Cesium-137 gamma radiation

Radiation-Density Gauges Gamma radiation may be used to measure the density of material inside a pipe or process vessel. The equipment is basically the same as for level measurement, except that here the pipe or vessel must be filled over the effective, irradiated sample volume. The source is mounted on one side of the pipe or vessel and the detector on the other side with appropriate safety radiation shielding surrounding the installation. Cesium 137 is used as the radi-... 

ISOTOPES Cs-133 is the only stable isotope of cesium, and it makes up all of the naturally occurring cesium found in the Earth s crust. In addition to Cs-133 there are about 36 radioactive isotopes of Cs, most of which are artificially formed in nuclear reactors. All are produced in small numbers of atoms with relatively short half-lives. The range of Cs isotopes is from Cs-113 (amu = 112.94451) to Cs-148 (amu = 147.94900). Most of these radioisotopes produce beta radiation as they rapidly decay, with the exception of Cs-135, which has a half-life of 3x10 yr, which makes it a useful research tool. Cs-137, with a half-life of 33 years, produces both beta and gamma radiation. 

Cesium-137 undergoes radioactive decay with the emission of beta particles and relatively strong gamma radiation. Cesium-137 decays to barium-137m, a short-lived decay product, which in turn decays to a nonradioactive form of barium. The half-life of cesium-137 is 30.17 years. Because of the chemical nature of cesium, it moves easily through the environment. This makes the cleanup of cesium-137 difficult. 

People may also be externally exposed to gamma radiation emitted by cesium-137 by walking on contaminated sites, coming in contact with waste materials at contaminated sites, breathing the air around these sites, and drinking contaminated water. Also, people may unknowingly handle a strong industrial source of cesium-137. 

Yes, there are several. However, they are not routinely available in a doctor s office, because they require special laboratory equipment. Some tests can measure the amount of radionuclides in urine, or in fecal samples, even at very low levels. A technique called "whole-body counting can detect gamma radiation emitted by cesium-137 in the body. A variety of portable instruments can directly measure cesium-137 on the skin or hair. Other techniques include directly measuring the level of cesium-137 in soft tissues samples from organs or from blood, bones, and milk. 

Thus Calderbank (7) used a cesium 137 source in conjunction with a scintillation counter and scaler. Traverses of the reactor were made, and readings taken of the gamma-radiations transmitted through the empty reactor, the reactor filled with liquid and the reactor containing the dispersion. The point gas holdup was then calculated by. 

One method of storing gross fission products is to convert them into a form of glass which is protected by a steel cylinder. When the fission products formed into a solid cylinder in this way are more than four years old, the bulk of the gamma radiation has become that of cesium 137, and there are several schemes under consideration for using sources for radiation processing in circumstances where their low specific activity is not a serious handicap. 

Lead shields gamma radiation and retains iodine, cesium, and other fission products (FPs) at temperatures up to 600°C, thereby reducing the source term in case of release of FPs from the fuel. 

Irradiation. Ionizing radiation for use in food systems can come from electrons, x-rays, or gamma rays from cobalt-60 or cesium-137. There is little rise in the temperature within the foodstuff, so heat destruction of nutrients is minimized. However, free radicals and peroxides are formed within the food. In the United States, irradiation is classified as a food additive and its use in the food industry has been severely restricted to such areas as prevention of potato sprouting and wheat infestation. 

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