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Periodic table with elements colored according to the half-life of their most stable isotope. Elements which contain at least one stable isotope. Radioactive elements: the most stable isotope is very long-lived, with half-live of over four million years. Radioactive elements: the most stable isotope has half-life between 800 and 34.000 years. Radioactive elements: the most stable isotope has half-life between one day and 103 years.
Highly radioactive elements: the most stable isotope has half-life between several minutes and one day. Extremely radioactive elements: the most stable isotope has half-life less than several minutes. Very little is known about these elements due to their extreme instability and radioactivity. Radioactive contamination, also called radiological contamination, is radioactive substances on surfaces, or within solids, liquids or gases (including the human body), where their presence is unintended or undesirable, or the process giving rise to their presence in such places.[1] Also used less formally to refer to a quantity, namely the activity on a surface (or on a unit area of a surface). As with other contamination, radioactive contamination refers only to the presence of the unintended or undesired radioactivity, and gives no indication of the magnitude of hazard involved.
Contents
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1 Sources of contamination o 1.1 Radiation monitoring 2 Measurement o 2.1 Surface contamination 3 Hazards o 3.1 Low level contamination o 3.2 High level contamination o 3.3 Biological effects 4 Means of contamination 5 In the media 6 See also 7 References 8 External links
release of radioactive xenon in nuclear fuel reprocessing. In cases that radioactive material cannot be contained, it may be diluted to safe concentrations. For a discussion of environmental contamination by alpha emitters please see actinides in the environment. Containment is what differentiates radioactive material from radioactive contamination. Contamination does not include residual radioactive material remaining at a site after the completion of decommissioning. Therefore, radioactive material in sealed and designated containers is not properly referred to as contamination, although the units of measurement might be the same.
[edit] Measurement
Radioactive contamination may exist on surfaces or in volumes of material or air. In a nuclear power plant, detection and measurement of radioactivity and contamination is often the job of a Certified Health Physicist.
[edit] Hazards
In the natural world there is no such thing as zero radiation. Not only is the entire world constantly bombarded by cosmic rays, but every living creature on earth contains significant quantities of carbon-14 and most (including humans) contain significant quantities of potassium40. These tiny levels of radiation are not any more harmful than sunlight, but just as excessive quantities of sunlight can be dangerous, so too can excessive levels of radiation.
contamination. Low levels of radioactive contamination pose little risk, but can still be detected by radiation instrumentation. In the case of low-level contamination by isotopes with a short half-life, the best course of action may be to simply allow the material to naturally decay. Longer-lived isotopes should be cleaned up and properly disposed of, because even a very low level of radiation can be life-threatening when in long exposure to it.