Hazards From Radioactive Material | Radioactivity | Physics | FuseSchool
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- čas přidán 2. 03. 2019
- Hazards From Radioactive Material | Radioactivity | Physics | FuseSchool
Nuclear power stations produce electricity, which of course is extremely useful. However, they also make radioactive waste.
When items have no further use and have radioactivity above certain levels, they are known as radioactive waste.
Radioactive waste can come from a range of activities, including generating electricity from nuclear power stations, treating medical illnesses and conducting research.
Did you know that radioactive waste can be harmful to us?
Either by irradiation or contamination.
We’re going to look at these two in this video.
Irradiation is when a person or object is exposed to radiation without coming into direct contact with the radioactive source.
The person doesn’t make direct contact with the radioactive barrel, but since irradiation can happen at a distance, the person is still at risk.
The damage to the person only happens whilst the person is in the area of the radioactive waste. Therefore the person is only exposed to radiation for a short time, and so receives a low dose of radiation.
Irradiation can sometimes be useful, particularly during cancer treatment.
People are irradiated in an attempt to remove cancerous cells from their body.
Irradiation is also used to sterilise surgical equipment, or to remove bacteria from fruit in supermarkets. The objects don’t become radioactive themselves, and so are safe for use or consumption.
Contamination is when a person actually comes into contact with radioactive wastes.
The person takes the radioactive source away with them, and so are exposed for a longer period of time and consequently have a higher dose which can lead to more damage.
Contamination can happen in a variety of ways: from picking up a source, to breathing it, to ingesting it.
Contamination is used in medicine, by injecting radioactive tracers into the body to see possible blockages. Radioactive tracers are also used to find leaks in water pipes.
Radioactive waste can remain hazardous for a very short or a very long period of time, depending upon the different half lives.
‘Half lives’ mean the level of hazard of the radioactive waste reduces with time.
If we start off with a kilogram of radioactive waste that has a half life of 100 years,
after 100 years we will have 500g of radioactive waste.
After another 100 years there will be 250g of it
and so on.
Eventually the amount of radiation will decrease until it reaches the same level as background radiation.
For medical contamination that involves injecting radioactive sources, isotopes that have very short half-lives are selected. The half life is long enough that they stay active for detection to be done. But short enough that they reduce to low-risk levels as quickly as possible.
Background radiation comes from artificial and natural sources around us, that we experience daily.
It is low in magnitude so it isn’t harmful. However, for some radioactive wastes to reach this low background level it may take several thousand years.
So just how harmful is radioactive waste? The answer depends on the half life of the waste and whether a person is irradiated or contaminated. It’s like asking, how long is a piece of string?
We’ve now learned about the differences between irradiation and contamination.
CREDITS
Animation & Design: Chloe Fyvie Adams
Narration: Dale Bennet
Script: Bethan Parry
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No one:
Absolutely no one:
The girl: *touches nuclear waste and walks away*
Literally doing a project of Radioactive so I needed that. Thank you!
is it possible to stabilize a radio material. I mean I know it is a decaying matter and it takes time. But what if those material well be forcefully radiated via other source of force like particle beams, magnetism or gravity to stabilize its reaction. It might be possible but costly but possible right? It be nice if there's an article for that.
This is very helpful!
Glad you think so!
great vid
Thanks!
More specifically Ionizing radiation
Lets be honest, we are exposed to radiation everyday.
can alpha radiation ionise your cells and make the atom unstable so it releases alpha particle again inside your body?
Alpha particles are Helium nuclei and can't penetrate beyond your outer skin. Contrast this with Beta and Gamma radiation which can pass through cells and ionise water (the main component of cells), but sometimes will damage the molecules of life by affecting the outer electrons of the atoms from which the molecules (DNA, protein, etc.) are made. In order for the atoms to become radioactive themselves and perhaps give off Alpha particles, the radiation would have to penetrate and hit the nucleus of the atom. So the only way you can be seriously damaged by Alpha radiation is if you inhale or swallow a radioactive material that is giving off alpha particles, because then the alpha particles are being given off inside your body.
@@fuseschool if the alpha hit the nucleus what would happen? Would the nucleus undergo radioactive Decay and release alpha again
In order for an alpha particle, which is positively charged, to impact with the nucleus, also positively charged, you would need a particle accelerator - so no, the alpha particles would be repelled by the nuclei.
1st liker
Good rule of thumb is 5 half lives for it to become insignificant.
First comment
Did you know you can't post comments on your carbon footprint videos. Are you listed as a propaganda channel