VPE 511: Environment and Environmental Hygiene (2+1)

NUCLEAR HAZARDS

• Radioactive pollution is a form of pollution of air, water and soil with radioactive substances like radium, thorium and uranium present in nature.
• Natural decay in which unstable isotopes give out fast moving particles, radiations or both until new stable isotope is formed. Isotopes release energy as gamma rays (high energy electromagnetic radiation (or) Ionisation particles i.e., alpha particles (high speed positively charged electrons) and beta particles (high speed negatively charged electrons).

Sources of Radioactivity

Natural Sources

• Cosmic Rays from outer space and radiation from earth’s surface (Radium- 224, Uranium-238, Thorium-232, Potassium- 40, Carbon-14)

Anthropogenic Sources

•  Nuclear power plants, Nuclear accidents, X-rays, diagnostic kits, test labs etc, where radioactive substances are used. 
•  Nuclear explosion- Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.