Question

Describe the two ways in which radiation can hurt people. What are the prejudices and other mistaken ideas that people think are true but aren’t? Give examples from two historical events. Give relevant numbers if you remember them; if you don’t, make good guesses (and state that they are guesses). Is radiation ever administered to people on purpose? Explain.

Answer 1

There are two ways in which radiation hurts people. It can mutate the DNA which is a complex chain of proteins and fundamental blueprint of our bodies. It can mutate upto some extent to keep the cell alive. The effect of the radiation may not be to kill the cell, but to alter its DNA code in a way that leaves the cell alive but with an error in the DNA blueprint. Th other way is such that the radiation of high doses kills the cells. The DNA is damaged extensively to make believe the body that this cell is dead.

Common prejudices

Example: The Columbia River

For many years, nuclear reactors at Hanford were cooled by water from the Columbia. Despite that the reactors have been closed down, there is still radioactive contamination on the site. Some of this certainly entered the Columbia River. Much of the radioactive material decayed away very quickly. Some is in the sediment behind the many dams between Hanford and the Pacific. The simple fact is that the river is flowing at such a high rate, and there is very little radioactive material getting into the river now.

Potassium iodide pills are being distributed to people living within 25 miles of the nuclear power plant so they will be protected from radiation if there is a release - Taking potassium iodide pills will help make sure your thyroid doesn’t take up as much radioactive iodide as it would if you didn’t take the pills. The iodide in the potassium iodide pills fills up the thyroid gland, not leaving much or any room for radioactive iodide that you might breathe in or take in through your mouth. The pills do not protect you from other types of radiation that may be released and they will not protect you from the radioiodine if it is only outside your body. Plus, to be most effective, the pills need to be taken within a few hours prior to an incident or within a short time after radioactive iodide was released.

Radiation therapy is a type of cancer therapy that uses beams of intense energy to kill cancer cells. Radiation therapy most often uses X-rays, but protons or other types of energy also can be used. Also X rays are used for security purposes to scan our bags and body at many places like airport,banks,etc.