The article presents the application of nuclear technologies in agriculture, medicine and industry. The numerical characteristics of the nuclear technologies in the US economy are presented. The general concepts of sterilizing medical equipment with radiation, the principles of drug testing using radioisotopes, as well as the diagnostic techniques are discussed. The therapeutic application of radiation for cancer treatment and arteria-venous malformation are described. In agriculture, radiation is applied for higher crop production, to improve animal health, and eradicate the pests. The industrial application of radiation are process control, plant diagnostics, material development and testing (Waltar, 2003).
The article opens a wide variety of radioactivity applications, which is much further the common nuclear energy. The radioactivity or radioisotopes are applied due to their specific properties and high sensitivity of the radioactive waves (and energy) detection. For instance, the ability of gamma rays to destroy the cells is used to kill microorganisms and cancer cells; this is the application for sterilization of medical equipment and cancer treatment. The highly-sensitive diagnostic techniques are used for drug testing and diagnostic. A person takes a drug with radioactive marker, and its radiation is detected by the specific equipment. Thus, the distribution of isotope in organs and tissues is studied. This is used to study the properties of the new drugs or to diagnose the functional changes in organs and tissues. The practice radioactivity proved to be highly effective (Waltar, 2003).
However, when radioactivity is applied for medical, agricultural or industrial purposes, the safety is the major concern. The careful dose calculation of the personnel at production, distribution, and application of the radioactive materials has to be performed, and the dose limits have to be kept. The dose that people receive from medicine-related sources should be thoroughly controlled. The effect of radiation application has to be more significant than the dose received.
References
Waltar, A. E. (2003). The Medical, Agricultural, and Industrial Applications of Nuclear Technology. Global. Retrieved from http://www.laradioactivite.com/site/pages/RadioPDF/Waltar.pdf
