About a century ago, a special era began for humanity - the time of studying first natural and then artificially created radiation. In the middle of the century, which was called atomic, two opposing events occurred:
- firstly, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki;
- secondly, for the first time in the world, a nuclear power plant was opened in Obninsk.
In the latter case, destructive energy has become creative for mankind. What radioactive materials exist ? What is a substance that can cause radiation?
What substances are radioactive?
First you need to understand exactly which substances belong to the class of radioactive. The periodic system includes 120 elements. Each of them consists of atoms, and the atoms of some substances can decay into parts. In this case, hazardous radiation is released.
The radioactive material is represented by all chemical elements located after lead. In total, more than 80 dangerous radioactive elements are known. For example, it is radium, France, polonium, strontium, bismuth, germanium, cesium. Some of them are found in natural conditions. Others are the work of man.
Properties of radioactive substances
The danger of these substances is due to the fact that they are, first of all, invisible to the human eye. They have no color, taste or smell. For many years, a person can live next to a source of radioactivity without suspecting anything about it. Another dangerous property of this class of substances is their ability to travel far distances from their source. Moreover, their decay does not depend on the influence of environmental factors.
Nuclear danger cannot be eliminated physically or chemically. Radioactive substances can be in the air, earth, food. For example, it has been proven that vegetables such as cabbage and beets contain the most radionuclides.
Natural radioactive elements
Radioactive material may be contained in mineral deposits, in many rocks, which may contain radioactive elements in one quantity or another. For example, those are the oil producing territories of Western Siberia. There are a large number of uranium deposits, as well as those substances that are the products of its decay - radon, radium. Also, radioactive material can enter the environment through state district power plants and thermal power plants, which can operate on certain types of coal.
Regions with natural radiation
Examples of radioactive sites on planet Earth, where radiation is natural, are the Indian beaches of Kerala, the Chinese province of Guangdong, where the isotopes are in the soil, as well as some areas in Brazil. Also, increased radiation from rocks is characteristic of some regions in France, Ukraine, and Sweden.
Often, nuclear materials and radioactive substances are found in building materials. Examples include building materials such as rubble, alum and phosphate rock. They incorporate a high amount of radionuclides, while being used everywhere in the construction industry. This leads to a multiple increase in the dose of gamma radiation inside buildings.
The use of radioactive materials in construction: an imperceptible danger
Such cases have been established more than once. For example, in Omsk, builders often used crushed stone mined in the regions of Northern Kazakhstan to fill concrete. It contained increased amounts of radioactive uranium, as a result of which the level of gamma radiation was significantly increased in buildings.
A case was also established where radioactive building materials were used for the construction of residential buildings. Such a violation was recorded in the Yekaterinburg region, at Kostousovo station. For the construction of foundations, plastering, and other types of finishes, workers used sand containing radioactive thorium.
There have been many cases like these. In Kazakhstan, Transbaikalia and many other areas, off-grade uranium ores were used to sprinkle streets, playgrounds, yards, builders . This led to a significant increase in the hazardous radiation field.
Artificial Sources of Radioactivity
Radioactive material may also be the work of man. There are various sources that pollute the environment with radionuclides:
- These are nuclear explosions that are used in oil production.
- Tests at military training grounds.
- Nuclear fuel cycle enterprises.
- Accidents at nuclear power plants.
- The fighting in which atomic bombs and shells are also a great danger.
- Burial of radioactive substances.
- Careless use of various technical devices.
Transportation of radioactive substances
Transportation of radioactive materials occurs according to special rules, which are approved by the Federal Law "On Atomic Energy". For many enterprises, their transportation is an integral part of all activities. There is a special security system for transporting these substances.
Fissile - these are substances whose nuclei begin to divide upon neutron capture. Their cores simply fall apart and energy is released. An example of fissile materials is uranium-235, uranium-233, plutonium-239, and others. Fissile and radioactive materials are prohibited from transport through customs. Through customs control, there is a suppression of their transportation across the border.