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Kayla Erosa

Chemistry 1010
12-10-2015
Radiation
Chemistry 1010 has been a great learning experience for me. I have learned
things and grasped concepts that I thought I could never understand. There is one
subject that has really captured my attention, and its a subject that we really didnt
cover. I am intrigued by radiation.
Radiation is energy that moves in the form of waves or particles. [1] These
can be very dangerous, can cause birth defects and can be deadly. If we look at the
Chernobyl incident in 1986, there was an explosion and fire that released large
quantities of radioactive particles into the atmosphere that once settled, made the
area uninhabitable. The radioactive particles spread over much of the western USSR
and Europe.

Then we remember the incident in Fukushima 2011, which was

initiated primarily by the tsunami of the Thoku earthquake in March of 2011. Those
radioactive particles were released into the air and the water. In this case, people
and fish were poisoned by the radioactive particles. Now that we have a brief
understanding of the importance of my topic, lets move on to my thoughts.

People are not immune to radioactivity. As previously stated, these particles


and/or waves can make a person very sick, cause birth defects and can even cause
death. This semester as we have discussed elements, isotopes and bonds, has
made me wonder if there is a way to neutralize these radioactive particles so they
are less harmful to people, plants, and animals. One way to make radioactivity less
harmful, is to expose everyone and see who survives. However, this is not an option
as probably about 10 percent or less of the worlds population would survive. Since
that is not possible, what are our other options?
We can look for ways and chemical combinations to neutralize the radioactive
particles in areas such as Chernobyl and Fukushima, to accelerate their half-life to
make them habitable sooner or since that will take more time, we can start small by
looking at ways to make people immune to radiation, so they can survive and thrive
while being exposed to radiation. Or, we can find ways of curing cellular damage
caused by radiation poisoning. Either way I think that both options are very
plausible, it will just take the right elements and the right mind to come up with a
solution.
We need to make sure that this topic is being addressed. We have had two
nuclear meltdowns in the last 30 years, granted one was caused by natural forces
and the other was a human error. If this continues to happen there will be less
safe space for people to live. In the United States we have 61 nuclear power
plants. People need to be informed of the dangers and receive guidance on what to
do in case of a meltdown. We need to protect ourselves and the beautiful world we
live in from being destroyed by radioactivity.

[1] Dr. Ananya Mandal, MD (2014). Causes of Radiation Exposure. http://www.newsmedical.net/health/Causes-of-Radiation-Exposure.aspx

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