Background radiation is a measure of the level of ionizing radiation present in the environment at a particular location which is not due to deliberate introduction of radiation sources.
The weather station outside of the Atomic Testing Museum on a hot summer day. Displayed background gamma radiation level is 9.8 μR/h (0.82 mSv/a) This is very close to the world average background radiation of 0.87 mSv/a from cosmic and terrestrial sources.
Cloud chambers used by early researchers first detected cosmic rays and other background radiation. They can be used to visualize the background radiation
Displays showing ambient radiation fields of 0.120–0.130 μSv/h (1.05–1.14 mSv/a) in a nuclear power plant. This reading includes natural background from cosmic and terrestrial sources.
Environmental radioactivity
Environmental radioactivity is produced by radioactive materials in the human environment. While some radioisotopes, such as strontium-90 (90Sr) and technetium-99 (99Tc), are only found on Earth as a result of human activity, and some, like potassium-40 (40K), are only present due to natural processes, a few isotopes, e.g. tritium (3H), result from both natural processes and human activities. The concentration and location of some natural isotopes, particularly uranium-238 (238U), can be affected by human activity.
The contributions made by the different isotopes to the dose (in air) caused in the contaminated area in the time shortly after the accident. This image was drawn using data from the OECD report, the Korean table of the isotopes and the second edition of 'The radiochemical manual'.
