Background Radiation Different From Nuclear Radiation

Let's look at the following comparison.

Background radiation: gamma-rays, alpha-radiation, beta-radiation.
Ionizing radiation: gamma-rays, alpha-radiation, beta-radiation.

The bottom line: just the same.

In terms of potential, there is no difference between background radiation and nuclear radiation (which is considered man-made). Given the shape of both are the same. In the same radiation dose, the effect is no different.

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Nuclear power plants emit harmful radiation to the environment

In fact, living in the area around the nuclear power plant for a year just makes a person receive radiation exposure 200 times smaller than once flying a plane from hawaii to Vienna. Hey, the plane's flight is at an altitude of thousands of meters from sea level. The cosmic radiation is definitely higher. In fact, if a person eats one banana per day for a year, it roughly gives the radiation dose to our body which is the same as living in the nuclear power plant area.

This is not a joke.

There are hundreds of things that might make our bodies absorb higher radical doses than nuclear power plants. Fly using airplane from Jakarta to Dubai, examination of internal organs using X-rays, body examination using CT-Scan, so flight attendant / a, so pilot, even smoking. Yes, smokers, let alone heavy smokers, their lungs receive a radiation dose thousands of times higher than workers in nuclear power plants. The substance of the cigarette contains elements of polonium-210 and lead-210, both emit alpha radiation that damages cells in internal organs, such as the lungs. Naturally smokers often get lung cancer.

True, nuclear plants emit radiation to the environment, but are very small. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission shows that people living in the vicinity of nuclear power plants receive an additional dose of about 0.01 mSv / year. For comparison, the average daily dose of radiation received is 2.4 mSv / yr. Even in some places, like most cities in Finland, it can be more than 10 mSv / year and even 35 mSv / year!

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See the comparison?

Why radiation emitted by nuclear power plants into the environment is so small? The answer is the safety system in the nuclear power plant itself. If someone stood beside the reactor's porch (where nuclear fission reacts to generate heat), in seconds the person must be dead. Fortunately, standing there is impossible. Instead, the reactor core is enclosed by a steel vessel about 25 cm thick. That is coupled with the steel concrete used as the containment of the reactor, which is approximately 3 meters thick.

That, along with some other support systems, is enough to minimize the radiation coming out of the nuclear power plant to the environment to a minimum. Everything is very well controlled by the operator so that none of the surrounding residents are affected by nuclear radiation.

Although both are not sufficiently harmful to health, in fact coal-fired power plants actually emit more radiation to the environment than nuclear power plants (about 100 times higher). How come? Coal contains a lot of material, including small amounts, uranium and thorium. Yes, the two radioactive materials are released into the air along with the exhaust fumes of the power plant, so that more radiation is exposed to the community around the steam power plant.

All claims about radiation from nuclear power plants have a harmful effect on health has been rejected by the United Nations Scientific Committee of the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), the National Research Council's BEIR VII Study Group, the National Cancer Society, and other credible institutions. They are composed of people in the fields of Epidemiology and Public Health, Medicine, Radiation Oncology, Molecular Biology, Radiation Measurement, Radiation Physics, Biostatistics, Mathematical Statistics, Biophysics, Bionucleon, Risk Assessment and Management, Chemistry and Toxicology, as well as other fields . So, not just a nuclear engineer, but various fields of expertise.

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