Sunday, March 13, 2011

Danger Posed by Radioactivity in Japan Hard to Assess - NYTimes.com

 

danger of nitrogen-16 is an issue only for plant workers and operators because its half-life is only seven seconds. A half-life is the time it takes half the atoms of a radioactive substance to disintegrate.

The other radioactive material often in the cooling water of a nuclear reactor is tritium. It is a naturally occurring radioactive form of hydrogen, sometimes known as heavy hydrogen….. Tritium emits a weak form of radiation that does not travel very far in the air and cannot penetrate the skin.

It accumulates in the cooling water of nuclear reactors and is often vented in small amounts to the environment. Its half-life is 12 years

big worries on the reported releases of radioactive material in Japan center on radioactive iodine and cesium. ….They imply some kind of core problem….Iodine-131 has a half-life of eight days and is quite dangerous to human health. If absorbed through contaminated food, especially milk and milk products, it will accumulate in the thyroid and cause cancer.

Cesium-137 mixes easily with water and is chemically similar to potassium. It thus mimics how potassium gets metabolized in the body and can enter through many foods, including milk. After entering, cesium gets widely distributed, its concentrations said to be higher in muscle tissues and lower in bones.

The radiation from cesium-137 can throw cellular machinery out of order, including the chromosomes, leading to an increased risk of cancer.

Click on the following for more details:  Danger Posed by Radioactivity in .

Japan Hard to Assess - NYTimes.com

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