Radiation
Radiation can be described as energy that is in the form of streams or waves of particles. Numerous types of radiation surround us. When most individuals hear the term radiation, the thing that comes to their mind is nuclear power, radioactivity, and atomic energy. Radiation, however, has several other forms. Visible light and sound are some familiar kinds of radiation. Other kinds of radiation include television and radio signals, infrared radiation (some type of heat energy), and ultraviolet radiation (responsible for suntans). The earth together with occupants are always subjected to radiation produced by the sun, stars as well as other galactic sources and from the radioactive substances found on the earth’s crust. Here on earth, being exposed to radiation is unavoidable as a result of the radioactive materials present in the air, water, and also within the body. Radiation cannot be seen, but it occurs in form if electromagnetic waves and particles made up of tiny energy bundles known as photons (El-Shaer, 2015, p. 2).

The treatment of products and materials with radiation with the aim of altering their chemical, biological, and physical features is referred to as radiation processing of substances. Radiation processing could be managed and utilized for the creation of new products and materials having desirable features. The grasp of basic radiation physics, which includes the composition of matter, nuclear physics elements, interaction of radiation with matter, and nature of electromagnetic radiation is needed in understanding irradiation processing together with its capacity in material sciences (Sun & Chmielewski, 2017, p. 7).

Forms of Radiation

Radiation can be described as energy that is in the form of streams or waves of particles. There exists two different types of radiation; ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation.

Non-ionizing radiation carries lower energy in comparison to ionizing radiation; it does not have sufficient energy for the production of ions (removal of an electron from an atom). Examples of such radiation include infrared, sunlight, visible light, microwaves, and radio waves. They are normally described ad ELF (Extremely Low-frequency) waves and do not cause any health risks (El-Shaer, 2015, p. 3).

Ionizing radiation has the ability to knock out electrons from atoms, interfering with the proton/electron balance, eventually leaving the atom positively charged. Electrically charged atoms or molecules are known as ions. This type of radiation includes radiation emitted by both man-made and natural radioactive substances. There are numerous kinds of this radiation:

(a) Alpha radiation (?): It is made up of alpha particles, which consist of two neutrons and two protons, and carries a double positive charge. Because of their somewhat large charge and mass, they have a very limited capacity of penetrating matter. This radiation could be stopped by the skin’s dead outer layer or by an ordinary sheet of paper. Thus, alpha radiation emitted from nuclear materials outside the human body do not pose any radiation risks. Nonetheless, if nuclear material producing alpha radiation get their way into the human body, they become a risk. Radon-222 is a good example of a nuclear material that goes through alpha decay to become polonium-218 (El-Shaer, 2015, p. 3).

(b) Beta radiation (?): It is made up of charged particles ejected from the nucleus of atom and are physically same as electrons. These particles are negatively charged, are quite tiny, and can penetrate deeper compared to alpha particles. Beta...…not just an issue when appropriately handling possible health impacts of nuclear incidents like Chernobyl and Fukushima, but is of increasing concern particularly in medical and occupational exposure (Kamiya et al., 2015, p. 472).

Controlling Radiation Exposure

There are two kinds of radiation exposure; chronic and acute exposure. An acute exposure simply involves getting accidentally exposed to a high dosage of radiation within a short time frame. This kind of exposure has the capacity of resulting to both stochastic and non-stochastic impacts. Chronic exposure also known as continuous exposure, on the other hand, involves long-term exposure to low dose radiation. It might lead to stochastic health impacts and is often a result of inadequate or incorrect protective measures. Below are three basic means of controlling radiation exposure:

1) Shielding: This is achieved by placing something between the radiation source and the radiographer. The more dense the substance, the more the shielding. Depleted uranium metal provides the very effective shielding (NDT Resource Center, 2012).

2) Distance: An increase in the distance from the radiation source reduces the quantity of received radiation. The intensity of radiation reduces as it travels away from the source. This particular occurrence could be demonstrated by an equation called the inverse square law. The laws states that the dose of radiation reduces inversely with the square of the distance as the radiation moves away from its source.

3) Time: Radiation dosage is directly proportional to the amount of time spent exposed to the radiation. Let’s say that the reading on a survey meter is 4 mR/h at a certain position, a total dosage of 4mR will be transferred to an individual who stays in that position for…