“Hot” or radioactive particle in lung tissue”

photo by Del Tredici, Burdens of Proof by Tim Connor, Energy Research Foundation (1997)

This is a photo of a “hot particle”, in this case a 1 micron particle of plutonium,
and shows the alpha tracks emitted from that particle in one year.

 

“Hot” or radioactive particle in lung tissue” photo by Del Tredici, Burdens of Proof by Tim Connor, Energy Research Foundation (1997).

Plutonium in Lung Tissue: The dark, star-like image in this photograph (magnified 500 times) shows tracks from alpha particles radiating front a speck of plutonium lodged in the lung tissue of an ape. Alpha radiation from plutonium and other alpha-emitting radionuclides can be blocked by skin or even a piece of paper but it is the most biologically destructive form of ionizing radiation when the alpha-emitting substance is deposited in the soft tissue of internal organs like the lung. The alpha tracks shown above were captured over a two-day period. Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, Berkeley California, September 1982.

 

 

 

If you have come to this page from an outside location click here to get back to mindfully.org