Dangers of Radiation Practice Questions

Which of these is the most suitable way to store the sealed sources when they are not being used?

Put a cross ( ☒ ) in the box next to your answer.

☐ A in a cardboard box on an open shelf in the laboratory

☐ B in a lead-lined container in a locked store room

☐ C in a clear plastic bag in the teacher's desk drawer

☐ D in a glass jar beside the laboratory sink

Give two precautions the technician should take while carrying a gamma source from the store room to the laboratory bench.

Which statement describes the contamination of an object?

Put a cross ( ☒ ) in the box next to your answer.

☐ A The object is exposed to radiation from a source nearby.

☐ B Radioactive material gets onto or inside the object.

☐ C The object gets hot and gives out infrared radiation.

☐ D The atoms in the object are split into smaller atoms.

Explain why the fruit is still safe to eat after it has passed the gamma source.

State what is meant by irradiation and what is meant by contamination.

Explain why breathing in the alpha-emitting dust is far more hazardous to the worker than standing next to the undamaged sealed source.

Explain why the worker needs a lead screen, even though a patient who receives the liquid does not stand behind one.

Other than using shielding, give two precautions the hospital uses to reduce the risk to its staff from these sources.

Calculate the radiation dose received by worker C in one week.

Use the data in the table to explain two ways in which the dose received by a worker can be reduced.

A construction company uses a sealed cobalt-60 gamma source to take photographs of welds in steel pipes on an outdoor building site.

The company's safety rules state that:

• the source is kept in a thick lead container and is pushed out along a tube using a long remote handling rod
• barriers are placed 15 m from the source and the site is cleared of people while each photograph is taken
• every worker wears a dosimeter badge that is checked each month
• no worker may take more than six photographs in a shift.

Evaluate the risks to the workers from using this radioactive source, and explain how the company's rules reduce those risks.