What is radioactive contamination BBC Bitesize?
What is radioactive contamination BBC Bitesize?
Contamination. Occurs when an object is exposed to a source of radiation outside the object. Occurs if the radioactive source is on or in the object. Doesn’t cause the object to become radioactive. A contaminated object will be radioactive for as long as the source is on or in it.
What is meant by radioactive contamination?
Radioactive contamination occurs when radioactive material is deposited on or in an object or a person. Radioactive materials released into the environment can cause air, water, surfaces, soil, plants, buildings, people, or animals to become contaminated.
How can radioactive waste harm humans?
Exposure to large amounts of radioactivity can cause nausea, vomiting, hair loss, diarrhea, hemorrhage, destruction of the intestinal lining, central nervous system damage, and death. It also causes DNA damage and raises the risk of cancer, particularly in young children and fetuses.
What are the hazards of radioactive contamination?
Such contamination presents a hazard because of the radioactive decay of the contaminants, which produces such harmful effects as ionizing radiation (namely alpha, beta, and gamma rays) and free neutrons.
How can radioactive contamination occur?
What is radioactive material?
Radionuclides (or radioactive materials) are a class of chemicals where the nucleus of the atom is unstable. They achieve stability through changes in the nucleus (spontaneous fission, emission of alpha particles, or conversion of neutrons to protons or the reverse).
What is radiation pollution causes and effects?
Development of Diseases due to Radioactive Pollution Exposure. The most common disease that arises in people that have been exposed to radioactive pollution is cancer. Other dangerous diseases that might be brought on by exposure to radioactive waste include anaemia, leukaemia, haemorrhages, and cardiovascular diseases …
Where does radioactive pollution come from?
The sources of radioactive pollution include mining for nuclear material, nuclear power plants, nuclear weapons and their testing, as well as medical diagnostics and treatment procedures. The consequences of radioactive pollution may be nothing at all, if it’s something small and transient.
How does radioactive waste affect our environment?
Affects on Nature: One of the biggest concerns that the world has with the disposal of nuclear waste is the affect the hazardous materials could have on animals and plant life. Although most of the time the waste is well sealed inside huge drums of steel and concrete, sometimes accidents can happen and leaks can occur.
What are the effects of radioactive waste on the environment?
Spent nuclear fuel is dangerously radioactive and has the potential to release a poisonous chemical element called plutonium into the environment. In fact, exposure to radioactive waste can cause cancerous growths in humans and genetic damage or mutation to animals and plants.