Scribd
Upload
59 views

Applications of Radiations.

The document discusses 12 different commercial uses of radiation, including uses in smoke detectors, medicine like X-rays and cancer treatment, food safety through irradiation, well logging, industrial radiography for defect detection, sterilization of medical supplies and food, power generation, and tracer studies in environmental research and dating techniques in earth sciences. Radiation has wide applications in industry for measuring properties like thickness and density and ensuring safety through uses like airport baggage screening.

Uploaded by

Adia Chattha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
59 views

Applications of Radiations.

The document discusses 12 different commercial uses of radiation, including uses in smoke detectors, medicine like X-rays and cancer treatment, food safety through irradiation, well logging, industrial radiography for defect detection, sterilization of medical supplies and food, power generation, and tracer studies in environmental research and dating techniques in earth sciences. Radiation has wide applications in industry for measuring properties like thickness and density and ensuring safety through uses like airport baggage screening.

Uploaded by

Adia Chattha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

Assignment Of Analysis.

Submitted To: Sir Ali Abbas.


Submitted By: Umme Yarza.
Topic: The Commercial Uses Of Radiations.
Sap: 70059151.
Semester: 6 A.

Department Of Pharmacy.
Uses of radiations.
Outside of nuclear power and nuclear weaponry, there remains a wide array of ways in which
radioactive material and the radiation it gives off remain useful in the daily lives of people all
over the world.

1. Smoke Detectors.
Some smoke detectors also use radioactive elements as part of their detection mechanism,
usually americium-241, which use the ionizing radiation of the alpha particles to cause and then
measure changes in the ionization of the air immediately around the detector. A change due to
smoke in the air will cause the alarm to sound.

2. Medicine.
Hospitals use radiation in a wide range of ways. X-Ray, CT, and PET machines use X-ray (X-ray
and CT) and Gamma radiation (PET) to produce detailed images of the human body, which
provide valuable diagnostic information for doctors and their patients. Radionuclides are also
used to directly treat illnesses, such as radioactive iodine, which is taken up almost exclusively
by the thyroid, to treat cancer or hyperthyroidism. Radioactive tracers and dyes are also used to
be able to accurately map a specific area or system, such as in a cardiac stress test, which may
use a radioactive isotope like Technetium-99 to identify areas of the heart and surrounding
arteries with diminished blood flow.

3. Radiography.
Essentially high-powered versions of the types of X-Ray machines used in medicine, industrial
radiography cameras use X-rays or even gamma sources (such as Iridium-192, Cobalt-60, or
Cesium-137) to examine hard to reach or hard to see places. This is frequently used to examine
welds for defects or irregularities, or examining other materials to locate structural anomalies or
internal components.

Industrial radiography is also very useful for secure, non-invasive scanning at security
checkpoints, such as airports, where x-ray baggage scanners are in routine use. Larger versions
of the same machines are often used to examine shipping containers all over the world.

4. Food Safety.
Food irradiation is the process of using radioactive sources to sterilize foodstuffs. The radiation
works by killing bacteria and viruses, or eliminating their ability to reproduce by severely
damaging their DNA or RNA. Since neutron radiation is not used, the remaining food doesn’t
become radioactive itself, leaving it safe to eat. This method is also used to sterilize food
packaging, medical devices, and manufacturing parts.
5. Gauging Devices.
The use of radiation in devices used to gauge (measure or monitor) certain activities is probably
one of the widest uses in industry. These devices, which can be portable or set in a fixed
position, can monitor the flow of liquids; can measure and control the thickness of metals, films,
paper, and plastic; and can monitor material density. Some gauging devices are also used to
determine the content of materials as in the case of a moisture-density gauge that is often used to
determine the water content of soil. These types of devices generally contain radioactive
materials that are gamma-ray or neutron emitters.

6. Radioactive Wastes.
In the early 1980s, the United States federal legislature created two acts dealing with radioactive
wastes: the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act and the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. The
Low-Level Waste Policy Act put low-level radioactive waste disposal in the hands of each state
while encouraging states to unite to form regional waste compacts. The Nuclear Waste Policy
Act represents the process to define permanent disposal for spent nuclear fuel.

7. Well Logging.
Radiation is used in well logging to assist in determining whether a drilled well has certain rocks
or minerals, oil, gas, or other substances of consumer value. Well logging generally uses sealed
sources containing radioactive materials that emit gamma rays or neutrons. The depth of
penetration of these radiations is an indication of the type of material.

8. Industrial Radiography.
Industrial radiography is also called nondestructive testing. Radiation is used to inspect pipes,
walls, and a variety of structures to look for defects. The source can be a sealed source of
radioactive material (iridium-192) or an x-ray machine. An example of industrial radiography is
when a radiation source is lowered into piping to the location of a weld and, with photographic
film wrapped on the outside of the weld, a radiograph of the weld is taken to assure it is free of
defect.

9. Sterilization.
Some radiation devices are used to sterilize consumer products. The devices used to do this are
called irradiators and generally contain a gamma-emitting sealed source or sources. These
devices emit very high amounts of radiation and require significant shielding. Commonly
sterilized items include supplies used in hospitals and some food, which is discussed in the Food
Irradiation section. Another item being sterilized is mail that is going to certain addresses. With
the potential for biological compounds being used as terrorist devices and sent in the mail,
irradiation of the mail will sterilize those compounds, rendering them ineffective.
10.Power Generation.
In cases where stringing electrical lines proves difficult, for instance, in remote areas, radiation
sources are used to produce electrical or thermal power. Radiation sources can be used to power
spacecraft and satellites, the lights on ocean buoys, and remote weather stations. They can also
be used to generate electrical power for consumer use, as is done in a nuclear reactor. Of all of
these processes, nuclear power is probably the most well known.

11.Radioisotopic tracers.
They are employed in environmental studies, as, for instance, those of water pollution in rivers
and lakes and of air pollution by smokestack effluents. They also have been used to measure
deep-water currents in oceans and snow-water content in watersheds. Researchers in the
biological sciences, too, have made use of radioactive tracers to study complex processes. For
example, thousands of plant metabolic studies have been conducted on amino acids and
compounds of sulfur, phosphorus, and nitrogen.

12.Research in the Earth sciences.


It has benefited greatly from the use of radiometric-dating techniques, which are based on the
principle that a particular radioisotope (radioactive parent) in geologic material decays at a
constant known rate to daughter isotopes. Using such techniques, investigators have been able to
determine the ages of various rocks and rock formations and thereby quantify the geologic time
scale (see geochronology: Absolute dating). A special application of this type of radioactivity
age method, carbon-14 dating, has proved especially useful to physical anthropologists and
archaeologists. It has helped them to better determine the chronological sequence of past events
by enabling them to date more accurately fossils and artifacts from 500 to 50,000 years old.
References.
https://www.radiationanswers.org/radiation-sources-uses/industrial-uses/industrial-
radiography.html

https://www.mirion.com/learning-center/radiation-safety-basics/uses-of-radiation

https://www.britannica.com/science/radioactivity/Applications-of-radioactivity

You might also like