Abstract

With increasing use of nuclear energy for various purposes all over the world, there is a growing debate over its ill-effects. Biological effects of radiation are dependent on the dose of radiation to which a person is exposed, dose rate of exposure, distance from radiation source, shielding and type of radiation and also type of cells and tissues being exposed with the most critically affected tissues in adults being the spermatocytes in the testis, haematopoietic precursor cells in the bone marrow and crypt cells in the intestines.

Radiation injury can manifest early after the exposure, known as Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS) or after a latent period of many months to years. Classic clinical syndromes associated with ARS include the Haematopoietic, Gastrointestinal, and Cerebrovascular (formerly known as cardiovascular and central nervous) syndromes with local radiation injury presenting as Cutaneous Syndrome (CS). Four phases may be identified in ARS- Prodromal Phase, Latent Phase, Stage of Manifest Illness and Death or Recovery Phase. Long term effects of exposure include cancers, genetic damage and cataracts.

As controlled experiments regarding radiation exposure are neither feasible nor ethical, sources of information are the various disasters as the atomic bomb detonations in Japan (in the second world war), Chernobyl reactor explosion, Fukushima disaster (post-tsunami & following earthquake) in Japan and Mayapuri (Delhi, India) cobalt leak being some of them.

Key words: Radiation injuries; health hazards; nuclear energy; radiation protection.