Public interest in radioactive aerosols began in the mid-1950s, when world-wide fallout of fission products from bomb tests was first observed. The H-bomb test at Bikini Atoll in 1954 had tragic consequences for the Japanese fisherman, and the inhabitants of the Ronge-lap Atoll, who were in the path of the fallout. In 1957, radio-iodine and other fission products, released in the accident to the Windscale reactor, were tracked over much of Europe, and these events were repeated on a much larger scale after the Chernobyl accident.
Everyone learns from their mistakes, but, in the nuclear industry, it was also the policy from the start to anticipate trouble by calculating the probable consequences of exposure to radioactive materials. Various pathways of exposure had to be considered, including radiation from radioactive clouds and from fallout on the ground, activity inhaled and activity entering via food chains.
Over the last 40 years, Harwell Laboratory has contributed in one way or another to the study of radioactive aerosols, both in its theoretical and practical aspects. Also, aerosols have been used experimentally, particularly in the study of the interaction between airborne gases or particles and the surfaces over which they travel. Transfer to surfaces across boundary layers, whether near the ground or in the human lung, is an essential part of the pathway of entry of aerosols into the human body, and the concepts are relevant to other problems.
Contents