Radiation Damage - Causes

Causes

This radiation may take several forms:

• Cosmic rays and subsequent energetic particles caused by their collision with the atmosphere and other materials.
• Radioactive daughter products (radioisotopes) caused by the collision of cosmic rays with the atmosphere and other materials, including living tissues.
• Energetic particle beams from a particle accelerator.
• Energetic particles or electro-magnetic radiation (X rays) released from collisions of such particles with a target, as in an X ray machine or incidentally in the use of a particle accelerator.
• Particles or various types of rays released by radioactive decay of elements, which may be naturally occurring, created by accelerator collisions, or created in a nuclear reactor. They may be manufactured for therapeutic or industrial use or be released accidentally by nuclear accident, or released sententially by a dirty bomb, or released into the atmosphere, ground, or ocean incidental to the explosion of a nuclear weapon for warfare or nuclear testing.