The risks of living near radioactivity
The Chernobil nuclear accident took place on April 26, 1986, when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. It was a nuclear accident that happened at the nuclear power plant at approximately 3 kilometers from the city of Pripyat. And 120 kilometers from kyiv, the capital. … Chernobyl was one of the most important nuclear power plants.
To begin with, we must explain what radiation is and what effects it has on us, human beings.
According to the medlineplus page written on March 13, 2019, radiation is energy that travels in the form of high -speed waves or particles. It can happen naturally or be created by man. There are two types:
- Non -ionizing radiation: includes radio waves, cell phones, microwave, infrared radiation and visible light
- Ionizing radiation: includes ultraviolet radiation, radon, X -rays and gamma rays.
Since the beginning of the evolution of the human being, radioactivity has been present. That is, we support low amounts of radiation daily but, too much radiation can damage the tissues when changing the cell structure and damaging the DNA. This can also cause serious health problems, including cancer. Radiation is used in various ways such as, for example, medicine, industry, agriculture, teaching, research, art, ..
In the field of medicine, which is the most important application for human life, ionizing radiation is used that are framed in the application of radiodiagnosis, radiotherapy and nuclear medicine techniques. Radiodiagnosis includes the set of visualization and exploration procedures of human anatomy through images and maps. Radiotherapy allows to destroy tumor cells and tissues by applying high radiation doses.
Nuclear medicine is a medical specialty that includes the use of radioactive material in a non -encapsulated way for diagnosis, treatment and research.
We can use radiation to produce electrical energy through the nuclear fission process that consists of the core of a uranium atom is divided or separate and this generates a large amount of energy.
Speaking now of agriculture and food, we can use radiation for efficient use of fertilizers that reduces environmental pollution and agricultural costs, for the increase in genetic variability and the improvement of quality and duration of food.
According to a study by the Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) conducted together with the Carlos III Health Institute: "Radiation accumulated by populations near these facilities" are very small "and are" well below "the level that could cause effectsin people’s health ".
That is, this study carried out for 4 years in around a thousand populations that are within a radius of 0-30 km of the nuclear power plants had the following results:
The increase in cancer risk is discarded as a result of living in an environment close to an atomic installation. The report has also not detected cancer mortality increases due to natural radiation.
On the other hand, living near a nuclear power plant has the risk of, for example, if there is any fire that causes a radioactive exhaust or if any nuclear disaster happens, radioactivity enters the body of the human being and that has onúmeras consequences to whatlength of different generations .
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