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fuel cycle will be plutonium-239 which has a 24,400 year half7 ee ae
life.
In other words, in 240,000 years the inventory of this
hazardous material would be reduced by only a factor of 1000.
@ue to natural radioactive decay:
This material must be
isolated from the environment in perpetuity.
III.
Existing Standards for Plutonium Exposure
Radiation exposure standards have been established
because radiation is known to produce cancer and genetic
mutations in individuals irradiated.
The mutations can
in turn cause .genetic defects in subseguent generations.
The intent of the exposure standards is to limit this biological
damage.
The magnitude of the biological effect has been
shown to be related to the radiation dose.
dose the greater the effect.
Therefore,
The higher the
the primary radia-
tion exposure standard is one that limits the radiaticn
dose.
This primary standard is generally referred to as the
maximum permissible dose and is given in units of ren/yr.
We shall discuss the nature of this unit subsequently.
~
. ‘An individual can be exposed to radiation from sources
that are external to his body as, for example, an X-ray
machine or from radionuclides which emit X-ray like radiation
deposited on the ground (this occurred with fallout from
nuclear weapon tests).
Alternately, an individual can he