If I understand correctly, water is heated up in a reactor, goes through a turbine and in turn creates energy. How exactly does it cause radiation?
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Radiation can actually mean many things:
– electromagnetic radiation: it’s just like light, but int the case of nuclear energy, it’s much more powerful and can mess up DNA and other stuff in the body. It’s created when the atom splits and create a lot of energy, in large part into this kind of radiation. It’s kind of hard to stop (can go through wall and stuff)
– alpha and beta radiation: they are bits of the atom (respectively helium nucleus and electron) that are shot out of the atom when it splits, and can also break DNA and stuff inside you. But it’s much easier to stop (alpha can be stop by your skin, beta by aluminum foil). Not much of a problem unless very powerful or you ingested something radioactive.
– neutron radiation: also bits that are shot out of the atom, but instead of messing with you directly, it can turn other materials into radiative materials, including all the stuff the reactor is made of. It’s also how the reaction keeps going.
Also, reactor (and bombs) can release radioactive materials (materials that emit any radiation above). They’re actually what’s most dangerous, since radiation is not a problem if you’re not rear the reactor (like, right in the building). But if radioactive material escape, they can get everywhere, including in the food chain or water. If you ingest them, you’ll get irradiated directly from the inside, especially if your body keeps the material instead of flushing it (via n°1 or n°2) like with iode for exemple.
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