Stichting Laka

Publication Laka-library:
Radiation safety (1996)

Author	IAEA
Date	April 1996
Classification	6.01.4.00/71 (RADIATION - GENERAL)
Front

Radiation Safety

Introduction to Radiation

Heat and light are types of radiation that people can feel or see, but there are other 
kinds of radiation that human senses cannot detect. Indeed, we constantly receive 
such invisible radiation from the sky, the ground, the air, and even our food and 
drink. Such "ionizing" radiation has been put to many uses: doctors use X rays to 
diagnose disease or injury; factories use radiation to check welds in machine 
components; gamma rays are used to sterilise medical equipment for safe use; 
and many new varieties of crops have been produced through radiation-induced 
mutations. Today, moreover, about 17 percent of the world's electricity is supplied 
by nuclear power plants.

The usefulness of radiation means that many people receive small doses of 
radiation from artificial sources as well as doses from nature. The IAEA has produced 
this booklet in order to enhance public understanding about the sources and effects 
of radiation, and to describe the measures that have been developed internationally 
to ensure the safe use of radiation.

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