Nuclear Physics

Nuclear Radiation

Jeff Walters, October 23rd 2016, Physics 11U Unit D

Nuclear radiation has a stigma to cause birth defects, fish growing legs and the Simpsons evil Mr. Burns owns a nuclear power plant. While it nuclear radiation is so prominent in culture from superheroes to Godzilla, it is most often misunderstood. This paper will cover basic topics of nuclear physics, effects of radiation regarding human and environmental health, nuclear power and its importance in the 21st century.

Nuclear Physics

The nucleus of the atom holds onto protons and neutrons which are held together by strong force. When the nucleus of one atoms hits another nucleus hard enough under extremely high temperatures then energy in the form of light heat is released.This can be seen in the stars which undergo fusion reactions; the combination of two or more atoms nucleuses as opposed to fission the breaking apart of an atom’s nucleus. This is called stellar nucleosynthesis.

Isotopes are atoms that have a different amount of neutrons than they normally would (hence the name of the baseball team in the Simpsons is the Springfield Isotopes). This can be very useful for such as cobalt-60 which was developed by Canadian Harold Johns for diagnostic purposes. The reason why it is so useful is because it emits radioactive radiation which kills cancer cells.However ionization radiation can be very dangerous because of its high energy in the form of particles or waves ionizes cells which damages their DNA.

Radiation is the transfer of energy through waves or fast moving particles, a principle of quantum mechanics. The unstable nuclei decay and releases alpha, beta particles or gamma rays or other forms of radiation. This is also useful when examining old bones to determine the age. This method is called carbon dating. Nuclei decay is a bit tricky. The half life is determined by looking at a collection of carbon-14 atoms and how long will it take for half of these atoms to decay to nitrogen 14 through beta decay.

Some forms of radiation include alpha decay which is the emission of helium nucleuses which can be stopped by a piece of paper, beta decay which a neutron changes into a proton, an electron and a antineutrino which can be stopped by a piece of wood and finally a gamma ray which emits photons of light when an electrons moves from a higher state to a lower state.

Effects of Radiation

Not all effects of radiation are useful like the ones mentioned above. Some like lead-210 and polonium-210 accumulate in the lungs of smokers and are believed to cause cancer. This is why when you go to the dentist they give you a lead suit to wear when taking pictures of your bones to prevent the radiation from destroying your DNA. Strontium-90 from nuclear bombs causes sterility, thyroid cancer, cataracts, birth defects, leukemia and inflammation and burning of the skin. However some like Tritium which is chemically identical to water and cannot be filtered out has no observable effects on the body as we know so far.

Nuclear Energy

Nuclear energy is where the fission reactions of typically uranium-238 produce usable energy to power machines. Fusion would be much more useful but the temperatures to do so are so highly that it is almost impossible to recreate with our current technology (there was once a report on Cold Fusion where it could occur at room temperature, but it has been debunked many times). Fission though  is used in over 50 countries and is considered more green than fossil fuels because it does not emit pollutants if it is stored properly, which does not always happen. Spontaneous fission maybe the result of an atom’s nucleus breaking apart or induced fission which when a neutron creeps through the electron cloud into the nucleus of another atom where it makes the atom unstable and then breaks apart.

The Fukushima nuclear plant which leaked in 2011 was the worst nuclear meltdown in history polluting the whole Pacific ocean, yet it is covered very little. 500 tons of nuclear radiation pours into the Pacific ocean everyday destroying species and habitats all over the world.  This is partly because in Canada under Stephen Harper, scientists were not allowed to discuss the effects of radiation poisoning because it would scare the public but what you don’t know, like carbon monoxide, most definitely can kill you. This has depleted and contaminated our stocks of salmon in British Columbia, a distance of 7500km.This is putting more people’s lives at risk of death and adverse effects and not just on coastal regions as we know it spreads through soil, water, air etc. This however is not blaming Stephen Harper for the accident, but him not asserting the dangers of faulty nuclear power plants and its effects on humans and the environment. For example, North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un likens to stroke himself by testing nuclear bombs in the Mantapsan mountains which have resulted in numerous birth defects and an unusually high mortality rate. This is because nuclear radiation irradiated the underground water table where people get their drinking water. Canada, Japan and North Korea are not alone in not addressing the problems that environmental damage has. Chernobyl has become such a significant event it appears it so many medias (Goon 2012 who’s most quotable line as determined by Google refers to the eastern European brothers as “Chernobyl motheruckers”). This is mostly because Chernobyl happened in Europe so people actually care as compared to Asia or North America where society as whole does not deem valuable because of the lack of castles. The other half of the problem is the largely uneducated population of all countries not understanding basic principles of physics or science for that matter. If you dump 500 tons of nuclear waste into the pacific everyday, it is not going to stay in one place. This is the same for climate change. The world as a whole is warming because of the many human activities which cause pollution but there will be no change in Canada until people stop bullshitting themselves that the tar sands does not only affect northern Alberta. So unless there is another major disaster in Europe resulting in the loss many lives, there will be no change in environmental policy regarding nuclear meltdowns.

References

Nelson Physics 11

Centre for Research on Globalisation

Daily Mail