People who then eat this livestock will then still experience internal contamination, in which radioactive material ends up inside of our bodies, despite not consuming contaminated plants or water directly. Livestock may eat contaminated plants or drink contaminated water. When a nuclear detonation occurs, people, plants, and animals can be exposed to the fallout in several ways. This section talks about the different ways we can be exposed to radiation if a nuclear detonation occurs.
Some of the fallout radionuclides the EPA’s monitoring systems may detect include:Įven though there is very little fallout that still exists in the environment, it is important to remember that recent fallout, within about 10 to 20 miles downwind of the detonation, can be very dangerous. For more information about the history of RadNet, please visit the Learn About RadNet webpage. Background radiation is around us all the time, mostly from natural sources, like naturally occurring radon and uranium. Now, the EPA uses this system, called RadNet, to look at background radiation levels at many locations across the United States. These monitors were originally designed to detect radionuclides that were released after a nuclear weapon detonation. The EPA maintains a system of radiation monitors throughout the United States. In fact, results are now generally below levels that instruments can detect. For many years, analysis of air samples has shown risk levels far below regulatory limits. Since the end of aboveground nuclear weapons testing, the day-to-day radiation in air readings from monitoring sites has fallen. Some aboveground weapons testing by other countries continued until 1980. After the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963 was signed by the United States, the Soviet Union and Great Britain, most aboveground tests ceased. Over time the number and size (or yield) of these weapons increased, especially in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Between 19, hundreds of aboveground test took place around the world. The United States conducted the first aboveground nuclear weapon test in southeastern New Mexico on July 16, 1945. Very little radioactivity from weapons testing in the 1950s and 1960s can still be detected in the environment now.
Most have very short half-lives, so decay away in a few minutes or a few days, for examples iodine-131, has a half-life of 8 days. Some stay in the environment for a long time because they have long half-lives, like cesium-137, which has a half-life of about 30 years.
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