Radiation
Myth Busting the Nuclear Industry
Author: Charley Nevin, University of Sheffield With the majority of the population getting the lion’s share of their information about nuclear power from The Simpsons, it is no wonder there is a great deal of misinformation out there about the industry. From green, glowing fish, to highly unskilled control room operators, there is plenty in […]
History of the radiation warning symbol
Recently, I was asked the intriguing question: “where did the black and yellow symbol for radioactivity come from?” What surprised me was that, despite using it almost every day in the lab, I hadn’t even considered its origin before now. So I did some digging. The life of the radioactive ‘trefoil’ began in 1946 at […]
The Nuclear Paradox
There’s a paradox when it comes to radioactive material and its portrayal to non-specialists; the fact that radiation is easily detected. The quantification of how radioactive a material is, at first glance, appears quite scary, particularly because it’s so unfamiliar to us. What the heck is a Bequerel or a Sievert after all? After Fukushima, […]
The two faces of radiation
As the deadline for this blog post approached, my anxiety about it ratcheted. The reason being, that the issue of radiation, its perceived safety for living organisms, and whether or not there can ever be a safe dose threshold is at the very core of the fears, concerns, and controversies that have dogged civil nuclear […]