I recently went down a virtual rabbit hole on the “Demon Core” incidents in the late 1940’s and it got me thinking about protective equipment in regards to dealing with radiation. How does it work? Are there certain materials or designs that are more effective than others?
Apologies in advance if this has already been answered.
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When speaking of radiation there are generally three types of harmful radiation from radioactive minerals we talk about. Alpha radiation causes the most damage but can be stopped by something as light as skin. Beta radiation is less harmful but will be stopped by a concrete or lead wall. And gamma radiation is the least harmful but is generally impossible to stop. The demon core emitted mostly gamma radiation so the only thing that helped was distance from it.
But there are a lot of radioactive minerals which emit alpha radiation, and these might be generated in nuclear processes. While these particles are generally harmless to handle as the radiation have a hard time getting past your outer layers of skin you do not want them to enter your body at all. Even just getting some of this dust sticking to your skin can be enough to cause focused areas of radiation poisoning. These are the types of materials used as radioactive poisons for assassinations as it is harmless for those handling it but lethal for those eating it or breathing it inn. The biohazard protective clothing will help prevent people from getting into contact with these materials. Similarly removing clothing and taking showers are methods used to remove radioactive materials from someone who have been exposed to them.
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