New Nuclear Power?

I've had a fascination with nuclear power for about 40 years. As a teenager, I watched the construction progress of a small nuclear power plant about 20 minutes from home; that reactor, built in the 1970s, has since been shut down after several extensions of its license by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Normal licenses are for a 25-year lifespan, but because of the safety record and design of this particular plant, they were able to get it extended until 2033. The flooding of 2011 showed that it was in a poor location (it had been shut down for refueling before the flood and was in no danger) and the operator decided to cease operations in 2016. Cleanup and decommissioning is still going on, and the old fuel rods are stored on-site so it will be a secured area for a long time.

Having grown up in the shadow of a nuclear power plant, we dealt with a lot of emergency planning and notification information coming from the operator of the plant, FEMA, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). A network of warning sirens was placed about 15 miles in every direction around the plant. Testing every month became just another part of life, kind of like the Emergency Alert System tests on the radio. Our house was far enough away that we were not in any of the emergency zones, but we still got an annual map of evacuation routes. Growing up during the Cold War, a lot of what we now call prepping was just everyday life back then.

All of this came to mind this week because of the announcement that the founder of Microsoft is funding a company that wants to build a new nuclear power plant in Wyoming. This is notable because the newest nuclear plant we have in the US was commissioned in 2016, and the second newest is 20 years older than that. Construction of conventional nuclear plants has been rare and slow for a generation because of an attitude whereby people want electricity, and agree that nuclear power is the cleanest source, but don't want a plant built near them -- aka Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY). Lawfare from various environmental groups has also slowed or stopped the construction of pretty much anything nuclear. We'll see if huge piles of money can make a difference this time.

Pressurized Water Reactors

Nuclear power plants, if built by good workers and designed by competent engineers are as safe as a coal-fired plant and don't produce as many by-products. If you happen to live near one, learn as much as you can about it from reliable sources and pay attention to the NRC-required informational packets. They aren't nuclear bombs waiting to go off; instead, the major threat is a steam explosion or release of radioactive materials. Erin and I have covered the basics of radioactivity in the past.

This new reactor, however, is of a new design. The older nuclear reactors used a (barely) sub-critical mass of Uranium to heat water under pressure (superheating)*, transferred heat from that very hot water to a secondary system at lower pressure where it would create steam that could spin a turbine connected to a generator. Called a “light-water reactor” (LWR) or Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR), this has been the only design approved for power generation since the 1950s in the USA. (Other countries have other designs, and they don't always have the same safety record.) LWRs have the major problem of containing the superheated water, which leads to huge containment vessels and redundant pumps, adding to the cost of construction and operation.

http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2017/ph241/shaw-s1/

* Just like water will boil at less than 100°C/212°F on a mountain top where the air pressure is low, you can keep it from boiling and changing to steam (which takes up 17,000 times more space than the liquid) by increasing the pressure. If you're interested in the exact numbers, look up “steam tables” for boiler operations.

Liquid Sodium Reactors

This new design is called a Natrium or Liquid Sodium Reactor (LSR). Selected by our Department of Energy (DOE) as a promising technology, it has been funded and tested extensively in the last decade or so. Instead of super-heating water, the Natrium system uses the heat from a nuclear reaction to melt a giant tank of salt. That liquid salt is at a much higher temperature than you can reasonably get water, and it doesn't require the high pressures that super-heating water does, which leads to a safer and simpler construction. That heat is used to create steam and drive a turbine like any other generation station. 

Molten salt is a bit corrosive, so they've been researching materials that are safe to use. Natrium uses a modular approach to their design, making power plants more flexible in their output. The liquid salt can also be used to store heat (several solar-thermal systems use it as a “heat battery”) for boosting generating capacity when needed instead of relying on natural gas-fired peaking generators.

https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2017-01/IntegralFastReactor-Hardy-29Apr2010.pdf

The nuclear side of the reactor will still work the same and will still have some of the same issues. We don't yet have a good way or place to store spent fuel rods, so they'll be a sore spot. Reprocessing those rods tends to generate Plutonium (Pu), and our current needs for that have already been met. Certain groups get very vocal when you start talking about stockpiling the makings of nuclear weapons, so Pu is a no-no.

We'll have to wait and see what happens with this project. The design is much safer than a LWR, but the current political and social atmosphere is not friendly to new sources of energy, and pipelines, new oil well drilling permits, and new refineries are all on hold or canceled. Building anything will take years to get all of the permits and settle all of the lawsuits, but we need to have something making the electricity for all of those new electric vehicles that are being sold.

Potassium Iodine

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

Every prepper needs a supply of Potassium Iodine (KI) in their supplies or Get Home Bag in the event of a nuclear incident such as an accident at a nuclear power plant or the detonation of a nuclear warhead. While it is not proof against all forms of radiation poisoning, it is an affordable, lightweight prep that is better to have and not need than to need and not have.

Rather than attempt to use my layman skills to explain to you why this is, I will quote freely from various authorities. Any emphasis is mine.

From the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's webpage on KI:

What is potassium iodide? 

Potassium iodide is a salt, similar to table salt. Its chemical symbol is KI. It is routinely added to table salt to make it "iodized." Potassium iodide, if taken in time and at the appropriate dosage, blocks the thyroid gland's uptake of radioactive iodine and thus could reduce the risk of thyroid cancers and other diseases that might otherwise be caused by exposure to radioactive iodine that could be dispersed in a severe nuclear accident.

What is the role of potassium iodide in radiological emergency preparedness?

Potassium iodide is a special kind of protective measure in that it offers very specialized protection. Potassium iodide protects the thyroid gland against internal uptake of radioiodines that may be released in the unlikely event of a nuclear reactor accident.

The purpose of radiological emergency preparedness is to protect people from the effects of radiation exposure after an accident at a nuclear power plant. Evacuation is the most effective protective measure in the event of a radiological emergency because it protects the whole body (including the thyroid gland and other organs) from all radionuclides and all exposure pathways. Administering KI can be a reasonable, prudent, and inexpensive supplement to in-place sheltering and evacuation.

What is the benefit of taking potassium iodide during a radiological accident?

When potassium iodide is ingested, it is taken up by the thyroid gland. In the proper dosage, and taken at the appropriate time, it will effectively saturate the thyroid gland in such a way that inhaled or ingested radioactive iodines will not be accumulated in the thyroid gland. The risk of thyroid effects is reduced. Such thyroid effects resulting from radioiodine uptakes due to inhalation or ingestion, or both, could result in acute, chronic, and delayed effects. Acute effects from high doses include thyroiditis, while chronic and delayed effects include hypothyroidism, thyroid nodules, and thyroid cancer.

Supplementary note from HealthPhysicsSociety.org:
The only possible sources of large radioiodine releases are from a nuclear weapons denotation and a catastrophic accident in an operating nuclear reactor. Therefore, KI has no protective value from a "dirty bomb" or a dispersion of spent nuclear fuel.

Can individual members of the public obtain potassium iodide?

The FDA has approved potassium iodide as an over-the-counter medication. As with any medication, individuals should check with their doctor or pharmacist before using it.

Erin says: You can buy packs of 14 KI tablets from Amazon for $10 with Prime shipping. 

Is it safe to take KI tablets with an expired shelf-life?

Yes, potassium iodide tablets are inherently stable and do not lose their effectiveness over time. Manufacturers must label their products with a shelf-life to ensure that consumers purchase safe and useful products.

According to FDA guidance on Shelf-life Extension, studies over many years have confirmed that none of the components of KI tablets, including the active ingredient, has any significant potential for chemical degradation or interaction with other components or with components of the container closure system when stored according to labeled directions. To date, the only observed changes during stability (shelf-life) testing have been the failure of some batches of KI tablets to meet dissolution specifications. Some tablets tested required slightly longer than the specified time to achieve dissolution. Even in the case of a failure of this sort, the product remains usable. In such cases, instructions can be provided to crush the tablets and mix them with a juice or other liquid prior to administration as suggested for emergency pediatric dosing.

From the CDC webpage on KI:

How often should KI be taken? 

Taking a stronger dose of KI (potassium iodide), or taking KI more often than recommended, does not offer more protection and can cause severe illness or death.

A single dose of KI (potassium iodide) protects the thyroid gland for 24 hours. A one-time dose at recommended levels is usually all that is needed to protect the thyroid gland.

In some cases, people can be exposed to radioactive iodine for more than 24 hours. If that happens, public health or emergency management officials may tell you to take one dose of KI (potassium iodide) every 24 hours for a few days.

Avoid repeat dosing with KI (potassium iodide) for pregnant and breastfeeding women and newborn infants.

What are the side effects of KI?

Side effects of KI (potassium iodide) may include stomach or gastro-intestinal upset, allergic reactions, rashes, and inflammation of the salivary glands.

When taken as recommended, KI (potassium iodide) can cause rare adverse health effects related to the thyroid gland. These rare adverse effects are more likely if a person:

• Takes a higher than recommended dose of KI
• Takes the drug for several days
• Has a pre-existing thyroid disease.

Newborn infants (less than 1 month old) who receive more than one dose of KI (potassium iodide) are at risk for developing a condition known as hypothyroidism (thyroid hormone levels that are too low). If not treated, hypothyroidism can cause brain damage.

• Infants who receive more than a single dose of KI should have their thyroid hormone levels checked and monitored by a doctor.
• Avoid repeat dosing of KI to newborns.

How is KI given? 

The FDA has approved two different forms of KI (potassium iodide), tablets and liquid, that people can take by mouth after a radiation emergency involving radioactive iodine.

Tablets come in two strengths, 130 milligram (mg) and 65 mg. The tablets have lines on them so that they may be cut into smaller pieces for lower doses. For the oral liquid solution, each milliliter (mL) contains 65 mg of KI (potassium iodide).

According to the FDA, the following doses are appropriate to take after internal contamination with (or likely internal contamination with) radioactive iodine:

• Newborns from birth to 1 month of age should be given 16 mg (¼ of a 65 mg tablet or ¼ mL of solution). This dose is for both nursing and non-nursing newborn infants.
• Infants and children between 1 month and 3 years of age should take 32 mg (½ of a 65 mg tablet OR ½ mL of solution). This dose is for both nursing and non-nursing infants and children.
• Children between 3 and 18 years of age should take 65 mg (one 65 mg tablet OR 1 mL of solution). Children who are adult size (greater than or equal to 150 pounds) should take the full adult dose, regardless of their age.
• Adults should take 130 mg (one 130 mg tablet OR two 65 mg tablets OR two mL of solution).
• Women who are breastfeeding should take the adult dose of 130 mg.

In Conclusion 
While Potassium Iodine will not protect you from every nuclear event, it is lightweight, portable, affordable, is shelf-stable indefinitely, and fits easily into any first aid kit. I recommend every prepper who lives in a big city or within range of a nuclear power plant stock up on KI. 

More Reading

• HPS Fact Sheet on KI (pdf)

Radiation Detection Kit

A few weeks back I wrote about finding a folder with paperwork concerning the fallout shelter in the building I was moved into at work. I wrote about the food, water, and sanitation supplies that were placed here in 1962, all of which were scrapped long ago.

The fallout shelter paperwork that I found at my new place of work also included mention of a "Radiation Detection Kit, CD V-777-2". This was one of about four different kits issued, depending on the rated occupancy of the fallout shelter; the "-2" kit was the smallest, designed for shelters capable of holding up to 50 people. One of the notes in the file of fallout shelter paperwork was a memo that the kit was sent to the local doctor on 8 Oct 1963 for storage and safe-keeping because he was the "Civil Defense Doctor" for this area. Since the meters required calibration every 5 years or so, and they were the most expensive part of the supplies provided, it makes sense that they kept them outside of the shelter. Dr. Little has long since passed away, but I would have loved to talk to him about his role.

While digging through one of the back rooms, however, I actually found the radiation detection kit still in its box. One of the manuals and the D-cell batteries were gone, but everything else is still there and the handheld detector had been calibrated about 30 years ago. The calibration sticker surprised me; I didn't know that anyone was keeping up with CD supplies in 1990 since the whole project had been mostly abandoned by the mid-70s when FEMA took over from the Office of Civil Defense and the focus of their spending was switched to natural disasters and away from surviving a nuclear war. While researching the meters, I found that at least two states (Iowa and Texas) still have facilities to maintain and calibrate them, and there is at least one private calibration company.

This is the box I found, "fresh" from the state maintenance shop. Inside was a "survey" meter for checking the radiation on surfaces, and a bag of personal dosimeters (and the charger) for checking the total dosage a wearer had received. Both were only useful for measuring Gamma radiation, so the easier to stop Alpha and Beta would have gone undetected.

The survey meter is a Victoreen Model V-715, a high-range unit that was useful for finding gross contamination. With a low range of 0-0.5 Roentgen/hr and a high range of 0-500 Roentgen/hr, these meters were designed for very high levels of radioactivity. You can see the calibration sticker near the range selector switch.

The dosimeters are the newer V-742 model, with a range of 0-200 Roentgen, which is quite a large dose. (200 Roentgen = 1.75 Sv, which will cause severe radiation poisoning and possibly death.) Erin covered radiation doses very thoroughly in a series of posts titled "Radiation for Dummies", so I won't repeat it. I covered how they work in a post that you can find here.

There were also a plastic strap for carrying the survey meter over a shoulder and a manual inside the box. The manual covers the operation of the two types of meters and is written in typical governments form.

I'm not completely sure what I'm going to do with that box of toys. I may tuck them back in a corner of the back room for some other explorer to find after I retire, or I may check to see if a local museum might be interested in adding them to their collection. I'm still trying to contact the owner of the online Civil Defense Museum to see if anything I've found is unique enough to add to his collection; he has a lot of information about a rather interesting time in our recent history.

Fallout Shelters

One of our readers on Facebook brought up fallout shelters as a form of prepping. Done properly, a fallout shelter is a moderately expensive ($5,000 -  $10,000) bit of prep because they're not as prevalent as they once were.

First, a disclaimer: fallout shelters are not the same as bunkers. A full-blown nuclear war bunker will have an armored door, air and water filtration systems, and months or years of supplies for the occupants, whereas a fallout shelter is a temporary shelter to get people out of the elements and away from the residue that will drift out of the sky following a nuclear blast (fallout). These shelters were designed and stocked to be used for a week or two, just long enough for the worst of the radioactive materials to burn out. Erin has explained radiation in past articles, but the short version is that the most energetic (dangerous) isotopes burn out quickly, so a couple of weeks underground is a good way to avoid exposure.

Sixty years ago, during the Cold War between the US and the USSR, nuclear war was a very real possibility and people prepared for it as best they could. An old neighbor's house had a decent one built into the basement with built-in shelving, bunks, and a double-turn entrance, meaning that the entrance was built so that there was no direct line of sight from the inside to the outside which provided a barrier to radiation. The neighbors turned it into a pantry for storing bulk foods, but it was still useful as a storm shelter. The threat of nuclear war has subsided, but having some place safe from tornadoes and other environmental hazards is still a good idea.

During the Cold War, our government actually set up a department of Civil Defense (CD) to provide information and supplies to the civilian population. I won't get into politics (we don't do that here), but this was an example of government actually trying to help the taxpayers. Unfortunately, the CD was replaced by FEMA in 1979, and their focus shifted to other threats. Simple supplies, well marked and pre-positioned where they will be needed, is something I'd like to see come back.

If you look around in the lower levels of older buildings, you may see a sign like this. These signs designated areas that the building's owners had loaned to the government for use as shelters. 

I was recently “promoted” at work and was handed a location of my own to run. The “new” location is a grain elevator that was built in 1955, in a very small town about an hour's drive from a major Cold War target. While digging through the accumulated papers and files, I found the original “license” papers for the fallout shelter on our site and some of the shipping papers for the supplies that the US government had placed there in 1962. Since the elevator is made of reinforced concrete and has a rather spacious “basement” area underground for pipes and conveyors, it would have made for a fairly comfortable shelter. The supplies had a limited (5 year) shelf-life and are long gone, but I did find the radiation detection kit sitting on a shelf in the back office. I'll do an article on that box later.

Here's a list of what was stored in my location for a maximum of 50 people and the descriptions from the official paperwork (the shipping papers didn't match the instructions exactly):

Crackers 5 gallon, 24.5# (11 cartons)

Food package, biscuit, survival. A wheat flour baked biscuit similar in taste and texture to a graham cracker. Each package provides 10,000 calories per person for 7 people. Each cardboard container contained six 6-pound cans of biscuits (390 biscuits, each 2.5”x2.5” and providing 30 calories).

Drum, metal, water storage (10 each)

17.5 gallon metal or fiber water containers, providing one quart of water per person per day. They were shipped empty with a plastic liner provided to keep the water clean and were to be filled once they reached the shelter. Remember the 5 year shelf-life?

Bag, liner, polyethylene (20 each)

For the water drums. The extras are so the drums can be used as toilets once the water is gone.

Sanitation kit, model 5K 1V (1 each)

A fiber (cardboard) drum, 16” diameter and 21” high containing:

• 1 polyethylene liner bag
• 5 pints toilet chemical (deodorant/disinfectant)
• 1 privacy screen (5'x8' sheet of plastic)
• 1 roll twine (for the privacy screen)
• 6 wire ties (to close filled bags)
• 20 rolls toilet paper
• 1 can opener
• 6 bottles of 50 Globoline water purification tablets (iodine-based water tablets)
• 1 toilet seat
• 1 pair plastic gloves
• 20 plastic canteens (for rationing the water)

Medical kit A (1 each)

Medical kit A was the smallest and designed for 50 people. The B kit was for 100, and the C kit was for 300 and contained medications that wouldn't be allowed in today's political climate. The A kit contained:

• 5 bottles of 100 aspirin
• 1 bottle of 100 Aluminum Hydroxide Gel tablets (antacid)
• 1 bottle of 10 Bismuth Subcarbonate tablets (similar to Pepto-Bismol)
• 1 2 oz bottle of Calamine lotion (for skin irritation and rashes)
• 2 bars surgical soap
• 1 1 oz bottle of Eugenol (the active ingredient in cloves, useful for toothaches)
• 2 4 oz containers of surgical jelly
• 1 1 oz container Tetracaine ointment (similar to Lidocaine, a topical numbing agent)
• 1 qt Isopropyl Alcohol (disinfectant)
• 1 bottle ear drops
• 8 4 oz containers Elixir Terpin Hydrate ( an expectorant, used to loosen mucous in the lungs)
• 2 ½ oz eye and nose drops
• Various bandages, dressings, sanitary pads and belts (ask your grandmother)
• An official Civil Defense Medical Self-help Manual.

As you can see, the water and food supplies were subsistence level, and the medical supplies were mostly medicine cabinet grade. Since the occupants were expected to be mostly sedentary, with no heavy work or exertion, two weeks on this diet wouldn't have been pleasant but it would have been survivable. Being in a grain elevator there would have been plenty of wheat and corn to supplement the rations, with a few rats for extra protein.

There are a lot of resources online for designing or buying a fallout shelter. If you just want to see some of the history of the CD system, I recommend the Civil Defense Museum. I'm trying to contact the owner of that site to see if he wants any of the stuff I've found; otherwise, it will probably go to a local museum.

Gun Blog Variety Podcast #110 - Radioactive Riots Forever

It's like Strawberry Fields, only with more rioting and radiation.

• Beth is "On Assignment" and will return next week. We explain why in the podcast.
• Who pulls a knife on someone for "stealing" his begging spot? Who is that beggar you're giving money to? Sean looks a little deeper while throwing Erin under the bus for an errant slip of the tongue.
• Barron reminds us of something that Hillary's Information Technology consultant is learning the hard way: The Internet is Forever. FOREVER.
• In the Main Topic, Sean and Erin discuss the #NCRiots in Charlotte.
• In the wake of all the awfulness going around, we need some good news. Tiffany tells us of the story of a good Samaritan with a gun in a Kansas City parking lot.
• Did you hear about all the radioactive water that leaked into Florida's aquifer? Erin tells us why we're all going to die. Or, you know, not.
• It takes a scientist to take on a scientist. It's Weer'd vs. Science in this Audio Fisk™ of two Science Vs. podcasts.
• Our plug of the week is for the Grass Roots North Carolina.

Thank you for downloading, listening, and subscribing. You are subscribed, right? We are available on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, and now on Google Play Music!

Listen to the podcast here.

Read the show notes here. 

Thanks also to Firearms Policy Coalition for their support.

Gun Blog Variety Podcast #106 - Dr. Jill Stein Doesn't Understand Science

Tired of the toxic brain fallout that accompanies the gibbering and capering of anti-gun, anti-science, anti-logic morons? Join us in the GunBlog VarietyCast bunker and we'll weather the derpular winter together.

• Beth interviews Liz Lazarus about her new book, Absence of Malice, a story of a self-defense shooting based on an event from the author's real life. 
• It's the "mass murder" you haven't heard about: a man murders his wife and three children. It would have made national news IF the murdered were committed with a gun... but he used a hammer, so no one in the media cares.
• Want to track down your misplaced car keys? Barron tells us how TrackR Bravo works, and if there are any security concerns you should have. 
• Erin takes the reins of the Main Topic and interviews listener Robert about Dr. Jill Stein MD's absolutely silly "nuclear power plants = WMDs" tweets. Then the discussion shifts to Blue Collar Prepping as they discuss preparing for a far more plausible nuclear emergency. 
• We're paying for it, so Weer'd does his Patented Audio Fisk™ on three anti-gunners ganging up on the president of USCCA on NPR's Diane Rehm Show.
• And our Plug of the Week is Bob Mayne's Handgun World Episode 381, where he interviews fellow podcaster Paul Lathrop about his 6 month ordeal of being falsely charged. 

Thank you for downloading, listening, and subscribing. You are subscribed, right? We are available on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, and now on Google Play Music!

Listen to the podcast here.

Read the show notes here. 

Thanks also to Firearms Policy Coalition for their support. Go to www.FirearmsPolicy.org to join.

Be sure to donate to Erin's "Let's put Sean in purple pony shirts for the Gun Rights Policy Conference" fundraiser!

And a special thanks to our sponsor, Law of Self Defense at www.LawOfSelfDefense.com. Use discount code "Variety" at checkout for 10% off.

Upcoming Law of Self Defense Seminars:

• September 10 - Alabama specific - Talladega, AL
• October 15 - New York specific - Poughkeepsie, NY
• October 22 - Iowa specific - Johnston, IA
• October 23 - Iowa specific - Central City, IA
• November 5 - Oregon and Washington specific - Sherwood, OR
• December 10 - Minnesota and Wisconsin specific - La Crosse, WI

Measuring Radiation

Since Erin has explained what ionizing radiation is and the hazards it poses, I thought I'd add an article covering ways to measure it. Since you can't see, taste, or feel ionizing radiation, you need a tool to find out if it is present (qualitative analysis) and how much is there (quantitative analysis). Some detectors are designed for a specific type of radiation, while others have options or shields that will let you choose which kind is being measured.

Different meters also have different ranges of detection, which will require a decision on your part regarding what you expect to find before you get a meter. As Erin covered here, there are various standards for reporting an amount of ionizing radiation, and the meters that are on the market use most of them. Be prepared to do some conversion of units when looking at buying a meter.

Most of my experience with radioactive materials was many years ago while I was in the Army. I worked around nuclear materials, and we used a variety of meters to detect contamination. Technology has since replaced all of them with solid-state detectors and LCD displays -- no reason to carry a 10 pound meter when a 1 pound meter will do the same job! Unfortunately, costs have not come down with the size and weight, so expect to pay as much for a quality meter as you would a quality firearm. 

I do not currently work with radiation, and haven't used anything digital, so I won't be giving recommendations. I will however offer my thoughts on what I've seen on the market, and give a few caveats about what to look out for.

I'm going to break the meters down by how the detectors are used, and then further by how they work, since that determines type and range of radiation detection.

Dosimeters

Dosimeters are carried on your body as you move through an area that may be radioactive. They will normally only indicate the totaldose you have received and aren't useful for finding out the intensity of radiation present. Most will not measure Alpha particles.

Film Badge
These have been around since the 1940s, and you may still see them in use by staff in hospitals or clinics that run X-Ray machines. They are basically a piece of black-and-white film that is sealed in a paper or plastic container (to keep out light) and is worn on the body with a clip or in a holder. Positioning of where it is worn varies by work environment, but it is normally at the hip or on the breast pocket. 

Sometimes they are placed in a plastic holder that has varying densities of blocking material to allow measurement of the energy of the radiation. After use, the film is removed from its container and developed. Any radiation (other than Alpha) will cause white space on the film, so by measuring the white space it is possible to deduce how much radiation passed through the badge.

Pen-style Dosimeter
My personal favorite, these use no batteries and the only moving part is a hair-thin wire. They are cheaper than many of the other reusable types, but do require a “charging” station. When I was in the Army, we wore them duct-taped to our left bicep so we could check them without using our hands.

These work by applying a high voltage electrical charge to a fine wire, causing it to be repelled from one side of the body of the meter. Ionizing radiation depletes the static charge by (duh) ionizing the air in the meter. As the charged wire relaxes, it moves along a scale etched onto a piece of glass that you look through. This makes them very easy to read as long as you have a source of light.

Thousand of surplus pen-style dosimeters and their chargers are available as surplus Civil Defense stock, but make sure you're looking at checked and calibrated items. There is usually a reason for them being surplussed, and it isn't always because they are being replaced with something newer. They are made in a variety of ranges from 0-500 mrem to 0-5 rem, so watch what you buy. A combination of a low range dosimeter and a higher range one would cover most exposures.

Digital Pocket Dosimeter
Fairly new technology, these can be as small as a keychain, but at $140 they aren't cheap. The NukAlert is made in the USA and has a good warranty, 10 year battery life, and a wide range of measurement (100 mR/hr to 5000 R/hr). There are other models that are pocket-sized, but there are too many versions for me to try to compare. I'd be wary of any of the imports that can't even find a native English speaker to write their ads and descriptions. Equipment made in Europe, including Russia and the Ukraine, seems to get better reviews than the stuff coming out of China. Quality control is vital when playing with radiation.

Indicator Cards
Using chemicals that change color when ionized (similar to pH indicators) on a credit card sized piece of plastic makes sense. (There is also a postage-stamp sized sticker that you can apply to the back of an ID card that works the same way.) It's similar to a film badge in that it is a one-time use indicator, but doesn't require a developing/analyzing lab. These have limited shelf-life and cost about $20 each for the cards, $25 for a five-pack of the stickers.

Survey Meters
Sometimes called Radiac meters from the military acronym Radio Activity Detection, Identification, and Computation. survey meters are used to check physical objects to see if they are radioactive. Normally hand-held units that can be “swept” over an object or person, they may also have removable detectors connected to a cable for remote sampling. 

Survey meters only measure what is in front of the detector, and the analog versions will not record total dose.

There are a lot of the yellow Civil Defense surplus meters available for anywhere from $20 to $1000, but they have some issues:

• They require calibration every 3-5 years at about $100 each time, and
• There is only one civilian company certified to calibrate them. 
• Many of the ones you'll see for sale cheap on sites like eBay are in need of maintenance or are broken beyond repair. Just because it passed a battery check doesn't mean it is in working order.

Geiger-Mueller (G-M) Tubes
These are the source of the generic name of “Geiger counter”. A sealed chamber filled with an easily ionized gas and having a high (<400V) voltage applied to the shell and a wire inside, ionizing radiation creates a path for electrons to flow from the wire to the shell, creating a spark which is easy to detect. The spark is what causes the ticking or clicking noise associated with radiation detectors. 

They are most commonly used for Gamma/X-Ray detection because the material of the tube will block Alpha and Beta, but some will have a “window” that will allow Beta through. These are very sturdy (they are designed for field use after all) and have been around for decades with a good track record.

Ionization Chamber
Some detectors use a flow of easily ionized gas through a chamber instead of a sealed tube. The ones I'm familiar with used propane and worked the same as a G-M tube, but had a much larger “face” that allowed for checking a larger area at one time, which is handy when checking for Alpha particles with their short range.

Scintillation Detectors
There are certain chemicals that emit light when hit by ionizing radiation, and they make for a fairly simple detector. Light is easy to measure with a photodetector, so pairing the two inside the detector head is common. Used to detect and measure Alpha/Beta/Gamma radiation, these are sturdy and don't require the high voltage of a G-M tube. If you see a probe that has sides sloping up towards the handle, it is probably a scintillation detector.

Solid State
The market is full of detectors of questionable quality. There are $30-50 add-ons for a smart phone that will detect Gamma/X-Ray radiation, but have accuracy of plus or minus 30%, which is poor to say the least. 

Be sure that you are comparing apples to apples as well. There are a lot of Electromagnetic Radiation meters out there that use the words “dosimeter” and “radiation detector”. While these are useful for checking to see if your microwave oven is leaking or chasing ghosts through an abandoned mental hospital, they will not help you find or measure ionizing radiation; they are designed to pick up a wide band of radio-wave energy, not radioactivity. 

The KFM

The odd-ball that doesn't fit either category, the Kearney Fallout Meter was developed for use in a fallout shelter to give the residents a way of checking for hot spots and leaks of radiation, as well as assuring that they were safe where they were. 

Designed to be built with common household items, the KFM is a larger version of a pen-style dosimeter. It uses an electrostatic charge on a folded piece of tin foil that has been suspended over a printed scale. Ionizing radiation reduces the charge on the folded foil much like it does the quartz fiber or wire in a pen-style dosimeter, and readings are taken in a similar manner.

Get a set of the plans -- they're freely available on the web -- and keep them in your shelter. Maybe even build a test model on some rainy weekend, just to play with it. Tear apart an old smoke detector to get a test source of Americium-241 if you want to make sure it works.

There are few things less well understood, and therefore more frightening to the general public, than radiation. Certain segments of society use this ignorance as a method of control or profit, and education is the only real cure. Knowledge is power and I believe we should all be willing to share it

Check reviews on trusted sites and do your research before relying on anything that can impact your health, radiation meters are no different. Quality comes with a higher price tag and you usually do get what you pay for.

Radiation Doses for Dummies

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

PREVIOUSLY: Radiation Terminology for Dummies

Welcome to the final installment of "Radioactivity for Dummies" series. Over the past two months I've talked about why ionizing radiation is dangerous, how it works, how to shield yourself from it and how to keep it off you if you are accidentally exposed.

But sometimes precautions aren't enough, and through sheer bad luck you may one day find yourself exposed to ionizing radiation. If that happens, do not panic; you are not necessarily doomed -- and if you are doomed, then panic will only reduce the amount of things you can get done with whatever time you have left.

Radiation Exposure is a Function
I mean this in the mathematical sense; how much of a dose you absorb is dependent upon the input of no fewer than three variables.

A Function of Time
As I explained in my first blog post on the subject, radioactivity is simply the measure of how quickly an unstable substance decays into a more stable form. The faster it decays, the shorter its half-life is and the more dangerous it is to be around. Therefore, if a radioactive substance is emitting 4 rems per hour (rems being the measurement most common in the USA) , that works out to 40 millisieverts an hour. This is nearly the maximum yearly dose permitted to radiation workers in the US, but only if you hang around for the entire hour. If you quickly leave the area (see distance, below) your actual exposure will be much less.

However, if you stay in proximity to it for a long period of time, the danger to your body increases because radiation exposure is cumulative. 8 hours of exposure (320 mSv) will likely cause radiation sickness, and a full day's exposure gives a dose of 960 mSv, nearly a full sievert -- not enough to kill a healthy adult, but definitely enough to make one very sick, including nausea, hair loss, and bleeding.

Another time factor is that the human body can manage the same radiation dose if it is spread out rather than all at once. A 1 sievert dose all at once can overwhelm the body's ability to repair or replace damaged cells, but 1 Sv spread out over days, weeks or longer gives the body a chance to heal. This is known as fractionation of dose. 

A Function of Distance
In the same way that the warmth of a fire (thermal radiation) diminishes the further away from it you are, exposure to ionizing radiation diminishes by distance. This is known as the Inverse Square Law, and it essentially states "The further away you are, even if it's just a foot, the better it is for you."

Running away from sources of ionizing radiation is almost magically effective, because doing so not only increases your distance (which decreases your dose) but it also reduces the amount of time you are exposed to it (which also decreases your dose). This means that so long as the source of ionizing radiation isn't all around you, the very best thing you can do is run away -- which is likely what your fear instincts are going to have you doing anyway.

A Function of Shielding
I have explained several times that radiation can be blocked by materials that are also very common. Several feet of water, dirt or concrete will stop most forms of ionizing radiation, so if you can put an industrial building between you and the radiation source, the better you are. Going underground (such as into a subway tunnel) would be ideal -- although be warned that others may have the same idea and you could find yourself in danger of being crushed by a crowd -- but if you can't do that, just put a city block between you and the danger. The combination of time, distance, and the thickness of a city block full of concrete and metal and water ought to protect you splendidly.

https://www.nde-ed.org/EducationResources/CommunityCollege/RadiationSafety/safe_use/controlling_exposure.htm

Different Types of Doses

Acute
An acute dose is when a person receives a radiation dose over a short period of time (a day or less). It results in acute radiation syndrome, aka "radiation poisoning", which has several nasty effects.

Some of these are Non-stochastic effects, which means that they are related directly to the dose received.  Non-stochastic results have a threshold below which they will not occur, and whose effects are more severe as intensity of dosage increases. An example of this are radiation burns; at low level they act like sunburns, but higher levels result in second-degree burns with blistering.

Stochastic effects are randomly-occurring and whose results are independent of the size of dose. The effect typically has no threshold and is based on probability, with the chance of seeing the effect increasing with dose. Cancer is a stochastic effect.

Other examples of acute radiation syndrome can be found at this Wikipedia article, which I converted to this printable image below.

Keep in mind that these effects are based up Grays (absorbed dose) and not Sieverts (equivalent dose), the difference between which I explained last week. However, since 1 Gy equals 1 Sv when dealing with gamma and x-rays, this gives a good idea of how damaging exposure to such radiation can be. 

As you can see, more than 1 Sv has a high chance of fatality. If skin burns, damage to internal organs, or succumbing to disease due to destruction of white blood cells aren't enough to kill, then some form of immediate cancer likely will.

Also note how prompt, proper medical care is a game-changer for doses of 2-8, turning what could be near-certain death into 50% or greater odds for survival. While many preppers have an inherent distrust of hospitals after emergencies, it is in your best interest to seek medical care after a radiation exposure incident as it can literally mean the difference between life and death.

Chronic
A chronic dose is when a person receives a large dose of radiation stretched out over a long period of time (days or longer). It does not take effect immediately; however, the greater the absorbed dose the faster the onset of symptoms will be.

Symptoms of chronic radiation syndrome include cataracts, atrophy of or fibrous formations of the skin following radiation burns, and a high chance of cancer. As mentioned above, cancer is stochastic; the higher your dosage, the greater your chance of contracting it, but dosage has no impact on how severe that cancer is. You might get a little melanoma; you might develop leukemia.

Cancer as a result of chronic radiation exposure can appear at any time during your life. According to this article written by Doctors of nuclear medicine, the latent period for leukemia is 7-10 years and for other ("solid") forms of cancer is 20-30 years. Fortunately, if you receive no more than a 0.1 Gy dosage, there are no indications for future appearance of cancer.

Chronic radiation syndrome is the best kind the get (for certain values of "best") because the body has a chance to repair itself. If you're old enough, odds are good that you'll die of other causes before the cancer kills you.

Conclusion
Is it my sincere hope that this series has taken the"fear of the unknown" which surrounds radioactivity and replaced it with knowledge. Yes, the effects of ionizing radiation are frightening; but knowing how it works, and more importantly knowing how to protect yourself from it, ought to reduce it from an "implacable boogey man" to a force of nature which can be guarded against, like fire or a tornado.


EPILOGUE: Devices that measure Ionizing Radiation (by Chaplain Tim)

Radiation Terminology for Dummies

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

PREVIOUSLY: Preventing Radiation Sickness for Dummies

We're almost done with the "Radioactivity for Dummies" series. I've talked about why ionizing radiation is bad and how to prevent it, but sometimes you can't keep it off you.

Before I can explain about doses, though, you need to know the terms that measure radiation -- and there are a lot of them.

Becquerel (Bq)
The becquerel measures rate of decay -- how often a radioactive substance releases ionizing radiation. This is known as specific activity and is why the word "active" is in "radioactive". 1 Bq equals 1 release per second per gram of substance.

This is not to be confused with counts per second, which is how often a measuring device (like a geiger counter) detects the radioactive emission. This is an important distinction; the closer to a radioactive substance a geiger counter is, the higher its counts per second will go, but the substance's rate of decay will not change.

The Becquerel does not measure how dangerous a radioactive substance is; it only measures its activity.

3.7 x 10^10 Bq = 1 curie.

Curie (Ci)
Like the Becquerel, the Curie measures the rate of decay of a radioactive substance. Unlike the Becquerel, it is a much higher number; 1 curie equals 37 billion becquerels, or 37 Gigabecquerels (GBq). This is largely due to the fact that scientific instruments were much less sensitive when it was introduced (1953) than the later Becquerel (1975).

This unit has fallen out of favor and is rarely used.

For the curious, 1 Ci is roughly equal to the specific activity of 1 gram of Radium-226 (the most common form the element).

1 Ci = 37,000,000,000 Bq.

Gray (Gy)

This unit measures absorbed dose -- in other words, how many "energy units" of ionizing radiation a certain mass of matter absorbs. 1 gray equals 1 joule of energy deposited into one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of a material.

To put that in terms you will understand, one joule (J) is the energy needed to lift one medium-sized tomato one meter off the ground. It is also the energy released when that same tomato is dropped and strikes the ground.

Since grays only measure the amount of energy absorbed and not the biological effects of it, preppers will not find much use for it. Far more useful for our purposes is the sievert, below.

1 Gy = 100 rads.

Rad
This is an acronym for Radiation Absorbed Dose, and just like the Gray it measures absorbed dose. It has been supplanted by the gray, but some countries (like the USA) still use it.

100 rads = 1 Gy.
1 rad = 0.01 Gy. (10 milligray, or mGy).

Rem 

Another acronym, this time for Roentgen Equivalent Man. An older unit that has fallen out of favor, it has been replaced by the sievert except in the USA. 

One rem equals a 0.055% chance of eventually developing cancer. 20 rems therefore equal a 1.1% chance of cancer. 

1 Sv = 100 rem.

1 rem = 0.01 Sv (10 millisieverts, mSv).

1 rem = 1 rad (gamma) or (beta)
1 rem = 0.1 rad (neutron)
1 rem = 0.05 rad (alpha)

See Radiation Q factors, below, for an explanation of why rems vary.

Roentgen (R)
A largely useless unit, it measures the ionization of molecules in a mass of air by gamma or x-rays. It only describes gamma or x-rays, and only in air, which is why it is largely useless; absorbed dose is more useful to know.

That said, 1 R = 0.877 rads = 0.877 rem = 0.00877 Sv = 8.77 mSv

The good news is that you rarely need to know this information. The bad news is that if you hear it, it's likely being used to describe exposure to a nuclear detonation or an extinction-level event known as a gamma-ray burst.

Sievert (Sv)
Sieverts measure equivalent dose, which is the probability of cancer or genetic damage within a human body. The more sieverts a body absorbs, the higher the likelihood of damage to that body. 

However, not all forms of ionizing radiation have the same biological effects, even if the doses are identical. To determine the equivalent dose, you multiply the absorbed dose (Gy) by a quality factor (Q) that is unique to the type of incident radiation. Gy * Q = Sv.

Radiation Q Factors

• Alpha radiation: Q factor 20
• Neutron radiation: Q factor 10
• X-ray, gamma, or beta radiation: Q factor 1

In other words, you're better off absorbing a dose of gamma radiation than absorbing the same dose of alpha radiation. Fortunately, alpha radiation is easy to block. 

More information about sieverts, including a handy chart, are in my first post on this topic. 

1 Sv = 100 rem.

Therefore, assuming gamma rays:

1 Gy = 10 Sv = 10000 mSv = 1000 rem = 1000 rad 

For non-gamma radiation, multiply by the Q factor.


NEXT: Radiation Doses for Dummies

Preventing Radiation Sickness for Dummies

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

PREVIOUSLY: Ionizing Radiation for Dummies

I'm not going to sugar coat this: if you absorb a high enough dose of ionizing radiation, you're going to die. The only thing doctors can do is pump you full of painkillers so that your last moments aren't spent in agony

A smaller dosage can be treated with blood transfusions, antibiotics (to keep bacteria from overwhelming your damaged immune system), and administration of binding agents. In some situations, bone marrow transplants may help.*

But all of this is rather academic, since "Go to the hospital to be treated by professionals" isn't practical in most of the post-SHTF scenarios that preppers plan for. Fortunately, there are things you can do to prevent acute radiation poisoning in the first place.

1) Keep It Off and Out of You
As I mentioned in Ionizing Radiation for Dummies, Alpha and Beta particles are not especially penetrating and can be stopped by skin or thick clothing. Since you won't know what kind of radiation you may be exposed to in an incident, the best course of action is to assume the worse but hope for the best.

If you are affected by a radiation emergency:

1. Seek shelter immediately. The more matter you have between you and the radiation, the safer you are. 
2. If you are unable to find shelter, cover as much skin as possible with as much clothing as you can safely wear (i.e. do not wear winter coats in the summer for more than a few minutes)
3. Take special care to cover your hands, nose and mouth, and eyes. Although not ideal, gloves, sunglasses, and a shemagh or handkerchief tied over your face will work in this case. 
• Why do this? Because while radiation on your skin is bad, radiation inside your body is far worse. 
4. If you have an open wound, cover it immediately. 

Once safe, you must decontaminate yourself.

1. Remove all outer clothing and place it in a bag or bin that is clearly marked as containing hazardous materials; the last thing you want to do is track it inside. 
2. Wash yourself in warm soapy water, and shampoo your hair (but do not use conditioner; this will cause radioactive particles or contaminants to bind to your hair).
1. Do not scrub vigorously! The last thing you want to do is irritate your skin or open a wound that allows contaminants inside your body.
2. If you have a bandaged wound, waterproof it (a coating of vaseline or duct tape will do) before showering. Replace the bandage after the shower. 
3. If you do not have access to a shower, wash as best you can; soap and water in a sink, or even a simple wet wipe if that is all you have. 
4. Blow your nose to remove any contamination you may have inhaled. 
5. These simple steps will remove 95% of all radioactive contamination. (However, if you've been exposed to ionizing gamma, x-ray, or neutron radiation, none of this will help; but see below. 

As a point of interest, these procedures are also the same for preventing radiation exposure from radioactive fallout, as illustrated in this video: 

A printable PDF of this information is here. 

For more information on decontamination, go to this Radiation Emergency Medical Management page. Decontaminating wounds is here; decontamination of children, the elderly, pregnant women and others is here.

2) Prevent Internal Contamination

If you have followed all of the above steps, then ideally you have prevented radioactive particles or particulates from entering your body... but we do not live in an ideal world. Fortunately, there are chemical agents you can take to prevent uptake of contamination, or flush it from your body. 

Potassium Iodide (KI)

This prevents the thyroid (a gland necessary for survival) from absorbing radioactive iodine. A single Potassium iodide pill "fills up" the thyroid with non-radioactive iodine, rendering it unable to absorb radioactive iodine for 24 hours. 

KI can be bought on Amazon for as little as $8.20 for 14 tablets (a week's worth of of protection). 

Prussian Blue

This binds to radioactive cesium and thallium, preventing it from being absorbed by the body and allowing it to be expelled through defecation. 

While it is available in a 500 mg pill under the name Radiogardase, it is not available in the United States without a prescription. However, Survivalblog gives instructions on how intrepid preppers can acquire chemically pure Prussian Blue (not the paint pigment!) and put it in gel capsules for personal use. 

DTPA (Diethylenetriamine pentaacetate)

Much like Prussian Blue, DTPA binds to radioactive substances -- in this case plutonium, amercium and curium -- to prevent reuptake and speed its excretion from the body. 

Unfortunately, DTPA is an injection and is not available to average preppers. 

3) Pray

Unfortunately, there isn't anything else to do at this point without access to medical professionals (and if you have such access, you need to get there posthaste). Try and maintain a positive attitude, trust that your efforts were effective, and hope for the best. 

The "good news" about a lethal radiation dose is that you're going to know within 24 hours if you've been exposed or not. The bad news is that you could die quickly, or linger for days. The neutral news is that, as a prepper, you have the choice of going out quickly and painlessly via firearm rather than linger, if that is what you want. I'm not usually one to advocate suicide, but if I'm dying from radiation poisoning I'd rather not linger painfully. 

Footnote

*The actual medical effects and treatments of Acute Radiation Syndrome are beyond the scope of this "for dummies" article; those interested in learning more are encouraged to start with Biological Effects of Radiation and Cutaneous Radiation Injury videos from the CDC, and then move on to what the Merck Manual and the Mayo Clinic say.


NEXT: Radiation Terminology for Dummies

Ionizing Radiation for Dummies

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

PREVIOUSLY: Hard vs. Soft Radiation for Dummies

Weeks ago, I gave a brief overview of radioactivity and why the ionizing radiation it emits is bad. This week is a more in-depth explanation about how ionizing radiation works and how to protect against it.

What It Is
Put simply, ionizing radiation is anything which is strong enough to knock an electron out of an atom's orbit, thus ionizing that atom.

Why This Is Bad
As Chaplain Tim has explained, atoms prefer to exist in a neutral state where the number of positively charged particles in the nucleus (protons) equals the number of negatively charged particles in the orbit (electrons). When neutral atoms gain or lose electrons, they become ions and possess an electrical charge. Since having a charge is the opposite of having a neutral state, these atoms will seek to balance themselves by forming chemical bonds with other atoms While these chemical reactions are fine in nature, they become a problem when the atoms so affected are the ones inside your body.

Remember that you are made of cells, and your cells are programmed by your DNA, and that your DNA (like everything else) is made of atoms. If parts of your DNA atoms are given an electrical charge, they will bond with other atoms to return to a neutral state, which means that your DNA changes. This is bad on a variety of levels, as it can result in such things as cells growing at an accelerated rate (cancer), or parts of your body not working the way they should (leukemia), or your body attacking itself (autoimmune diseases).

Of course, this very nature is why radiation is often used to kill cancers: if you can precisely aim the radiation at the cancer cells, you can destroy their DNA using the same method that turned the cells cancerous in the first place.

Types and How to Protect Against Them
There are several kinds of ionizing radiation.

• Alpha Radiation: A helium nucleus (2 protons, 2 neutrons, no electrons) that is emitted from a larger atom as a result of nuclear decay. 
• Since it lacks electrons it will try to acquire them from other atoms, either by forming bonds or by stripping lone electrons from the highest levels of their shells. 
• Alpha radiation is stopped by something as simple as a piece of paper or your skin, although it can be very dangerous if inhaled or ingested.
• Beta Radiation: A lone electron expelled from an atom as a result of nuclear decay. Because it has much smaller mass, it moves faster and penetrates further than alpha radiation. 
• This electron will try to occupy an empty orbital position within an electron shell, ionizing that atom. 
• Beta radiation is stopped by aluminum foil or thick clothing.
• Gamma and X-ray Radiation: Unlike alpha and beta, gamma radiation is an energy wave.* The main difference between the two is that gamma radiation comes from the nucleus of the atom and x-ray radiation comes from the electron cloud. 
• The energy from these rays will knock electrons from their orbits, which will leave their atoms positively charged. 
• Both forms of this radiation are stopped by dense materials like iron or lead; the denser the material, the thinner it needs to be.
• Neutron Radiation: A lone neutron expelled from a nucleus as the result of atomic decay. 
• This is technically not ionizing radiation because it doesn't affect the electrical charge of an atom it interacts with. Instead, what happens is much nastier: when the free neutron becomes absorbed by another atom's nucleus, it changes that atom's mass, often turning it into a radioactive isotope. 
• All it takes is two free neutrons to be absorbed by a stable carbon atom to turn it into radioactive carbon-14... and 18.5% of your body is carbon. In other words, neutron radiation can turn your body into a radioactive element. 
• Neutron radiation is absorbed by concrete, gravel, and water, and the more of it the better. 
• Delta and Epsilon Radiation: These are secondary and tertiary forms of radiation that are a result of gamma rays or x-rays knocking electrons free. These are relatively insignificant, because if you are shielded against the previous three forms of ionizing radiation, you will also be protected against these. 

https://www.mirion.com/introduction-to-radiation-safety/types-of-ionizing-radiation/

Shielding against x-ray, gamma and neutron radiation isn't an easy fix like with alpha and beta particles. The amount of material needed to reduce a certain intensity of radiation by half is known as the half-value layer, and therefore the greater the intensity the greater the thickness. I did some quick and dirty calculations in my previous blog post and came up with values of 10 feet of water and 12.5 inches concrete or 18 inches packed dirt being sufficient to protect against most such radiation bursts, but I do not guarantee these numbers. If anyone is more inclined to number-crunching, please be my guest; you might find this page to be of use.

What's This About Electron Energy Levels?
This is complex but I'll try to give you the simplified version; perhaps Chaplain Tim will go into more detail later.

Electrons orbit atomic nuclei in in levels (and sublevels, but those are too complex to explain here). These levels form the electron shell (or cloud) around the atoms, and each level has a maximum number of electrons it can accommodate. The larger the atom, the more electrons it has, and these occupy levels starting nearest the nucleus and extend outward. Only the outer level of electrons can be affected by anything, as the outermost level protects the others.

An electron level that is at full capacity is stable and non-reactive; the noble gases are non-reactive because their upper levels are complete. However, a level that is incomplete is always looking to complete it, either by capturing other electrons (often through ionic bonding with other atoms, such as how hydrogen bonds with two oxygen atoms) or by giving up single electrons that exist in the highest level. In the latter case, once the lone electron disappears, that energy level essentially 'disappears' and the atom now has a stable electron shell.


Footnote
* Technically, both gamma and x-rays are high-energy photons, and because of the double-slit experiment photons are simultaneously particles AND waves. This is known as wave-particle duality, No, I don't know how this is; like much of quantum physics, it simply is and you either accept it or you go mad.

In fact, it's now theorized  that all subatomic particles are waves to some extent. Electrons definitely have some characteristics of particles and some of waves, and at least one researcher believes that atoms are waves -- essentially, waves of matter.

TL;DR quantum mechanics is confusing. It's not truly important whether or not ionizing radiation is a particle or a wave, as it's bad for you regardless.


NEXT: Preventing Radiation Sickness for Dummies