Radiation Hazards and Uranium Decay Chain

Question 1

Types of electromagnetic radiation (definitions, examples, and sources)

Answer 1

Ionizing radiation – high energy EM that can strip away electrons, leaving charged particles (ions), such as cosmic, X, alpha, beta, and gamma rays.

Non-Ionizing radiation – low energy EM that does not produce ions, such as infrared, microwaves, and radio waves.

Question 2

Types of materials that can stop alpha particles, beta particles, gamma rays, and x-ray

Answer 2

Alpha particles: Stopped by a sheet of paper

Beta Particles: Stopped by layer of clothing or by a few millimeters of a substance such as aluminum

GAMMA Rays and X-Rays: Stopped by several feet of concrete or a few inches of lead

Question 3

Nuclear power (definition, advantage relative to conventional power sources, environmental challenges)

Answer 3

Uses nuclear fission to generate heat to produce steam to spin turbines to power generators that produce electricity.

Generates no atmospheric pollutants.

Create risks for nuclear accidents.
Produce high-level radioactive waste.
Create risks from waste transport and storage.

Question 4

Yucca Mountain Repository

Answer 4

-Proposed state of the art high level nuclear waste
repository in Nevada.
-Waste must be buried to allow for radioactive decay,
which will take thousands of years.
-Site would consolidate waste from all over US.

Optimum site due to:

• Geological strata
• Low risk for rain penetration and seismic activity.

Public opposition is primarily to transport of radioactive waste across states and through communities.

Question 5

Uranium mill tailings

Answer 5

The sand-like residue remaining is called “tailings”, with > 90 lbs of tailings produced from every 100 lbs of ore.
Tailings were typically mounded up and stored on-site on mine property, subject to be blown by the wind, or washed away by rain to contaminate the environment.

Question 6

Definitions of alpha and beta particles/radiation

Answer 6

x

Question 7

Definition of half-life and how radiation concentrations/amounts decrease with time

Answer 7

x

Question 8

Why radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer behind cigarette smoking

Answer 8

It is a gas that many people are unwittingly exposed to.