Community liaison forums

Radiation 101: The basics of radiation

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Cameco community forum provides basic information on radiation

June 18, 2007 —What is radiation?  What are the types and sources of radiation?  Is it harmful? Those are just three of the many topics covered during Cameco’s recent community liaison forum at the Port Hope Lions Recreation Centre.

The theme of the evening was “Radiation 101: The basics of radiation”. It was held as a direct result of feedback from the day-long forum on the environment held last February. Participants expressed an interest in having a forum dedicated to providing members of the community with some easy to understand, basic information on radiation and its impact on human health.

In response, Cameco invited representatives of the Radiation Safety Institute of Canada (RSI), an independent, national organization dedicated to the promotion of radiation safety, to be guest speakers at the forum. The RSI, founded in 1980, is the only organization of its kind in the world and is well known for the quality and effectiveness of its educational, technical and consultative services in radiation safety.

“Our philosophy is ‘good science in plain language®’,” Dr. Fergal Nolan, president and CEO of the RSI, told approximately 80 people who attended the forum. “We do not take sides on the issues around nuclear energy. Our concern is radiation exposure in homes, schools, workplaces and the environment”.  “In fact, only 10% of monitored workers are in the nuclear industry. Forty percent of the people who are monitored for radiation exposure on a daily basis work in health-care facilities and institutions, including hospitals, cancer clinics, dental clinics and medical laboratories, while 50% work in a wide range of industries such as agricultural fertilizers, aircraft manufacturing and education,” Dr. Nolan added.

The main presenter at the forum was Don Bell, a teaching scientist for the RSI.  He is principal instructor for a course the organization provides to qualify people who are responsible for the safety and security of radioactive materials used in industries of many kinds, as well as in hospitals and health-care institutions across Canada.

Bell split his presentation to the forum into two parts: “Understanding Radiation” and “Biological and Health Effects of Exposure to Radiation”. The first part covered the basic science of radiation, including the most common types of radiation and the meaning and sources of the terms ionizing and non-ionizing radiation.

In the second part of his presentation, Bell provided detailed information about the concept of radiation dose and the interaction of radiation with the human body. 

“We are all exposed to various forms of radiation. We live in a radioactive world and it has been so since the beginning of time. Your average annual background radiation dose is 2-3 milliSieverts (mSv). We are continually exposed to high-energy radiation from outer space called cosmic radiation. The air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat all contain trace amounts of radionuclides,” Bell told the forum. He then used a series of charts and provided verbal examples to put the risks of radiation exposure in perspective.

“Although there are health risks associated with exposure to radiation, the risks are generally very small and in many cases much smaller than the risks associated with many of our daily activities,” he said.

A question and answer session followed the presentations. A number of the questions centred on potential health effects of low-level radiation and the planned cleanup of historic low-level radioactive waste in Port Hope. At one point, when asked if low-level radiation was safe, Don Bell replied that there is some amount of risk at any level.