What Types of Radiation Are There?
The radiation one typically encounters is one of four types: alpha radiation, beta radiation, gamma radiation, and x radiation. Neutron radiation is also encountered in nuclear power plants and high-altitude flight and emitted from some industrial radioactive sources. • Alpha Radiation Alpha radiation is a heavy, very short-range particle and is actually an ejected helium nucleus. Some characteristics of alpha radiation are: • Most alpha radiation is not able to penetrate human skin. • Alpha-emitting materials can be harmful to humans if the materials are inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through open wounds. • A variety of instruments has been designed to measure alpha radiation. Special training in the use of these instruments is essential for making accurate measurements. • A thin-window Geiger-Mueller (GM) probe can detect the presence of alpha radiation.
The radiation one typically encounters is one of four types: alpha radiation, beta radiation, gamma radiation, and x radiation. Neutron radiation is also encountered in nuclear power plants and high-altitude flight and is emitted from some industrial radioactive sources. • Alpha Radiation Alpha radiation is a heavy, very short-range particle and is actually an ejected helium nucleus. Some characteristics of alpha radiation are: • Most alpha radiation is not able to penetrate human skin. • Alpha-emitting materials can be harmful to humans if the materials are inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through open wounds. • A variety of instruments has been designed to measure alpha radiation. Special training in the use of these instruments is essential for making accurate measurements. • A thin-window Geiger-Mueller (GM) probe can detect the presence of alpha radiation. • Instruments cannot detect alpha radiation through even a thin layer of water, dust, paper, or other material, because alpha r
