Answer to Question #11563 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

Category: Environmental and Background Radiation

The following question was answered by an expert in the appropriate field:

Q

Should I worry about higher background radiation in the next three years? I've read some scary threads on the Internet.

A

Given the vast amount of misinformation about radiation on the web and in the media, it's no wonder that you are concerned. But the fact is that reports of increased background radiation are incorrect—there is no reason to expect that background radiation has increased recently or will increase in coming years.

Normal background radiation varies, sometimes widely, from place to place and even from season to season. For more information on environmental background radiation, see the Health Physics Society's Environmental Radiation fact sheet.

Many websites and bloggers are just plain wrong about background radiation levels. For example, I know of one website that compares measurements made by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to "normal" background levels measured by an instrument called a Digilert 100. It's not clear from the instrument manufacturer's website, but these "normal" levels may be instrument background readings, which are not the same as environmental background radiation levels. Furthermore, this is most certainly not the same instrument used by the EPA for their measurements. So the website is comparing apples to oranges, and the comparison is misleading.

Perhaps you have been reading scary reports about radiation releases from the Fukushima nuclear reactor accident in Japan. For accurate information on Fukushima releases, please see the Health Physics Society's The Fukushima Accident and the Radioactivity in the United States from Japanese Nuclear Plants frequently asked questions.

Or maybe you have read about an accident at the US Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Accurate information on this accident is available on the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant website. The investigation reports indicate that radioactive materials released from WIPP were a tiny fraction of background radioactivity, so small that the resulting doses to the public would not be measurable.

Rest assured that US and international regulatory agencies enforce strict limits on the amount of radioactive materials that nuclear facilities can release—limits that are fully protective of the workers and the public. Radioactive releases from these facilities would not be large enough to affect background radiation levels.

Linnea Wahl, CHP

Ask the Experts is posting answers using only SI (the International System of Units) in accordance with international practice. To convert these to traditional units we have prepared a conversion table. You can also view a diagram to help put the radiation information presented in this question and answer in perspective. Explanations of radiation terms can be found here.
Answer posted on 4 April 2016. The information posted on this web page is intended as general reference information only. Specific facts and circumstances may affect the applicability of concepts, materials, and information described herein. The information provided is not a substitute for professional advice and should not be relied upon in the absence of such professional advice. To the best of our knowledge, answers are correct at the time they are posted. Be advised that over time, requirements could change, new data could be made available, and Internet links could change, affecting the correctness of the answers. Answers are the professional opinions of the expert responding to each question; they do not necessarily represent the position of the Health Physics Society.