Nuclear Power - Part 2

So why is it that everyone is so afraid of radioactivity?  Is it really that harmful? What's the risk?

Well the short answer is that at high levels, yes, radioactivity can be harmful. The reason behind that is this - when a nucleus decays (breaks apart), it splits into two smaller atoms and can also shoot out other small particles such as electrons, neutrons, and photons (called gamma particles in this case). These particles can be absorbed into other atoms, causing some change in that atom.

So the thing that makes radiation potentially dangerous is that if a radiation particle were to hit one of the atoms in your DNA, it could change that atom into something else and thus change your DNA. Hence the myth that radiation causes people to grow extra arms and eyes.

Now before everybody panics that their DNA is being mutated, it's important to note that radiation is nothing new to the human body.  There is radioactive carbon in the air, as well as radioactive tritium.  Bananas contain radioactive potassium.  The sun is showering us with nuclear particles, be we under a roof or not.  In fact, you are hit by about 15 THOUSAND radioactive particles every second!

The reason we don't all drop dead is that the chance of one of those particles actually causing damage is minute (your chances of winning the big jackpot lottery are literally BILLIONS of times higher than the chance that one of these particles will harm you.)  Not to mention that cells are usually able to fix altered or damaged DNA.

So in short, don't go jump into a nuclear reactor, but if the world's energy starts to go nuclear, don't blow up about it.