Irradiation effects radiation damage process

Radiation effects. As with apatite, the increased release rates of radionuclides as a function of radiation damage has lead to rather detailed studies of the behavior of monazite under a variety of irradiation conditions. Karioris et al. (1981) and Cartz et al. (1981) established that natural monazite can be readily transformed to an amorphous state by irradiation with 3 MeV Ar ions at moderate doses. Robinson (1983) simulated the cascades that formed in monazite and found them to be similar in size and shape to simulated cascades in metals. The lack of observed radiation damage effects in monazite is related to the dominance of annealing processes. These early studies lead to detailed studies of damage accumulation as a function of temperature. 

Early work in this field was conducted prior to the availability of powerful radiation sources. In 1929, E. B. Newton "vulcanized" rubber sheets with cathode-rays (16). Several studies were carried out during and immediately after world war II in order to determine the damage caused by radiation to insulators and other plastic materials intended for use in radiation fields (17, 18, 19). M. Dole reported research carried out by Rose on the effect of reactor radiation on thin films of polyethylene irradiated either in air or under vacuum (20). However, worldwide interest in the radiation chemistry of polymers arose after Arthur Charlesby showed in 1952 that polyethylene was converted by irradiation into a non-soluble and non-melting cross-linked material (21). It should be emphasized, that in 1952, the only cross-linking process practiced in industry was the "vulcanization" of rubber. The fact that polyethylene, a paraffinic (and therefore by definition a chemically "inert") polymer could react under simple irradiation and become converted into a new material with improved properties looked like a "miracle" to many outsiders and even to experts in the art. More miracles were therefore expected from radiation sources which were hastily acquired by industry in the 1950 s. 

---