Follow up Training Course (FTC) on Reactor Engineering-2021

Basics of Radiation Physics

Dr. Ananda Kumar Das

Chief Scientific Officer & Director
Training Institute, AERE, BAEC
Savar, Dhaka.
Outlines of the Presentation
⚫ Definition of Radiation
⚫ Sources of Radiation
⚫ Discovery of Radiation
⚫ Types of Radiation
-ionizing radiation, non ionizing radiation, black body radiation
⚫ Units of Radiations
⚫ Interaction of Radiation with Matter
-Photoelectric effect, Compton effect, Pair Production
⚫ Beneficial and Harmful effects of Radiations
⚫ Conclusions
What is Radiation
Radiation is a kind of energy which is emitted or
transmitted from some sources in the form of waves or
particles through space or through a material medium.

Some radiations are visible and detectable by human

sense (such as Sunlight) but some are invisible and
needs suitable instruments to detect it X-ray, γ-ray etc.)
 Sources of Radiation or Radioactivity
(i) Primordial Radionuclides
That radionuclides that are present since the creation of earth and
having long half-lives, e.g. 210Pb, 226Ra, K40

(iii) Cosmogenic Radionuclides

That radionuclides that are produced in the upper atmosphere as a
result of cosmic rays interaction with light particles (carbon, Nitrogen
and Oxygen), e.g. C14, 7Be, 22Na, 32P, 32S

(iii) Anthropogenic Radionuclides

That radionuclides that are produced as a result of man-made
activities such as nuclear fuel fabrication, enrichment, nuclear power
generation, nuclear accidents etc., e.g. 137Cs, 134Cs, 131I, 90Sr etc.
 Discovery of Radiation
In 1896, Henri Becquerel
found that rays emanating
from certain minerals
penetrated black paper and
caused fogging of an
unexposed photographic
plate. His doctoral student
Marie Curie discovered
Antoine Henri Becquerel
Nobel : 1903 that only certain chemical Marie Curie
elements gave off these Nobel :1903, 1911
rays of energy. She named
this behavior radioactivity.
Becquerel (Bq) is the SI unit of activity of a radioactive sample. A sample of
radioactive material with activity 1 Bq has one nucleus decay per second.
 Types of Radiations
Electromagnetic Radiation:
Radio waves, microwaves, Visible light, X-ray and Gamma ray

Particle Radiation:
Alpha Radiation, Beta Radiation, Neutron Radiation

Acoustic Radiation:
Ultra sound, Normal Sound, Seismic waves (dependent on a
physical transmission medium)

Gravitational Radiation:
Radiation that takes the form of
gravitational waves, or ripples in
the curvature of space-time.
 Types of Radiations (contd.)
Cosmic Radiation
There are two sources of high energy
particles entering the Earth's
atmosphere from outer space.

The sun:
The sun continuously emits particles,
primarily free protons, in the solar
wind.

The deep space:

These particles are also mostly
protons, but of much higher energies.
 Ionizing radiation
Ionizing radiation is a radiation that carries enough energy to
liberate electrons from atoms or molecules. It is made up of
energetic subatomic particles, ions or atoms moving at high
speeds

Electromagnetic waves are on the high-energy end of the

electromagnetic spectrum

∙ Directly ionizing radiation (charged particles)

such as - electron, proton, alpha particle, heavy ion

∙ Indirectly ionizing radiation (neutral particles)

photons (X- ray, γ -ray, neutron)
Non-ionizing Radiations

Non-ionizing radiation is a type of electromagnetic radiation that

does not carry enough energy to ionize atoms or molecules.

The kinetic energy of particles of non-ionizing radiation is too small

to produce charged ions when passing through matter. But it is
capable to change the rotational, vibrational or electronic valence
configurations of molecules and atoms.

Examples: visible light, infra red ray, microwave, radio-waves etc.

 Blackbody Radiations
Black-body radiation is the thermal electromagnetic radiation
within or surrounding a body in thermodynamic equilibrium with
its environment, or emitted by a black body (an opaque and
non-reflective body).

It has a specific spectrum and intensity that

depends only on the body's temperature.

The term black body was introduced by

Gustav Kirchhoff in 1860. Black-body
radiation is also called thermal radiation,
cavity radiation, complete radiation or
temperature radiation.
 Radioactivity and its unit
The emission of elementary particles by some atoms
occurs when their unstable nuclei disintegrate. Materials
composed of such atoms are radioactive.
Units of Radioactivity comes after the names of its discoverer
Curie (Ci): The radioactivity of one gram of radium was called one
curie.
Subsequently, the curie was defined independently as 3.7 x 1010
disintegration per second (dps).
1 Ci = 3.7 x 1010 dps

Becquerel (Bq): The SI unit of radioactivity is called Becquerel (Bq)

which is defined as one disintegration per second.
1 Bq = 1 dps
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 Particulate Radiations
Alpha (α) radiation consists of a
fast-moving Helium-4 nucleus and
is stopped by a thin sheet of paper.
Beta (β) radiation consists of
electrons, is halted by an Al plate.
Gamma (γ) radiation consisting of
energetic photons, is eventually
absorbed as it penetrates a dense
material.
Neutron (n) radiation consists of
free neutrons that are blocked by
light elements, like hydrogen,
which slow and/or capture them
Interaction of Radiation with Matter
 Photoelectric effect
The photoelectric effect refers to the emission, or ejection, of
electrons from the surface of, generally, a metal in response to
Incident light.

Energy contained within the incident light is absorbed by electrons

within the metal, giving the electrons sufficient energy to be
'knocked' out of, that is, emitted from, the surface of the metal.

Albert Einstein received the Nobel prize in physics in 1921 for explaining the photoelectric effect
and for his contributions to theoretical physics.
 Compton effect
Compton scattering, is the scattering of a photon by a charged particle,
usually an electron. It results in a decrease in energy (increase in
wavelength) of the photon (which may be an X-ray or gamma ray photon),
called the Compton effect.
 Pair production
Pair production is a process of formation of an electron-positron
pair from a pulse of electromagnetic energy traveling through
matter, usually in the vicinity of an atomic nucleus.

To occur a pair production, the

electromagnetic energy or a
photon must be at least
equivalent to the mass of two
electrons. The mass m of a
single electron is equivalent to
0.51 MeV, as per the mass
energy relation, E = mc2.

So to produce two electrons (+ve & -ve), the photon energy must be at
least 1.02 MeV
Common Sources of Radiation
Average dose of Radiation in the first world
(360 mrems or 0.360 mSv/yr)

•General Public
Limit - 100 mrem

• Occupational
Limit - 5,000 mrem

Remember – We get
approximately 300
mrem of radiation
per year from
natural background
exposure.
⚫ 1 Sv =100 mrem
Sources of Radon

⚫ Radon is a radioactive gas decay product of radium, created

during the natural breakdown of uranium in rocks and soils
⚫ It is one of the heaviest substances that remains a gas
under normal conditions and is considered to be a health
hazard causing cancer
⚫ It has three isotopes, namely, 222
Rn (238U), 220Rn (232Th) and
219
Rn (235U). 222Rn has longer half life (3.84 days) than the
other two isotopes
Limit for Individual dose
Exposure of an individuals should not exceed the
specified dose limits.
Dose Limits
Radiation Workers
An effective dose (averaged over 5 consecutive years)
20 mSv per year
10 μSv per hour [50wks/yr, 40hrs/wk]
Public dose limit
1/20th of radiation workers i.e.
1 mSv per year
0.5 μSv per hour
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 An analogy...

A method of thinking about measures of radiation:

Imagine that you are in outside under a rainstorm.

• The amount of rain falling is measured in Becquerel. (exposure)

• The amount of rain hitting you is measured in grays. (Absorbed Dose)

• How wet you get is measured in sieverts. (Equivalent/ Effective Dose)

Beneficial effects of Radiations
Medical Diagnosis and Treatment

Agriculture (mutation breeding)

Industries (sterilization & others)

Careful
Nuclear Power
Use of
Radiations Household use (microwave, etc)

Research & development

Defense Purpose
Crop improvement by mutation techniques

negative mutation

Mutant cultivars

- Higher yielding
- Disease-resistance
- Well-adapted
- Better nutrition

no mutation
 Insect Pest Control

Gamma Radiation Sterile

Sterile
(BIRTH CONTROL) Wild

No Offspring
Concept of Binding energy wrt Radiation
Binding energy is the energy that holds a nucleus together and is equal to the
mass defect of the nucleus. Binding energy B.E= Δmc2 =[mpZ + mn(A-Z) - M] c2

Stable atoms have a binding energy that is strong enough to hold the protons and neutrons
together. Elements with atomic numbers (proton) of 83 and less, have isotopes (stable
nucleus) and most have at least one radioisotope (unstable nucleus).
Half life of Radioactive element

Half life of a Radioactive isotope is the

Time period required for radionuclide
to decay to one half of the amount
Originally present.

Mathematically

t ½= 0.693/λ

λ is a decay const. of the given isotope

decaying in unit time.
The Three Mile Island accident occurred on March 28, 1979, in reactor number
2 of Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Station in Pennsylvania, USA
Mushroom cloud from the atomic explosion over Hiroshima, Japan on
August 6, 1945.
Mushroom cloud from the atomic explosion over Nagasaki, Japan rising
60,000 feet into the air on the morning of August 9, 1945.
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plants (before accidents)
 Fukushima Accident.
Following a major earthquake, a 15-metre tsunami disabled the power supply and
cooling of three Fukushima Daiichi reactors, causing a nuclear accident on 11
March 2011. All three cores largely melted in the first three days.
August 10. 1985, Russia, the Echo II class submarine suffered an
explosion, sending a radioactive cloud of gas into the air. Ten sailors
were killed in the incident and 49 people were observed to have radiation
injuries.
 Conclusions
🞜In most of the cases radiations are unseen & un-sensed.
So we must be very careful about it.

We must consider the benefits and risks

in case of application of radiation,

benefits must be greater than risks

🞜We must follow the ALARA (as low as reasonably

achievable) principle.

🞜If you ignore the rules, you may put yourself

and others at risk.

The abandoned city of Prypiat, Ukrain, Chernobyl Disaster,
Russia (1986).
Symbol: Ionizing radiation hazard Symbol: Dangerous radioactive sources
capable of death or serious injury.

Thanks all