefit of society. In their use, however, reliable safety and security measures should be introduced and followed so that any potential harm to people or the environment is kept to the minimum acceptable by the society. Here, a significant role is played by radiation protection, which should ensure the implementation of the strict regulations and safety standards aimed at the adequate protection of workers, patients as well as members of the general public against potentially harmful health effects of radiation exposure. Similar rules have been introduced to limit radioactive contamination of the environment.

Besides radiological protection of the persons in routine situations, the use of radiation sources involves several important tasks associated with the prevention and mitigation of radiological or nuclear accidents. Special attention has also to be devoted to the risk associated with possible terrorist attacks and the danger from orphan sources (lost, stolen, abandoned), which are no longer under the regulatory control.

One of the ways how to solve the present problems in radiation protection concept and philosophy could include the change regarding radiation protection quantities and units. It is believed that the limitation of the number of quantities currently in use

*Basic Radiation Protection for the Safe Use of Radiation and Nuclear Technologies DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108379*

would be undoubtedly helpful. One possible approach may rely on splitting the radiation protection quantities into two categories: the first group would include a limited number of measurable quantities that can be used in regulatory control of personal exposure, while the second category may include the continuation in using the present complicated system; this will serve for research and theoretical aspects.
