Environmental radiation

1. ABOUT ME
NAME-VIVEKSWAR KHANDAI
MSC 3RD SEMESTER
DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY AND APPLIED AQUACULTURE
BARKATULLAH UNIVERSITY,BHOPAL 462026
EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
BSC PLAIN GPR COLLEGE
PGDCA MCU BHOPAL
PARENTS
DR HEMANT KHANDAI
BU BHOPAL
ABANTI NAYAK
CONTACT ADDRESS
BARKATULLAH UNIVERSITY
TF 2 TEACHERS QUARTERS
462026
VIVEKKHANDAI17@GMAIL.COM
8770695653
BLOOD GROUP AB+

2. ENVIRONMENTAL
RADIATION:BOON or
BANE
VIVEK KHANDAI
MSC ZOOLOGY
3RD SEMESTER

4. INTRODUCTION
• The term radiation generally refers to emission
and propagation of energy through space in the
form of electromagnetic waves. The spectrum of
EM waves extends from X-rays to Radio & Micro
Waves. For our purpose, Radiation refers to
radioactivity and X-rays which were discovered
during the last decade of 19th century by Marie
Curie & Roentgen. Public interest and concern
about environmental radiation has increased
during recent times after the Chernobyl reactor
accident on 26 April 1986.

5. Sources of Environmental
Radiation
• The sources of environmental radiation
are both natural and artificial; the bulk of
average annual effective dose (2.4 mSv)
being contributed by the natural sources
of radiation including radon (52.5%) and
cosmic rays (16.2%).
• Artificial sources include Radioisotopes,
Accelerators, Nuclear Reactors and
Atomic Bomb Explosions.

6. Natural Radioactive Decay Series

9. Artificial Sources of Radiation

11. Nuclear Radiation Hazards
• The first demonstration of environmental
contamination due to artificial radioactivity was
the Atomic bomb explosions of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. Radiation accidents have been
almost nil at accelerators but the most dramatic
episode concerning reactor was the Chernobyl
accident on 26 April, 1986. Reactor accidents
and nuclear explosions have created a media-
hype and a ‘nuclear neurosis’ among the
general public to veto setting up of any nuclear
facility in the neighbourhood or even in remote
areas.

12. Manhattan Project
• Beginning with the Manhattan Project, during the
World War II, USA created a vast arsenal of nuclear
weapons based on plutonium. The inputs came from
a number of nuclear complexes spread across the
country and they included a number of nuclear
reactors to produce plutonium, reprocessing plants
to extract plutonium and weapon-research
laboratories and production plants. As an example,
at Hanford (Washington State), a typical nuclear
weapons’ complex, there were 9 nuclear reactors
producing plutonium, 5 reprocessing plants and 200
tanks storing nearly 200,000 m3 of high – level
radioactive waste.

13. Problem of Radioactive Waste
• It may not be wrong to guess that any other
weapon-producing complex in any other
country also operates in a similar manner.
Only the scale of operation may be large or
small depending on the resources that are
pumped in. The secrecy, callousness in
handling the radioactive waste and the
problems that each nation faces would be
qualitatively no different; quantitatively they
increase as weaponization takes deeper
roots.

14. Probability of Cancer Deaths
• There is also a possibility that detonation of a
highly explosive propellant/fuel in the pit may
trigger in turn the detonation of the nuclear
weapon. Such an explosion might be mistaken
for a nuclear attack and lead to a nuclear
response. Thus there is always a danger that an
accidental nuclear explosion may even trigger a
nuclear warfare. The dispersal of plutonium
aerosols, even without nuclear warfare, may
cause 5000 cancer deaths in a metropolitan like
Delhi. One can imagine the situation in Punjab!

15. Nuclear Radiation Disasters
• Nuclear fission was discovered by Otto Hahn,
Strassman and Lise Mietner in 1938 in
Germany, when they bombarded uranium with
neutrons. Enrico Fermi demonstrated the chain
reaction in a nuclear pile (reactor) on 2nd
December 1942 in Chicago (USA) which led to
the making of first Nuclear Bomb (Atomic Bomb)
under the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos in
the desert of New Mexico (USA). Two thousand
million dollars was the budget estimate for
Manhattan Project. The test explosion of Atomic
Bomb on 16th July 1945 was a complete
success.

16. Demonstration of Nuclear Disaster
• The test explosion of Atomic Bomb on 16th July
1945 was a complete success. The First Atomic
Bomb was thrown / dropped on Hiroshima on
6th August 1945 and the second on Nagasaki on
9th August 1945. The bomb had the power of
20,000 tons of TNT. Hiroshima nuclear
explosion killed 92,133 Japanese and more than
100,000
disfigured.
were permanently
The disaster was
injured and
worst in the
recorded history of mankind.

17. Nuclear Bomb Explosion

18. Japanese Radiation Victim

20. Causes of Nuclear Disaster
• Shock Wave: destroys all buildings
within a radius of 15 kms. from Ground
Zero.
Heat Wave: burns all in its path.
•
• Nuclear Radiations: in the form of
gamma rays and neutrons destroy all
living beings.
• Radioactivity of fission products remains
for many years after the nuclear
explosion.

21. Types of Radiation Effects
•
•
Somatic effects affect the person exposed to
radiation and a dose of 600 Roentgen (r) can
prove fatal.
Genetic effects appear in the successive
generations of exposed person.
• Radiation dose limits are defined for general
public and occupational workers by ICRP
(International Commission on Radiation
Protection) set up under UN. Health Physics is
study of protection of man and his
environment from unwarranted radiation
exposure.

22. Global Average Whole Body
Radiation Dose
• The annual average world-wide whole
body radiation dose estimated by
UNSCEAR (2000) from natural and man-
made sources is as follows:
Natural Background Radiation = 2.4 mSv,
Diagnostic Medical Examination = 0.4 mSv,
•
•
•
•
•
Atmospheric Nuclear Testing
Chernobyl Reactor Accident
Nuclear Power Production
= 0.005 mSv
= 0.002 mSv
= 0.0002 mSv

23. • It is evident that nuclear tests, reactor accidents
and nuclear power plants contribute negligible
amount of radiation dose at global level. More
than 80% annual dose is due to natural
background radiation, out of which more than
50% is contributed by radon/thoron decay
products. Radon –222 and decay products can
build up to vary high values in enclosed spaces
with poor ventilation, which include mines,
cellars, basement areas and air-conditioned
energy conservative homes such as in USA and
Europe. Radon poses a great health hazard in
mines where it emanates from the uranium
bearing rocks into the tunnels. Hence the tunnel
air will contain very high levels of randon-222, if
adequate ventilation is not provided.

25. Nuclear Radiation as a Boon
• Recent studies have established that
environmental radiation has been a boon for
mankind. The creation of universe with a Big-
Bang was responsible for environmental cosmic
radiation about 20 billion years ago. Evolution of
life leading to human species had been possible
due to radiation exposure. Beneficial health
effects of low-level radiation are well-established
by some workers (S. Kondo in Japan, 1993 Wei
et al. in China, 1990).

26. Radiation as a Tonic
• Health-stimulating effects of natural radon were
known to Europeans and the radon spas were
used for treatment of patients in Romania,
Austria, Hungary, Germany and Russia, more
than a century ago. Radium-rich water was used
as a tonic. Most of the thermal springs are rich
source of radon and have been pilgrimage
centres in India, for example, the Manikaran
spring is also believed to have miraculous
healing powers.

27. • The radon spas were used for treatment of
patients in Austria, Romania, Hungary, Russia
and Japan. Treatments at the radon sauna and
spas have been reported to be effective for
rheumatoid arthritis, spondylosis, neuritis and
complications of endocrine and sex harmone
systems. Radon spas of Badgastein in Austria,
Misasa in Japan, Boulder in USA,
Matradrescke in Hungary and Manikaran in
India have been used in curing rheumatoid
arthritis and other related diseases. Radon spa
near Moscow was used for the health recovery
of Russian army generals and Politburo
members. Radium-rich water was used as a
tonic in Europe.

28. Radiation Hormesis
• It has been reported that radiation appears to
enhance immunological responses and to
modify the balance of hormones in the body.
The radiation may be able to stimulate the repair
of prior radiation damage, thus strengthening the
body’s natural defence mechanism (ICRP,
1991). This response to low dose exposure is
referred to as ‘Radiation Hormesis’ or ‘adoptive
response’. We may thus conclude that radiation
exposure can be both beneficial and harmful
depending upon the radiation dose levels in the
environment.

29. Comparison of Risk Factors
For sake of comparison, we compare the risk
factors of life, involving a risk of one death in a
million:
• 650 kms of air travel,
• 100 kms of car travel,
• smoking ¾ th of a cigarette ,
• drinking half a bottle of wine,
• using oral contraceptive pills for 2 ½ weeks ,
• exposure to 0.10 mSv of ionising radiation, or
• living three years in the vicinity of a nuclear
power station.