RADIOACTIVITY IN OUR WORLD

There has always been radioactive activity in what seems random in our world.  Some of us have tested around our houses and found radon surges, usually in  and around the foundation and basement. The Idaho State University has a website devoted to radiation in Nature.  Click here.

Primordial radionuclides are left over from when the world and the universe were created. They are typically long lived, with half-lives often on the order of hundreds of millions of years. Radionuclides that exist for more than 30 half-lives are not measurable. The progeny or decay products of the long lived radionuclides are also in this heading. Here is some basic information on some common primordial radionuclides:

Cosmic radiation permeates all of space, the source being primarily outside of our solar system. The radiation is in many forms, from high speed heavy particles to high energy photons and muons. The upper atmosphere interacts with many of the cosmic radiations, and produces radioactive nuclides. They can have long half-lives, but the majority have shorter half-lives than the primordial nuclides. Here is a table with some common cosmogenic nuclides:

Human produced: humans have used radioactivity for one hundred years, and through its use, added to the natural inventories. The amounts are small compared to the natural amounts discussed above, and due to the shorter half-lives of many of the nuclides, have seen a marked decrease since the halting of above ground testing of nuclear weapons. Here are a few human produced or enhanced nuclides:

Natural radioactivity in the Ocean  All water on the Earth, including seawater, has some radionuclides in it. In the following table, the oceans' volumes were calculated from the 1990 World Almanac:

Food:  Every food has some small amount of radioactivity in it.

Human body: You are made up of chemicals, and it should be of no surprise that some of them are radionuclides, many of which you ingest daily in your water and food.

Natural radioactivity in building materials:  As mentioned before, building materials have some radioactivity in them.

 Oklo Natural Reactor  In 1972, natural nuclear reactor was found in a Western Africa in the Republic of Gabon, at Oklo. While the reactor was critical, approximately 1.7 billion years ago, it released 15,000 megawatt-years of energy by consuming six tons of uranium. It operated over several hundred thousand years at low power.

High Background Radiation Areas:  Background radiation levels are from a combination of terrestrial and cosmic radiation (photons, muons, etc.). The level is fairly constant over the world. The US EPA has an on-line calculator to let you calculate your own annual background dose.
Note:  The above categories and explanations were taken from the Idaho University Site.


 So far I have heard of the Japanese seawater that it is not harmful to humans.  Does that mean it is not potentially harmful to sea life, flora or fauna?  Does any of this information make us more comfortable when we are surrounded by outdated, poorly regulated for-profit-made nuclear reactors?  Will humans mutate to resemble the cartoon character on Futurama some day?