Radiation is around us all the time. It is the types and the amounts of these types that we must be concerned with. Today we will look at three areas of radiation:
The form of radiation that concerns us is ionized radiation. There are three types of ionized radiation:
Gamma radiation is by far the most harmful.
Radiation is measured in units called rems or millirems(One-thousandth of a rem). A human should be exposed to less than 5000 millirems per year in order to be considered unaffected by radiation.
Natural radiation is greater in some areas of the country than others. For example, natural surroundings in Wyoming expose people to 140 millirems per year; East Coast inhabitants receive 15 millirems exposure. Cosmic radiation is another source of natural radiation. e receives 75 millirems/year in Wyoming, versus 38 millirems/year in Florida.
Medical procedures and use of different products in our everyday lives also expose us to radiation.
Medicine uses x-rays and other radioactive procedures in disease diagnosis and treatment.
Consumer use of the following products give us an idea of the amounts of exposure we receive by using them:
Nuclear fuel use adds very little radiation exposure. The average amount of exposure is 0.003 millirems/year for each person.
Our probabilities of being injured in other ways greatly surpasses any injury due to radiation. Probability of injury risk is 100% --- no one escapes injury totally during a lifetime:
One out of every 1,000,000 risks is fatal. These risks are greater for other everyday activties than for radiation, as seen below:
One death per every 1,000,000 for any of the following types of "exposures"
At CUA, radiation is found in natural surroundings and in research projects. It is closely monitored for any changes. Radioactive supplies are known as RAM (radioactive materials).
Any person who works with radiation is monitored. If a grant proposal is made which involves the use of radioactive materials, the grant must be approved by the radiation safety department. The department also closely monitors the shipping of radioactive materials, both incoming and outgoing. Lastly, the radiation group is constantly instructing the campus community on the proper use and disposal of radioactive materials