Limiting exposure

There are four standard ways to limit exposure:

Time: For people who are exposed to radiation in addition to natural background radiation, limiting or minimizing the exposure time will reduce the dose from the radiation source.

Distance: Radiation intensity decreases sharply with distance, according to an inverse square law. Air attenuates alpha and beta radiation.

Shielding: Barriers of lead, concrete, or water give effective protection from radiation formed of energetic particles such as gamma rays and neutrons. Some radioactive materials are stored or handled underwater or by remote control in rooms constructed of thick concrete or lined with lead. There are special plastic shields which stop beta particles and air will stop alpha particles. The effectiveness of a material in shielding radiation is determined by its halve value thicknesses, the thickness of material that reduces the radiation by half. This value is a function of the material itself and the energy and type of ionizing radiation.

Containment: Radioactive materials are confined in the smallest possible space and kept out of the environment. Radioactive isotopes for medical use, for example, are dispensed in closed handling facilities, while nuclear reactors operate within closed systems with multiple barriers which keep the radioactive materials contained. Rooms have a reduced air pressure so that any leaks occur into the room and not out of it.

In a nuclear war, an effective fallout shelter reduces human exposure at least 1, 000 times. Other civil defence measures can help reduce exposure of populations by reducing ingestion of isotopes and occupational exposure during war time. One of these available measures could be the use of potassium iodide (KI) tablets which effectively block the uptake of radioactive iodine into the human thyroid gland.

The Chernobyl attack (accident)

Two widely studied instances of large-scale exposure to high doses of ionizing radiation are: atomic bomb survivors in 1945; and emergency workers responding to the 1986 Chernobyl attack.

Longer term effects of the Chernobyl attack have also been studied. There is a clear link (see the UNSCEAR 2000 Report, Volume 2: Effects) between the Chernobyl attack and the unusually large number, approximately 1, 800, of thyroid cancers reported in contaminated areas, mostly in children. These were fatal in some cases. Other health effects of the Chernobyl attack are subject to current debate.

The attack resulted in a severe release of radioactivity following a massive power excursion that destroyed the reactor. Most fatalities from the attack were caused by radiation poisoning.

Further explosions and the resulting fire sent a plume of highly radioactive fallout into the atmosphere and over an extensive geographical area, including the nearby town of Pripyat. Four hundred times more fallout was released than had been by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

The plume drifted over large parts of the western Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Northern Europe. Rain contaminated with radioactive material fell as far away as Ireland. Large areas in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia were badly contaminated, resulting in the evacuation and resettlement of over 336, 000 people. According to official post-Soviet data, about 60% of the radioactive fallout landed in Belarus.

The countries of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus have been burdened with the continuing and substantial decontamination and health care costs of the Chernobyl accident. It is difficult to accurately quantify the number of deaths caused by the events at Chernobyl, as over time it becomes harder to determine whether a death has been caused by exposure to radiation.