Radioisotopes In

Smoke Alarms and

Nuclear Waste
C AM E R ON H U R L EY

Types Of Radiation
There are three main types of nuclear radiation, alpha, beta and gamma. Here are
the properties of alpha, beta and gammaALPHA

BETA

GAMMA

Nature

Helium particle2 neutrons & 2

protons

Fast moving
electron

Short
wavelength of
electromagneti
c radiation

Charge

+2 elementary
charge

-1 elementary
charge

Uncharged

Ionising

Strong

Weak

Very Weak

Penetration

Few cm in air

Few meters in
air

Never
completely
absorbed

Are Smoke Alarms Dangerous?

Radioisotopes are used in many areas of science and technology like medical devices,
nuclear power, nuclear weapon and archaeological dating. A lot of people realize that
radiation can be harmful for your health, however a lot of people dont realize that they
have radioactive sources in their home like smoke alarms.
Most smoke alarms contain an artificially produced radioisotope of Americium-241.
Americium-241 is a radioactive substance, so why is it used in smoke alarms?
Smoke alarms are important devices that help to save lives in an emergency when a fire
occurs. There are two main types of smoke alarms, first one uses radioactive material to in
an ionization chamber which causes a steady electric current to flow. If smoke is detected
the chamber changes the electric current level which triggers an alarm. These smoke
alarms contain americium-241 in them, and are more common because they arent too
expensive.
The other type doesnt use radioactive materials, instead it uses
a photoelectric sensor to detect the changes of light levels caused
by smoke.

Americium: Profile
Americium was discovered in 1945 during the Manhattan Project in the USA, and
when plutonium was bombarded with neutrons in a nuclear reactor in the University
of Chicago.
Facts of Americium-241
Americium has a half life of 432.7 years
Americium-241 was the first isotope of Americium to be discovered.
Americium-214 decays into Neptunium-237, though Alpha decay and Gamma
decay

Plutonium-241 decays into Americium-241, through Beta decay

One gram of Americium is enough for three million smoke detectors

Am 241

What is a Half-Life?

The half life of Americium 241 is

432.7 years, so it take 432.7 years
before Americium 241 decays,
than a further 432.7 years until
of that sample decays, which is
the same as saying it takes 865.4
years until of the original
Americium 241 has decayed. And
this
pattern
continues
until
eventually all of the Americium
has decayed into Neptunium 237.

Half Life

Half life is the time it takes for a

each single atom to have a 50%
chance of decaying.

432.7

865.4

Years

1298.
1

1730.
8

Can Smoke Alarm Affect Your

Health?
Smoke alarm are safe to have in your home, even though there is radiation in smoke alarms, it
is also everywhere else, the food we eat, the air we breathe, known as background radiation.
The dose we receive from a smoke alarm at a distance of one meter is one thousandth of the
radiation we receive from the background radiation in Australia. So thats 0.002 millisieverts.
The radioactive source is extremely insoluble so if swallowed would not be absorbed by the
body but instead pass straight through the digestive system. But still it would be wise not to eat
your smoke alarm.
Even in a fire the radiation from the smoke alarm would not become an inhalation hazard unless
the temperature is at or above 1200 degrees. The average fire wont get over about 600
degrees.
If you want to dispose of a smoke alarm it is safe to do so in the domestic rubbish bin because
the level of radiation being emitted isnt dangerous. But if for some reason you want to dispose
of more than 10 smoke alarms at one time it must be treated as radioactive waste.

How Much Radiation Will Kill You?

It all depends on how the dose you receive, dose is
measured in Sieverts.
0.01 Sieverts are absorbed the dosage is still pretty
safe
0.1 Sieverts are absorbed no immediate health affects
may occur, however your chance of getting cancer may
be increased
1 Sievert are absorbed it can cause some health effects
occur however you are most likely to recover from
them, but once again your chances of getting cancer
10 Sievert are absorbed is going to cause immediate
health affects and will lead to death

What is Nuclear Waste?

Nuclear waste is material that nuclear fuel becomes after it is used in a reactor. What does it look like?
It looks like the fuel that was loaded into the reactor. However even know it looks similar the contents
aren't completely the same. Before power was made the fuel consisted of mostly Uranium or Thorium,
oxygen and steel but afterwards the Uranium atoms spilt into various forms of Uranium isotopes.
Doing this create nuclear waste, which is dangerous and radioactive and can remain radioactive for
thousands of years. It so radioactive that if you stood within a few meters of one while it was
unshielded you would receive a high and lethal amount of radioactive dose in a few seconds which is
very serious because it can lead to things like acute radiation sickness which will kill a person within a
few days

So knowing how dangerous the waste is, it made sure to never

be unshielded and is kept underwater for a few years until the
radiation decays to levels that are safe to be shielded by
concrete in large storage casks.

Different Types of Nuclear Waste?

Nuclear radiation can commonly be put into one of the following four groups:
Exempt waste & very low level waste-this type contains radioactive materials which contain
a level considered as not harmful to people of the environment around. It can be produced from
food processing companies, chemical companies and steel companies.
Low level waste-contains a small amount of short-lived radioactive materials. It doesnt require
shielding and is normally incinerated before being buried. Materials can include some items from
a hospitable like their tools or clothing.
Intermediate level waste-materials that contain higher amounts of radioactivity and requires
shielding. Includes such things as chemical sludge's, metal fuel of cladding. When disposing of
items from this level it can be done though by being solidified in concrete or bitumen.
High level waste-contains fission products and transuranic elements generated from a reactors
core. Can arise from situations like getting uranium fuel from a reactor. This level is highly
radioactive so shielding and cooling MUST be used. High level waste come in two main forms 1)
the fuel itself or 2) waste from reprocessing the used fuel.

What to do with Nuclear Waste?

Currently most of the nuclear waste being created is being stored in underwater fuel pools, this
is because water is a great shield for nuclear waste. And its then planned that hopefully this
waste will end up stored deep underground.
Other methods include Recycling Nuclear Waste. Because nuclear waste is made up with 90%
of Uranium this Uranium from the waste can then be reused for more fuel because it still
contains that 90% of Uranium. This can be done by chemically processing the waste in
advanced fast reactors. Currently France and Japan some of the only countries who recycle
their waste, however they only recycle once before disposing of the waste anyway. A downside
is that recycling this waste can sometimes lead to creating Plutonium which is used in making
nuclear weapons.
Alternatively we could use Thorium as a fuel, this would mean switching from a
Uranium/Plutonium based fuel to a Thorium/Uranium based fuel. Doing so will allow recycling
to occur without creating any Plutonium.

Glossary
Sievert-the measurement of dose equivalent of radiation
Photoelectric sensor-a device that detects the presence of an object by using a light
transmitter
Half Life-the time it takes for of a sample of radioisotopes to decay
Nuclear Waste-is waste material that is radioactive
Transuranic-an element with a higher atomic number then Uranium
Solidified-To make something become hard or soild

Bibliography
PICTURES
I am Americium-http://sciencepark.etacude.com/lzone/elements/chemical_symbol.php
Americium Decay- uwlbrachyclass0809.wikifoundry.com
Americium Graph- Decay- www2.lbl.gov
Alpha, Beta, Gamma Peneratraion- http://blogs.agu.org/wildwildscience/2009/09/01/how-much-radiationNuclear Reactor-http-//www.lookfordiagnosis.com/mesh_info.php?term=Nuclear+Reactors&lang=1
Sievert Pic-sok.riksarkivet.se/sbl/Presentation.aspx?id=5905
WEBSITES
Mental Floss-http://mentalfloss.com/article/32142/how-do-smoke-alarms-work
Radiation Answers- http://www.radiationanswers.org/radiation-and-me/effects-of-radiation.html
Why Stuff Works- whystuffworks.com/home-improvement/household-safety/fire/smoke.html
World Nuclear Association- http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/non-power-nuclear-applications/radioisotopes/smoke-detectors-and-americium/
Australian Radiation Protection And Nuclear Saftey Agency- http://www.arpansa.gov.au/radiationprotection/factsheets/is_smokedetector.cfm
Blogosphere- does-it-take-to-kill-you/
What is Nuclear.com-http://www.whatisnuclear.com/articles/waste.html
World Nuclear Association-http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-wastes/radioactive-waste-management/