Doses of radiation

Transportable high-current KEC-25M betatron on 25 MeV energy with power dose of radiation on 1 m away from the target of 30 Gr/min is the source of penetrating radiation intended for flaw detection in field conditions and radiation visualization of dynamic processes [2]. 

Solution polyacrylamides can also be prepared at high polymer soHds by radiation processes (80,81). Polyacrylamides with molecular weights up to 20 million can be prepared by inradiation of acrylamide and comonomers in a polyethylene bag with cobalt-60 gamma radiation at dose rates of 120-200 J/kg-h. The total dose of radiation is controlled to avoid cross-linking. 

The accident at the Three Mile Island (TMI) plant in Pennsylvania in 1979 led to many safety and environmental improvements (4—6). No harm from radiation resulted to TMI workers, to the pubHc, or to the environment (7,8), although the accident caused the loss of a 2 x 10 investment. The accident at the Chernobyl plant in the Ukraine in 1986, on the other hand, caused the deaths of 31 workers from high doses of radiation, increased the chance of cancer later in life for thousands of people, and led to radioactive contamination of large areas. This latter accident was unique to Soviet-sponsored nuclear power. The Soviet-designed Chemobyl-type reactors did not have the intrinsic protection against a mnaway power excursion that is requited in the test of the world, not was there a containment building (9—11). 

H. Behling and co-workers, "Health Risks Associated with Low Doses of Radiation," TR-104070, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, Calif., Aug. 1994. 

Sections 9.1.6 (c) and 9.2.1 (h) drew attention to the hazards of using old equipment. Similar remarks apply to old software except that, unfortunately, it never wears out. I do not know of any incidents in the process industries due to this cause, but it was responsible for the loss of the European space rocket Ariane 5. A function that no longer served any purpose was left in for commonality reasons, and the decision to do so was not analyzed or fully understood [14]. In another incident, cancer patients received excessive doses of radiation because operators were able to enter data faster than the computer could process them. This had always been the case, but originally a hardwired interlock had prevented... 

The response of humans to var> ing doses of radiation is a field tlmt has been widely studied. The obscr ed radiation effects can be categorized as stochastic or nonstochastic effects, depending upon tlie dose received and tlie time period over which such dose was received. Contrary to most biological effects, effects from radiation usually fall under tlie category of stochastic effects. The nonstochastic effects can be noted as having three qualities a minimum dose or tlucshold dose must be rcceii ed before the particular effect is obsen ed the magnitude of the effect increases as the size of the dose increases and a clear, casual relationship can be determined between the dose and the subsequent effects. 

The response of humans to varying doses of radiation is a field that has been widely studied. The observ ed radiation effects can be categorized as... 

Plutonium has a much shorter half-life than uranium (24.000 years for Pu-239 6,500 years for Pu-240). Plutonium is most toxic if it is inhaled. The radioactive decay that plutonium undergoes (alpha decay) is of little external consequence, since the alpha particles are blocked by human skin and travel only a few inches. If inhaled, however, the soft tissue of the lungs will suffer an internal dose of radiation. Particles may also enter the blood stream and irradiate other parts of the body. The safest way to handle plutonium is in its plutonium dioxide (PuOj) form because PuOj is virtually insoluble inside the human body, gi eatly reducing the risk of internal contamination. 

Table A lists some of the effects to be expected when a person is exposed to a single dose of radiation at various levels.

The absorbed dose of radiation is the energy deposited in a sample (in particular, the human body) when it is exposed to radiation. The SI unit of absorbed dose is the gray, Gy, which corresponds to an energy deposit of 1 J-kg. The original unit used for reporting dose was the radiation absorbed dose (rad), the amount of... 

State whether the following statements are true or false. If false, explain why. (a) The dose equivalent is lower than the actual dose of radiation because it takes into account the differential effects of different types of radiation, (b) Exposure to 1 X 1 ()x Bq of radiation would be much more hazardous than exposure to 10 Ci of radiation, (c) Spontaneous radioactive decay follows first-order kinetics, (d) Fissile nuclei can undergo fission when struck with slow neutrons, whereas fast neutrons are required to split fissionable nuclei. 

Radioactivity also Is used to treat certain diseases. Some cancers respond particularly well to radiation therapy. Radioactivity must be used with care, because exposure to radiation damages healthy cells and eventually causes cancer. The key to radiation therapy is that cancer cells reproduce more rapidly than normal cells, and rapidly reproducing cells are more sensitive to radiation. If concentrated doses of radiation are focused on the malignant cells, a cancer may be destroyed with minimal damage to healthy tissue. Nevertheless, radiation therapy always has unpleasant side effects, including nausea and hair loss. 

The radioactive source need not aiways be introduced into the body. Inoperable brain tumors can be treated with y rays from an extemai source, usuaiiy a sampie of cobait-60. The patient is placed in a position where the y-ray beam passes through the tumor. The patient is moved so that the y rays irradiate the tumor from several angles. In this manner the tumor receives a much higher dose of radiation than the dose received by any surrounding tissues. 

Exposure to low doses of radiation causes no short-term damage but makes the body more susceptible to cancers. In particular, people who have been exposed to increased radiation levels have a much higher incidence of leukemia than the general population has. Marie Curie, the discoverer of radium, eventually died of leukemia brought on by exposure to radiation in the course of her experiments. Medical researchers estimate that about 10% of all cancers are caused by exposure to high-energy radiation. 

Total exposures vary considerably with human activities as well. Frequent flyers, for example, receive higher doses of radiation because the intensity of cosmic radiation is significantly greater at high altitude than it is at ground level. Residents in locations such as Montana and Idaho, where there are uranium deposits, receive higher doses of radiation from radon, one of the radioactive decay products of uranium. 

In an attempt to reduce relapse rate and late toxicity, combined-modality therapy using lower doses of radiation and an abbreviated course of chemotherapy has been evaluated.16 The goal of decreased relapse rate has been achieved, but no overall survival benefit has been documented. A limitation of this approach is exposing patients to the additive toxicities of chemotherapy. Trials that have investigated this approach typically have incorporated between two and four cycles of a standard regimen for HL, such as ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) with involved-field radiation. At present, combined-modality therapy is considered to be a standard of care for stage I/II HL. 

Median Lethal Dose (MLD)—Dose of radiation required to kill, within a specified period (usually 30 days), 50% of the individuals in a large group of animals or organisms. Also called the LD50, or LD50/30 if for 30 days.. 

It is possible to remove radon decay products from indoor air by filtration. The effects of air cleaning on dose levels are described by Jonassen (1987). However, there are major uncertainties in the effectiveness of air cleaning to remove the decay products because the particles are also removed. When the particles are removed, the "unattached fraction increases and although there are fewer decay products, they are more effective in depositing their dose of radiation to the lung tissue. Thus, there will. be much lower dose reduction than there is radioactivity reduction. It, therefore, may be more protective of health to control the radon rather than its decay products. 

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