Click here to make tpub.com your Home Page

Page Title: Internal exposure hazards
Back | Up | Next

Click here for thousands of PDF manuals

Google


Web
www.tpub.com

Home

   
Information Categories
.... Administration
Advancement
Aerographer
Automotive
Aviation
Construction
Diving
Draftsman
Engineering
Electronics
Food and Cooking
Logistics
Math
Medical
Music
Nuclear Fundamentals
Photography
Religion
   
   

 



Radiological Safety Training for Plutonium Facilities
DOEHDBK11452001
Instructor's Guide
4. Criticality
Show OT 18.
A criticality event can produce a life-
threatening dose of radiation to those who
are in the immediate vicinity.
Example: A burst of 1018 fissions in a metal
Discuss LD 50/30:
system may produce doses of 600 rad up to
Lethal dose at which 50% of
a distance of 30 feet and 100 rad up to
an irradiated population dies
around 70 feet (assuming there is no
within 30 days.
shielding). Also, there may be enough heat
generated to melt the system containing the
For humans, this dose is 450
plutonium. The fission products produced
rem, whole body.
will create residual contamination and
lasting radiation problems.
B. Internal exposure hazards
Plutonium is a heavy metal that is chemically
toxic as well as radioactive. Many other heavy
metals such as arsenic, lead, and uranium are also
chemically toxic.
Plutonium is primarily an alpha emitter and is
Alpha particles are thought to
particularly hazardous if taken into the body. Alpha
be approximately 20 times
particles do not travel far in material, which means
more damaging to tissue than
they lose all of their energy in a short distance.
beta particles.
Alpha particles cannot penetrate the dead layer of
skin on the body. However, when they are in direct
Show OT 19.
contact with our living cells, such as in our lungs,
they are a hazard. Other alpha emitters include
natural radon, which is also an inhalation concern.
11


Privacy Statement - Press Release - Copyright Information. - Contact Us

Integrated Publishing, Inc. - A (SDVOSB) Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business