Nuclear Pollution

Nuclear pollution is produced by nuclear explosion which are carried out for performing nuclear tests and which is used for making nuclear weapons.

some important terms in nuclear pollution:

1.Alpha particle:is an electrically charged(+) particle emitted from the nucleus of some radioactive chemicals.e.g.plutonium.It contains 2 protons and 2 neutrons,and is the largest of the atomic particles emitted by radioactive chemicals.It can cause ionisation.

2.Beta particle: is an electrically charged(-) particle emitted from some radioactive chemicals.It has the mass of an electron.Krypton 85,emitted from nuclear power plants,is a strong beta emitter.Beta particles can cause ionisation.

3.Curie: is a measure of radioactivity.One curie equals 3.7 x (10^10) [read as 3.7 mutipled by ,10 power 10] nuclear transformations per second.Ci is the symbol used.

4.Dose: is the energy imparted to matter by nuclear transformation(radioactivity).
(a) Rad= 100 ergs per gram.
1 GRAY=100 rad=10,000 ergs per gram.
(b) Rem=rads x Q where Q is a quality factor which attempts to convert rads from different types of radioactivity into a common scale of biological damage

5.Gamma rays:are short wave length electromagnetic radiation released by some nuclear transformations.It is similar to X-rays and will penetrate through the human body.Iodine 131 emits gamma rays.Both gamma and X-rays cause ionisation.

6.Ionisation:Sufficient energy is deposited in a neutral molecule to displace an electron,thus replacing the neutral molecule with positive and negative ions

Sources of Nuclear Pollution:

Pollution from mining:
Pollution created from mining of uranium is the important in considering the whole nuclear cycle.Near the uranium mining areas ,the locally available rivers are serously polluted due to poor tailing management .In due course the situation has been largely overcome but there have still been occurrences of tailing-pond failures.In all mining operations this is a life problem.This problem needs constant caution.
Mill tailings wastes are the residues remaining after the processing of natural ore to extract uranium and thorium.Disposal of dry uranium tailings causes release of radioactive radon gas but in amounts that would not add significantly to the exposures of surrounding communities.Radon is constantly being released from all soil,especially when it isdisturbed,e.g,by ploughing.

Nuclear Power Stations:
Nuclear-electric power stations release radioactive materials to air and water in amounts small enough not to harm the environment.The most obvious environmental effects that nuclear reactors do not cause are those resulting from combustion.

Coal-fired plants:
Coal-fired plants also emit more radiation.In certain cases,the radioactive emissions from a coal-fired plant can be as high as.or even higher than,those from a nuclear plant.The radioactive emission depends on source of the coal.At the time of decaying these elements produce radium and radon.These decaying elements are disposed into the environment either from the chimney of the plant or disposed through the ash.Also this radioactive element causes the ground water pollution by leaching.

Effects of Nuclear Pollution

The nuclear pollution affects both the biotic and abiotic components of environment.It effect depends on the nature of radiation,level of radioactivity and the extent of the radiation.

The low level radioactive materials pose no risk at all,but can still be detected by radiation instrumentation,thereby being more of an annoyance than a threat.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 a should be cleaned up and properly disposed of.

High level of radiation pose major risks to people and the environment.The high level radiation affects the living beings in both externally and internally.Radioactive contamination can enter the body through ingestion,inhalation,absorption,or injection.For this reason it is important to use personal protective equipment when working with radioactive materials .Radioactive contamination may also be ingested as the result of eating contaminated plants and animals or drinking contaminated water or milk from exposed animals.