- Joined
- Oct 18, 2013
- Messages
- 929
- Points
- 83
I think some of big things that makes so many people afraid of nuclear technology, is that firstly, its completely undetectable by human senses (unless you get dosed with enough that your organs start melting), and its really poorly understood. Unless you take the completely optional physics and/or chemistry classes in highschool, there isn't really much teaching about how ionizing radiation works. For the most part, when people hear about radiation or anything nuclear, its in the news, usually because a reactor blew up or because North Korea was testing bombs again. So a lot of people only know that radiation is invisible and can kill.
Case and point, a couple months ago at college, I was doing a photography project with some nice old uranium glass cups, and I brought them in to the school studio (they have lots of blacklights to use), and one of my classmates asked me what makes them glow, and she freaked out when I told her there was a tiny bit of uranium in the glass. I had to assure her several times that they are barely radioactive, and that people used to eat and drink off the stuff without ill effect.
Really, radioactive materials aren't any more dangerous than explosives, or toxic materials. If you store and handle them properly and safely in the manner required, they won't harm anyone.
Like with many things, educating people better on the subject is key.
Case and point, a couple months ago at college, I was doing a photography project with some nice old uranium glass cups, and I brought them in to the school studio (they have lots of blacklights to use), and one of my classmates asked me what makes them glow, and she freaked out when I told her there was a tiny bit of uranium in the glass. I had to assure her several times that they are barely radioactive, and that people used to eat and drink off the stuff without ill effect.
Really, radioactive materials aren't any more dangerous than explosives, or toxic materials. If you store and handle them properly and safely in the manner required, they won't harm anyone.
Like with many things, educating people better on the subject is key.