Abstract
Radioactivity and the associated radiation exposures are sometimes thought of as environmental problems that have been created by modern science and technology.1 However, substantial amounts of radioactivity exist in nature and have existed on Earth since its original formation. All biological species evolved on Earth, for better or worse, in this radioactive environment. Radioactivity could be plausibly termed the oldest “pollutant” if one chooses to describe an integral part of the natural world as a pollutant.
In this and succeeding chapters, we are only concerned with ionizing radiation (i.e., those radiations for which the individual particles are energetic enough to ionize atoms of the material through which they pass). The environmental effects, if any, of nonionizing radiations, such as those created by microwave generators or 60-cycle electrical transmission lines, are not considered here.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Roger M. Macklis, “The Great Radium Scandal,” Scientific American 269, no. 2, August 1993: 94–99.
American Nuclear Society, Glossary of Terms in Nuclear Science and Technology (LaGrange Park, IL: ANS, 1986).
National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, Ionizing Radiation Exposure of the Population of the United States, NCRP Report No. 93 (Washington, DC: NCRP, 1987).
Gunrun A. Carlsson, “Theoretical Basis for Dosimetry,” in The Dosimetry of Ionizing Radiation, K.R. Kase, B.E. Bjärngard and F.H. Attix, eds. (Orlando, FL: Academic Press, 1985).
International Commission on Radiological Protection, “1990 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection,” ICRP Publication 60, Annals of the ICRP 21, nos. 1–3 (Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1991).
Energy, U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 10, Part 20 (1993).
United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, Sources and Effects of Ionizing Radiation, Volume 1: Sources, UNSCEAR 2000 Report, (New York: United Nations, 2000).
Protection of Environment, U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, title 40, part 197 (2001).
National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, Limitation of Exposure to Ionizing Radiation, NCRP Report No. 116 (Washington, DC: NCRP, 1993).
Dade W. Moeller, “Radiation Units,” in Health Effects of Exposure to Low-Level Ionizing Radiation, W.R. Hendee and F.M. Edwards, eds. (Bristol, UK: Institute of Physics Publishing, 1996): xix–xxvi.
Samuel Glasstone, Sourcebook on Atomic Energy (New York: Van Nostrand, 1950).
Robley D. Evans, The Atomic Nucleus (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1955).
Jagdish K. Tuli, Nuclear Wallet Cards (Upton, NY: Brookhaven National Laboratory, 2000).
National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, Exposure of the Population in the United States and Canada from Natural Background Radiation, NCRP Report No. 94 (Washington, DC: NCRP, 1987).
DeVerle P. Harris, “World Uranium Resources,” Annual Review of Energy 4, (1979): 403–432.
Stuart Ross Taylor and Scott M. McClennan, The Continental Crust: Its Composition and Evolution (Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications, 1985).
J.H. Chen, R. Lawrence Edwards, and G.J. Wasserburg, “238U, 234U, and 232Th in Seawater,” Earth and Planetary Science Letters 80, (1986): 242–251.
R. Kilho Park, Dana K. Lester, Iver W. Duedall, and Bostwick H. Ketchum, “Radioactive Wastes and The Ocean: An Overview,” in Wastes in the Ocean, Volume 3 (New York: Wiley, 1983), 3–46.
P.A. Cox, The Elements: Their Origin, Abundance and Distribution (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989).
Frank Marcinowski, Robert M. Lucas, and William M. Yeager, “National and Regional Distributions of Airborne Radon Concentrations in U.S. Homes,” Health Physics 66 (1994): 699–706.
Dade W. Moeller, “Radiation Sources: Consumer Products,” in Health Effects of Exposure to Low-Level Ionizing Radiation, W.R. Hendee and F.M. Edwards, eds. (Bristol, UK: Institute of Physics Publishing, 1996): 287–313.
National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, Public Radiation Exposure from Nuclear Power Generation in the United States, NCRP Report No. 92 (Washington, DC: NCRP, 1987).
Lillian Hoddeson, Paul W. Henriksen, Roger A. Meade, and Catherine Westfall, Critical Assembly (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993).
National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, Exposure of the U.S. Population from Occupational Radiation, NCRP Report No. 101 (Washington, DC: NCRP, 1989).
“Performance Indicators: Another Successful Year in Performance, Safety,” Nuclear News 44, no. 6, May 2002: 28–30.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2004 Springer-Verlag New York, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
(2004). Radioactivity and Radiation Exposures. In: Nuclear Energy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-26931-2_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-26931-2_3
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-20778-0
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-26931-3
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)