Download - Radiation Hazards
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Radiation Hazards
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Nuclear Forces• At this scale, gravity is
utterly insignificant• Protons are repelled
by electromagnetic force
• Two types of nuclear forces bind particles together– Very short range
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Nuclear Decay• Too many protons (>83, Bi): nuclear forces
cannot hold nucleus together• Too many neutrons also unstable• Unstable nuclei emit particles and
energetic radiation (gamma rays)• Massive nuclei can sometimes split
catastrophically (fission)–Natural or Spontaneous–Nuclear Reactor–Nuclear Weapon
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Isotopes• Atoms of element with different number of
neutrons• Protons = Atomic Number• Protons + Neutrons = Atomic Weight• Example: Uranium-238– 92 protons by definition– 238-92 = 146 neutrons
• Carbon-14– 6 protons (by definition), 8 neutrons
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Radioactive Decay: Half-Life
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Radiation and Half-Life
• Decay Constant: fraction of atoms that decay/time
• Half-life = 0.693/Decay Constant• Example: 10% decay per hour: Half Life =
0.693/(0.1/hour) = 6.9 hours• Shorter Half Life = More Radiation Per Unit
Time–Generally more energetic
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Curie• Unit of radioactivity• 3.7 x 1010 decays/second• Rn-222 3.8 days .000006 grams• Co-60 5.26 yr .0013 grams• Sr-90 28 yr .007 grams• Ra-222 1600 yr 1 gram• Pu-239 24400 yr 16 grams• U-238 4.5 b.y. 3,000,000 gm (3
tons)
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Radiation Hazards
• Three Mile Island: 50 curies– About ½ gram
• Chernobyl (1986) 50,000,000 curies– About 500,000 grams (half a ton)
• Russian Deep Waste Injection Program: 3,000,000,000 curies
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Half-Life and Hazard• Very short half-life (days or less)– Extremely high radiation hazard– Decays very quickly– Probably won’t move far during lifetime
• Extremely long half-life (geological)– Radiation hazard negligible– Chemical toxicity is worst hazard– Daughter products (radon) can be a problem
• Medium half-lives (years to 1,000’s years)– Last long enough to migrate
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Types of Radiation
• Alpha (helium nucleus)• Beta (electrons)• Neutron (nuclear fission only)• X-rays (energetic electromagnetic
radiation)• Gamma (more energetic than X-rays)
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Hazards of Radiation• Direct damage to organic molecules• Creation of reactive molecules and free radicals• DNA mutations– Birth Defects– Sterility– Cancer
• Dangers of Radiation Types– Penetrating Ability– Ability to create electric charges (ionize)
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Alpha Radiation• Given off by decay of uranium and thorium
and daughter products (including radon and radium)
• Cannot penetrate skin• +2 electric charge = high ionizing ability• Least dangerous externally, most
dangerous internally
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Beta Radiation
• Given off by light and medium nuclei, including most fission products (fallout and reactor waste)
• Can penetrate a few mm into tissue• Electrons, -1 charge = moderately high
ionizing ability• Minor external hazard, fairly serious
internal hazard
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Gamma Rays
• Produced by all nuclear decays• Need not be accompanied by particle
emission• Penetrates tissue easily, requires 1 cm lead
to reduce by ½• Most serious external hazard
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Units of Radiation Dose• Roentgen – Ability to create a specified
electric charge per volume of air• Gray (Gy): 1 Joule/kg = 100 Rad (Radiation
absorbed dose) • Sievert (Sv)= Biological Effect of 1 Gray of X-
Rays = 100 Rem (Roentgen equivalent man) • For general human exposure, Gray and
Sievert are roughly equivalent
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Background Radiation• Cosmic Rays• Solar Wind• Decay of Natural Radioactivity• Typical Doses– Global Average 1 mSv (0.1 rem)/year (80%
natural)– Some areas up to 10 mSv (1 rem)/year– Ramsar, Iran: up to 0.26 Sv (26 rem)/year
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Human Radiation Sources
• Nuclear Fallout from Atmospheric Testing (US and Russia, 1963; France, 1974; China, 1980)
• Chernobyl 1986, Fukushima 2011• Uranium Mining• Radon release from construction and earth-
moving• Conventional power plants
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Human Survival Limits
• 2 Sievert = 200 rem (whole body): few immediate fatalities
• 5 Sievert = 500 rem (whole body): 50% fatalities
• 10 Sievert = 1000 rem (whole body): No survivors
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Chain Reaction
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Nuclear Fission• Chain reaction requires a critical mass to
proceed• 10 kg U-235 = 2.5 x 1025 atoms• 1,2,4,8 … 2.5 x 1025 = 85 steps• @ 1/1,000,000 sec per step = 1/10,000 sec• After 64 steps, T = 10,000 K (twice as hot as
sun)• Have only completed 1/1,000,000 of fission
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Nuclear WeaponsTo get a nuclear explosion, you have to• Assemble a critical mass in millionths of a
second• Retain a high percentage of the neutrons• Hold the material together against
temperatures hotter than the Sun• Imposes limits on yield of weapon• Unless something is specifically designed to
be a nuclear weapon, it will not explode
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Yields of Nuclear Weapons• Kiloton = 1000 tons of explosives = 4.2 x
1012 joules (1 trillion calories)– Texas City, Texas, April 16-17, 1947– Collapse of World Trade Center– Impact of 10-m asteroid
• Megaton = 1,000,000 tons of explosives = 4.2 x 1015 joules (1000 trillion calories)– Magnitude 7 earthquake– Impact of 100-m asteroid
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Largest Chemical Explosions
• Many Chemical Explosions Have Overlapped Nuclear Weapon Yields– Wartime Events– Ammunition Handling Mishaps– Disposal of Explosives– Simulation of Nuclear Explosions– Excavation– Industrial Accidents
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“Das war keine gute Idee”
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Effects of Nuclear Weapons
• Direct ionizing radiation• Heat (Fireball)– Rising fireball sucks dust upward, creates
“mushroom cloud”– Any large explosion will create a “mushroom
cloud”
• Blast (Expansion of Fireball)• Fallout
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Nuclear Winter• Publicized by Carl Sagan and others in
1980’s• Global nuclear exchange would raise large
amounts of dust and soot into upper atmosphere
• Would absorb or reflect sunlight, cooling the surface
• Would be above most precipitation processes
• Did not happen in Gulf War 1991
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Controlled Nuclear Fission
• Barely achieve critical mass• Absorb most neutrons– Moderator: water, graphite
• Allow just enough fissions to occur to keep chain reaction running
• Heat used to run steam turbines• Failure of moderator or coolant can result
in meltdown
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Nuclear Waste• Spent Fuel– Breeder Reactors– On-site storage– Geological storage (100,000 + years)
• Decommissioned Power Plants– Neutrons make reactor walls radioactive
• Low-Level Waste– Medical– Universities– Smoke detectors (Exempt)
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Fusion• Natural: how stars (and the sun) generate
energy• Artificial and uncontrolled: Thermonuclear
Weapon (hydrogen bomb)• Fusion Reactor: controlled• “Energy source of the future. Always has
been, always will be.”
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Uncontrolled Fusion• We cannot achieve T and P necessary to
use ordinary hydrogen• Have to use H-2 (deuterium) or H-3
(tritium)• Still need T = 1,000,000 K+• Initiated by a nuclear (fission) weapon• Fission weapons yield up to 20 kilotons• Fusion (hydrogen or thermonuclear)
weapons yield up to 20 megatons
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Controlled Fusion
• Temperatures too high for any material• Need to contain by magnetic fields, achieve
small-scale reactions for short periods• Have not achieved break-even• Apparatus will be incredibly complex and
expensive• Reactions give off neutrons: there will still
be radioactive waste• No spent fuel or fissionable residue
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Plutonium• At 24,400 years half-life, much less
radioactive than radium (1600 y) or radon (3 days)
• Not highly soluble• Chemical toxicity comparable to many
other heavy metals• Concentrates in bone marrow• Allowed occupational exposure 10-3
microcuries (1.6 x 10-8 gm) per quarter• Compare Be, Rh (10-9 gm/m3 of air)