[Arktwo] Understanding Radiation - One

[Bruce Beach]

This is Part One
of a three part series
dealing with understanding radiation.

I had planned to make this shorter -
but my reviewers have insisted that I add
so much material that there are going to be
three parts.

This is a bit different from my usual newsletters,
and admittedly
I have put all this information
and much, much more on

	www.webpal.org

However, so many people who read my newsletter, still don't seem to
understand about radiation
that I have decided to send out
the essential information
in this format.

If you read this now
you will know what to do
when you need this information.
If you do not read this now,
then if you need this information
you will not have the time to read it then.

If this should come to you -
and you don't know me, the author,
I am Bruce Beach, RSO
(Radiological Scientific Officer)
and I have had this presentation reviewed
by:
(1) a Radiological Health Physicist,
(2) a retired head of a University Nuclear Science  Department
(3) a retired military expert in nuclear weapons
(4) an astrophysicist
(5) others currently in the radiological field

While each of those mentioned above
would have presented some ideas differently -
usually to more closely conform
to accepted scientific terminology -
or because they feel
that I have over-simplified some concept -
still and all - where I have proceeded
in spite of their critique -
I have done so in my desire
to keep the presentation simple -
and I don't believe that these simplifications
will endanger anyone making decisions
in the life-threatening situation that I envision -
while on the other hand -
if in fulfillment of my dream -
they get many people to read this now -
who would not otherwise -
it might indeed save thousands of lives.

In any case, the decisions were mine,
and if any other experts should read this -
please be aware that the simplifications
were not because I didn't know better -
or were not told better -
but because
I felt they made the presentation better.

What is Radiation?

Well it is light.
However, nuclear radiation is invisible light.
Don't think that sounds spooky -
because most light is invisible.
The visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum
is very narrow.
Most of the light in the electromagnetic spectrum
is made up of very much shorter
or very much longer waves
than visible light.
Some would have me say
that light is a special case of radiation
and that while all light is radiation -
not all radiation is light -
but that is one of those simplifications
that I make and that I think it will help you
to understand radiation
in the way that I am presenting it.

Since a picture is supposedly worth
a thousand words -
here is a link to several thousand pictures -
of the electromagnetic spectrum
or millions of words we might spend
discussing it.

	http://tinyurl.com/yafqqq

Some parts of the electromagnetic spectrum
we call names like infrared and
others parts names like ultraviolet -
which some call black light.

Some parts we call x-rays,
and others radio waves.
It is from the latter concept
that nuclear radiation gets the term
radioactivity.

You can't see nuclear radiation waves -
and you can't hear, touch or smell them -
but they can be there just the same
just like you can't
see, touch or smell broadcast radio waves
or even hear them
without a special instrument (a radio)
or touch or smell TV waves
and only see or hear them
with a special instrument (a TV).

Actually - even then
the broadcast video signal
is converted to light displayed
on the cathode ray tube (or plasma screen)
of your TV -
and the audio signal is converted to sound waves.
You never really ever see or hear the radio waves.
One can quibble over such details -
about most everything that I am going to explain -
but still -
this simplified -
rather than technical explanation -
will give you the comprehension that you need
to defend yourself against radiation.

To know that nuclear radiation waves are present
you need a radiation detector,
just like you need
a radio to hear broadcast radio,
a TV to receive broadcast TV,
or film or some other method to detect X-rays.

Some people have fear of all radioactivity -
but radio, TV and radiation waves
are around us all the time.
They are always present wherever we go
and so is background cosmic radiation.

A little bit of nuclear radiation won't hurt you -
and in fact a little bit may be good for you.
That is not all that surprising,
that reality perhaps works out that way.

Some water is good for you -
and in fact is necessary to life -
but if you get too much you will drown.

Some sunlight is probably beneficial -
but if you get too much
you will get a sunburn.

Some salt is good for you -
but too much and you will get salt poisoning.
Even some arsenic is necessary for life -
but we know that an overdose means death.

Some people, and even some scientists,
were of the opinion -
(when we knew less about it) -
that no radiation was good for you.
But now we have learned differently.

By accident some radioactive steel
got into some girders
used in hundreds of apartments
in a housing complex.
Other buildings in the same housing complex
did not get that steel.

	http://tinyurl.com/3bxut

When it was learned that the radioactive steel
was in some of the buildings
the people were tested and examined
to determine how much damage it had done to them
compared to other people not in those buildings.

Surprisingly - the people in the buildings
with the radioactive steel
had fewer cases of cancer
than the other people.
Then it was found that people
who live at high altitudes
and who receive more cosmic and solar radiation
also get less cancer
than those who live at lower altitudes.

A number of studies of this type
have led to the conclusion
that some radiation is good for you.
There are people who of course
dispute the studies.
Some are qualified - most are not -
even such as myself,
to actually analyze the research.
However, it seems to me
that the most emotional statements
usually come from people
who don't know what they are talking about -
or from someone who has written a book
to present a particular point of view.

In any case,
government standards are still based
upon the old concept
that none is good for you -
and therefore the government standards
are VERY conservative.

My purpose, however,
is not to discuss government standards -
or get into argument with those people
who have seen the pictures of Iraqi infants
that were supposedly terribly deformed
because of depleted uranium -
or to debate with others about
how many were really harmed by Chernobyl -
or how many 'monster children' will be born
as a result.

It is not good to breath
Depleted Uranium dust -
or to live in Chernobyl -
although some do -
and survive.
Some people have concerns
about such matters
but we have bigger fish to fry.

Our concern here
is about the radiation
that one might get
as the result of a nuclear bomb
and the quantity involved from that
and how to protect oneself from it.

Nuclear bombs
are not what are called 'dirty bombs'
or RDDs (Radiation Dispersal Devices).
I have written on those at length
at:
	http://tinyurl.com/y3fspx

I personally think that
very, very few people will be affected by RDDs,
and the effect is quite minimal -
as compared to the effect of a nuclear bomb
and the number who may be affected
by nuclear war.

The blast, firestorms, social disruption
and other effects of nuclear weapons
will of course be horrendous
but here we are confining ourselves
solely to the radiation that will be generated.

Let us distinguish between
the various forms of radiation
by the length of time that it lasts.

There is:
short-term initial radiation
medium-term fallout radiation
long-term world-wide fallout radiation.

Although radioactive 'light' is invisible -
let us compare the three 'time-terms' of radiation
to three different examples of visible light.
The short-term radiation
is like a flashbulb on a camera.
The medium-term radiation
is like an ordinary reading lamp light-bulb.
The long-term radiation
is like that weak florescent paint
(only much weaker than even that)
that some people paint around doorways
so that they can see them when the lights are off.

Short-term Initial Radiation occurs
at the moment that the bomb goes off.
Most of this type of radiation lasts from
a teeny tiny fraction of a second
to something still less than a second.

Many people have seen pictures
of people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki
who were horribly burnt
by what is popularly perceived
to be the initial radiation.

While some were affected that way
in Hiroshima and Nagasaki -
the good news -
is that the new bombs are so powerful
and create so large a crater
that this type of radiation
won't make it out of the hole.
It is gone in a flash.

The flash of light
that you see in pictures
of nuclear explosions -
is actually thermal radiation -
and it is what burnt most people
in Hiroshima and Nagasaki
and will be even more horrendous
from the modern nuclear weapons.

You are not going to die from
initial radiation
unless you are close enough to the bomb
that you are going to die
from thermal radiation
or the effects of the blast anyway.

Now - jumping over to
long-term radiation
which can last hundreds, thousands,
even millions and billions of years.
This really upsets some people
but I tell them that it is our friend.
The reason why -
is that it lasts so long -
and gives off its energy so slowly -
that you aren't even going to notice it.

We speak of radiation 'half-life'
and by that we mean the time that it takes
for any given quantity of radioactive material
to lose half its energy.
When something has a half-life of hundreds
or certainly thousands of years
you aren't going to be around long enough
to feel it.

In the second part of this
three-part series
I will deal with the most serious case -
which is mid-term radiation from fallout.

Peace and love,
Bruce
DawnSayer@webpal.org