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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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A better model? Low levels of radiation and health effects
One of the more pivotal issues in facilitating the use of radiation sources—including nuclear power—in the United States (and most of the Western world) is concern about the health effects of low levels of radiation. The current regulatory assumption is that every additional increment of radiation linearly increases the risk of cancer.
D. Ferenc, B. Antolković, G. Paić, M. Zadro, S. Blagus
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 101 | Number 1 | January 1989 | Pages 1-7
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE89-A23590
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A metallic 9Be target was bombarded with 14.6-MeV neutrons. Double-differential cross sections were measured for the (n, α) reaction in the angular range from 0 to 100 deg. The measured alpha-particle spectra and complementary neutron spectra from the literature were analyzed in terms of a combination of sequential and simultaneous breakups. The results show that ∼50% of the total inelastic cross section is due to simultaneous breakup n + 9Be → n + α + 5He, while the remainder is mainly due to neutron inelastic scattering to the three excited states of 9Be: 2.43, 6.76, and 11.28 MeV. This analysis gives evidence of the validity of the constant matrix element model and contradicts evaluations that ignore the simultaneous breakup contributions.