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Dangers of radiation and radioactive waste
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Ionising radiation can damage living cells. Radioactive waste stays dangerous for a long time and must be handled carefully.
How radiation harms living things
Ionising radiation can damage cells and tissue, causing burns or radiation sickness at high doses.
It can cause mutations in DNA, which may lead to cancer.
Outside the body, beta and gamma are more dangerous, because alpha cannot get through the skin.
Inside the body (swallowed or breathed in), alpha is the most dangerous, because it is the most strongly ionising.
It can cause mutations in DNA, which may lead to cancer.
Outside the body, beta and gamma are more dangerous, because alpha cannot get through the skin.
Inside the body (swallowed or breathed in), alpha is the most dangerous, because it is the most strongly ionising.
Contamination and irradiation
Irradiation: being exposed to radiation from a source outside the object. The object does not become radioactive.
Contamination: radioactive material gets onto or into an object. It keeps emitting radiation until removed.
Reduce the risk: keep exposure time short, keep your distance (use tongs), use shielding, and wear monitoring badges.
Contamination: radioactive material gets onto or into an object. It keeps emitting radiation until removed.
Reduce the risk: keep exposure time short, keep your distance (use tongs), use shielding, and wear monitoring badges.
Radioactive waste
Some waste stays radioactive for thousands of years because it contains isotopes with long half-lives.
Low-level waste (such as used gloves and clothing) is sealed and buried in specially designed sites.
High-level waste (used fuel) is very hot and highly radioactive. It is cooled under water, then can be sealed in glass and stored in steel containers, with plans for disposal deep underground.
Waste must be kept away from water supplies and people, and guarded, for a very long time.
Low-level waste (such as used gloves and clothing) is sealed and buried in specially designed sites.
High-level waste (used fuel) is very hot and highly radioactive. It is cooled under water, then can be sealed in glass and stored in steel containers, with plans for disposal deep underground.
Waste must be kept away from water supplies and people, and guarded, for a very long time.
Why is an alpha source more dangerous inside the body than outside it?
- Outside, alpha is stopped by the dead outer layer of skin.
- Inside, it is right next to living cells.
- Alpha is strongly ionising, so it causes a lot of damage there.
Answer: Inside, the strongly ionising alpha particles reach living cells directly.
Ionising radiation damages cells and can cause mutations and cancer. Alpha is most dangerous inside the body; beta and gamma outside. Contamination puts radioactive material on or in an object; irradiation does not. Radioactive waste lasts thousands of years and must be stored securely.
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