- Safety precautions undermined
- Cutbacks on proper equipment
- Reliance on new technology
- Radiation has many benefits
- Radiation should be used safely
RADIATION = HAZARD
USE WITH CAUTION
- Medical Imaging
- Cancer Treatment
- Research and Industrial Applications
- Food Sterilization
- Consumer Products
- Safety and Security
- Spacecraft Power Supply
- Electric Power Generation
- Therac-25 released in 1983 by AECL
- Katy Yarbrough overdosed with 20,000 rads
- AECL identifies turntable faulty, adds coding
- Overdose incidents persist despite fix
- Physicist Dr. Fritz Hager recreates error message
- FDA declares Therac-25 defective, demands action plan
- Multiple lawsuits lead to closure of medical department
Radiation Saved My Grandpa
- Diagnosed at 26
- Hodgkin's Lymphoma Cancer
- Surgery + Radiotherapy
- Full remission
Radiation Therapy Benefits
- Cancer treatment that targets the tumor
- Radiation kills cancer cells more than normal cells
- Can be standalone or paired with other treatments
- Cost-effective
- Painless treatment option
- Therac-25 software coded by one person
- Absence of hardware fail-safes
- AECL reluctant to investigate early complaints
- Too late testing for software errors
Why
fear
JCO Nuclear Criticality Accident
Unraveling the Myths
- Stainless steel buckets used instead of safety-designed vessels
- JCO neglects safety due to financial troubles
- Illegal procedures since at least 1996
- Workers unable to recognize meaning of the blue light
- Lack of education contributed to severity of situation
- September 30, 1999
- Enriched uranium overdose causes critical mass
- Two workers suffer acute radiation sickness
- Paramedics unaware, receive radiation exposure
- Uses radiation for medical imaging
- Invented by William Conrad Röntgen in 1895
- Less invasive than previous methods
- Offers reliable and accurate examinations
- Was cost efficient
- Became widely used and accepted
Why Can Radiation Seem Scary?
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Powerplant Accident
- "Deadly Force" (Lee)
- Atomic Bomb
- Radiation Poisoning
- Disasters
X RAYS -
Medical Imaging, Nanotech, and Industrial Testing
GAMMA RAYS -
Radiotherapy, PET, and Sterilization
“We’re All Radioactive – so Let’s Stop Being Afraid of It.” Bangor University, 11 Feb. 2022, www.bangor.ac.uk/news/2022-02-11-were-all-radioactive-so-lets-stop-being-afraid-of-it. Accessed 7 Apr. 2024.
ELECTRON BEAMS -
Radiotherapy, Environmental Clean-up, and Power Generation
- March 11, 2011
- Triggered by earthquake and tsunami
- Three reactors meltdown
- Contaminated environment, ocean, and coastal areas
HUMAN ERROR
- Lacked protection from disasters
- No contingency plan
- Collapse of chain of command
- No leadership or responsibility
- Delayed crisis management