Film Badge Dosimetry in Atmospheric Nuclear Tests (1989) / Chapter Skim
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3 Radiation Source Terms in Atmospheric Testing
3 Radiation Source Terms in Atmospheric Testing
Pages 24-34
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From page 24... ...
During subsequent nuclear processes, beta particles and other gamma and x rays are emitted. Alpha particles are emitted by unfissioned uranium or plutonium, by certain activation products produced during the explosion, and directly by fusion reactions (Glasstone and Dolan 1977~.
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From page 25... ...
B INITIAL RADIATION Initial radiation includes neutrons, gamma and x rays, alpha particles and beta particles which are emitted almost instantaneously with the explosion, and gamma rays emitted by fission products and activation products present in the rising cloud.
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From page 26... ...
Weakly penetrating radiations include alpha particles, beta particles, conversion electrons, and Auger electrons, and are generally termed non-penetrating radiations. Because nearly all radioactive decay of fission products and activation products includes beta-particle emission, residual radiation fields include a significant beta-particle component.
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From page 27... ...
~ ~I 1 1 -8 10-7 10-6 10-5 104 10-3 10-2 10-1 1 10 102 TIME (see) FIGURE 3-1 Calculated Time Dependence of the Ganma-ray Energy Output Per Kiloton Energy Yield from a Hypothetical NucJ ear E'cplo~ion (the dashed line refers to an explosion at very high altitude)
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From page 28... ...
Despite such a rapid decrease, the very large quantities of fission products that may be contained in fallout can produce a considerable amount of fission-product fallout activity after the first day following the explosion (Glasstone and Dolan 1977~. Activation products produced by neutron interactions with weapon compo nents during and after the detonation include quantities of radioactive isotopes of iron, chromium, manganese, nickel, molybdenum, copper, cobalt, and vanadium from the weapon components.
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From page 29... ...
D PHOTON FIELDS FROM RESIDUAL RADIOACTIVITY As discussed in the preceding section, the residual radiation following a nuclear explosion arises from fallout and induced radioactivity.
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From page 30... ...
For fission products and activation products produced as a consequence of the detonation of a fission or fusion device, the overall beta-pariicle spectrum is composed of numerous individual beta spectra of each radionuclide. The overall spectrum is dominated by beta particles with energies less than 1 MeV.
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From page 31... ...
3 RADIATION SOURCE TERMS TABLE 3-1 Significant Contributors to Residual Photon Fields 31 Half Production Radionuclide Iife Gamma-Ray *
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From page 32... ...
Because half-lives of the individual radionuclides are different and because quantities that are produced during the explosion are related, the short-lived radionuclides dominate the photon energy spectra in the first few hours after detonation. Because there are a large number of fission products in fallout which emit gamma rays with a wide range of energies, it is not practical to list every gammaray emitter produced as a fission product.
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From page 33... ...
3 RADIATION SOURCE TERMS 10 > a) ~1.0 z o o I 0.1 in An lll o to > cr: 0.001 0.01 0.0001 An, L \ \ \ \ \ I 1 1 1 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 \ PHOTON ENERGY, MeV FIGURE 3-2 Expenrnental Photon Spectnnn (t = 25.8 min.)
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From page 34... ...
For example, a low-altitude detonation of a fusion weapon induces large quantities of activation products emitting high-energy gamma rays which dominate the residual radiation spectrum for the first few days following the detonation. Conversely, a low-altitude detonation of a fission weapon produces large quantities of fission products which emit a very wide range of photon energies.
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