The Most Radioactive Places on Earth

Summary

This script explores the realities and misconceptions surrounding ionizing radiation, explaining its measurement in sieverts and microsieverts. It dispels fears about everyday devices like mobile phones and Wi-Fi routers, which do not emit ionizing radiation. The video takes viewers on a journey to some of the world's most radioactive locations, including Chernobyl and Fukushima, revealing surprising facts about radiation levels in these areas compared to everyday life and even the natural background radiation we encounter. It highlights the significant radiation exposure from smoking and emphasizes the relative insignificance of radiation from common sources in our daily lives.

Takeaways

• 📡 A Geiger counter measures ionizing radiation, which has enough energy to remove electrons from atoms and is measured in sieverts.
• ⚠️ Exposure to more than two sieverts of ionizing radiation at once can be fatal.
• 🍌 Bananas contain naturally radioactive potassium, and eating one exposes you to about 0.1 microsieverts of radiation.
• 🌏 Natural background radiation on Earth, including from soil, rocks, air, and space, averages around 0.15 microsieverts per hour.
• 🏙️ Hiroshima's Peace Dome, site of the first nuclear bomb detonation, now has a radiation level of only 0.3 microsieverts per hour.
• 🕳️ An old uranium mine, where Marie Curie obtained her raw material, has a radiation level of 1.7 microsieverts per hour, ten times the natural background.
• 🏜️ The Trinity bomb test site in New Mexico, where the world's first nuclear bomb was detonated, has a radiation level of 0.8 microsieverts per hour.
• ✈️ At high altitudes, such as on an airplane, cosmic rays increase radiation exposure, reaching over three microsieverts per hour at very high altitudes and near the poles.
• 📡 Chernobyl's reactor four meltdown in 1986 spread radioactive isotopes, and the area still detects around five microsieverts per hour.
• 🏥 The hospital in Pripyat, near Chernobyl, where firemen were treated after the disaster, has a radiation level of up to 1500 microsieverts per hour in the basement.
• 🚬 A smoker's lungs receive an average of 160,000 microsieverts of radiation per year due to radioactive polonium and lead in tobacco, the highest dose of ionizing radiation mentioned in the script.

Q & A

What type of radiation does a Geiger counter measure?

A Geiger counter measures ionizing radiation, which is radiation with enough energy to rip electrons off atoms.

What is the unit used to measure ionizing radiation exposure?

Ionizing radiation exposure is measured in units called sieverts.

What is the approximate radiation exposure from eating a banana?

Eating a banana exposes you to about 0.1 microsieverts of radiation, which is one ten millionth of a sievert.

What is the average global level of natural background radiation?

The level of natural background radiation in Sydney is about 0.15 microsieverts per hour, which is roughly the average globally, usually ranging between 0.1 and 0.2 microsieverts per hour.

How does the radiation level in Hiroshima compare to the natural background radiation?

The radiation level in Hiroshima, almost 70 years after the nuclear bomb was detonated, is only 0.3 microsieverts per hour, which is slightly higher than the average natural background radiation.

What is special about the radiation level in an airplane?

The level of radiation inside an airplane can increase with altitude due to less atmosphere shielding from cosmic rays, reaching over three microsieverts per hour at higher altitudes and towards the poles.

What is the radiation level near the Chernobyl nuclear reactor number four?

The radiation level near the Chernobyl nuclear reactor number four is around five microsieverts an hour, which is comparable to the dose received from a dental x-ray.

How does the radiation exposure in Fukushima compare to Chernobyl?

Although the release of radioactive material in Fukushima was less than Chernobyl (only about 10%), the readings are up around 5 to 10 microsieverts an hour because the accident is much fresher and less of the radioactive material has decayed.

What is the most radioactive place the speaker visited?

The most radioactive place the speaker visited was the basement of the hospital at Pripyat, where the firemen's clothing from the Chernobyl disaster was stored, with readings of 1,500 microsieverts an hour.

Who receives the highest levels of ionizing radiation on average?

On average, a smoker's lungs receive the highest levels of ionizing radiation, approximately 160,000 microsieverts worth of radiation every year, due to the radioactive polonium and lead in tobacco.

What is the comparison between a CT scan and natural background radiation?

In a CT scan, the patient receives about 7,000 microsieverts, which is equivalent to three years' worth of natural background radiation.