Rays, alpha gamma

The radiation from exposure to americium is the primary cause of adverse health effects from absorbed americium. Upon entering the body by any route of exposure, americium moves relatively rapidly through the body and is concentrated in bones where it remains for a long time. While in the bone, americium atoms decay, releasing alpha particles and gamma-rays. Alpha... 

A stream of alpha particles is sometimes called an alpha ray. A stream of beta particles is called a beta ray. A gamma ray is composed of a stream of gamma particles. 

X-ray diffraction of the Buehler-supplied gamma alumina powder used in a RCE study showed the powder to be actually a combination of alpha and gamma phase alumina [28], However, the relatively high particle incorporation obtained with this alpha-gamma alumina cannot be attributed to the partial alpha crystallographic character of the powder, since the pure alpha alumina codeposited to a lesser extent. 

Whereas Table 2 presents some radiation terms that are pertinent to the following discussion, Table 3 lists the radioisotopes and their half-lives that are suitable to microautoradiography. Of the two types of nuclear radiation, i.e., wavelike electromagnetic radiation (X-ray and gamma ray) and corpuscular radiation (electrons, beta particles, and alpha particles) the latter are the most employable for microautoradiography. The reader is referred to Slater (20) for in-depth discussion of all aspects of radiobiology. 

B. gamma rays > alpha particles > beta particles... 

X-rays, or gamma rays generated by nuclear decay. Ionizing radiation also includes several types of subatomic particles, such as beta radiation (high-energy electrons) and alpha radiation (helium ions) and others. Medical X-rays are an example of a common beneficial exposure to ionizing radiation. Nuclear radiation is used to generate electricity and cure disease, but is also an important element in military weapons. Uses of nuclear radiation pose serious issues of human exposure and environmental contamination. 

Energetic x rays and gamma rays penetrate tissue well enough so that an external source of such radiations may deliver a relatively uniform dose to all parts of the body. Particulate radiations, on the other hand, penetrate much less readily, especially those with high mass and charge, such as alpha particles. With such radiations, irradiation of deep-seated tissues wUl occur only as a result of internal deposition. 

In 1896 Antoine Henri Becquerel was experimenting with uranium-containing crystals (potassium uranyl sulfate) when he discovered that they emitted some type of rays that were able to expose photographic film and even penetrate solid matter. Ernest Rutherford studied these rays and determined that at least three types were emitted from the uranium-containing material. He named them alpha rays, beta rays, and gamma rays. 

Americium-241 is the only isotope of americium of any practical interest. When it decays, it gives off both alpha rays and gamma rays. Alpha rays do not travel very far in air, but gamma rays are very penetrating, much like X rays. The gamma rays from americium-241 are used in portable X-ray machines that can, for example, be taken into oil fields to help determine where new wells should be dug. 

C) Beta particles < gamma rays < alpha particles... 

Particle Accelerators X-rays, alphas, protons, deuterons, electrons, gammas -4 TBq to 40PBq Anywhere in an industrial area. Be aware of possible activation products. 

The portable survey instruments are detectors like those described in detail in Chaps. 5-7. The most commonly used are GM counters and the so-called cutie pie meter. Many commercial GM counters offer a fixed thin window that will allow betas and photons to traverse it and be counted, and one or more movable windows that will stop the betas and allow only the gammas to enter the counter. In a mbced jS-y field, such an instrument will provide information for p and y separately. The cutie pie is an ionization coimter that can be used to detect X-rays, alphas, and some high-energy betas. 

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