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| How much radiation should to expect to get? |
One of the considerations I have heard about joining the Navy’s nuclear program is the quantity of radiation absorbed during your time in the propulsion plant.
The experts say you will take in more by the nature of the job description then the normal civilian. What is not as well known is the amount of energy you and I absorb living on the planet earth on a daily basis.
On average a person absorbs 360 millirem (mrem) of radiation every year. The exposure is broken down into human and background sources. Human generated emissions comprise x-rays, consumer products, for example televisions, older luminous dial watches and some smoke detectors. Industrial sources are counted as being generated by humans and include radiography which is used to test pipe welds. Background sources contain cosmic radiation, which comes from the sun and outer space, in the earth's crust, and finally, from the human body, for example, the natural radio-nuclides Potassium 40 present in human tissue.
The radiation from the earth in the ground comes from rocks, building materials and drinking water supplies. Radon gas is by far the largest health hazard. The gas is formed from the decay of natural uranium in soil.
During my time as a Reactor Operator the ELT’s used Thermal luminescence dosimeters (TLD’s) to measure the rays absorbed by each nuke on a monthly basis. I do not have a recollection of my totals but I am sure it did not exceed 50 mrem a year for any of the years I was a Reactor Operator. And I was in Reactor Controls (RC) division who on occasion went into the reactor compartment after shutdowns to perform maintenance.
In summary, you will receive more exposure with respect to the mrems received from the environment. The incremental amount will be relatively small. I could make the argument if your orders wind up sending you to a submarine averaging 250 days of the year underway will reduce you exposure further. Do anyone worry about the radiation they pick up while going to the beach on a sunny day. Therefore, if you decide not to through the nuclear pipeline there are more valid reasons than concerns about exposure. Some of which will be covered in future posts.
