Until recently, radiation dose calculations primarily focused on human tolerance, but research shows that nonhuman organisms may be more sensitive to radiation than humans. In the past few years, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) has been developing a set of Reference Animals and Plants to assess radiation effects on nonhuman species. Casey King, Mario Gomez, Thomas Iverson, and Junwei Jia in the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics focused their senior project on developing dose conversion factors for honeybees (genus Apis). Continue reading
Tag Archives: NERHP
Vibrations testing facility
Flow-induced vibrations can have devastating consequences. For example, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington collapsed when strong winds induced vibrations that matched the natural frequency of the bridge. In California, Edison International decided to permanently shut down the nearly new San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station after vibrations in the steam generator caused alloy tubes to rub against each other, resulting in leakage and unsafe operating conditions. Continue reading