Question

Summer I1 4 Consider a city of 1 million inhabitants. (a) How many of these will at some point die of "natural" cancer? (b) Suppose a radiation accident nearby is releasing radioactivity into the atmosphere of the city. How large a dose of radiation per person would cause an additional ten thousand deaths from cancer among the population? What assumption are you making in that calculation?) (c) Suppose that amount of radiation is actually released. if vou are the mayor of that city will you order the entire city evacuated? Discuss the key issues involved. I1.5. Do a calculation to estimate the minimum frequency of ultrasound needed to be able to the fingers and toes" on) a human fetus in the womb. image (and "ce

Answer 1

In the United States, the incidence of cancer is 440 and cancer death is 164 per 100000 population respectively.

a) The city has a population of 1 million. Therefore, there will be about 1640 'natural' cancer deaths.

b) One sievert (Sv) of radiation dose might cause death in approximately 5% percent of the population. So, for 1 million population, there will be additional 10,000 deaths due to radiation. So, the amount of radiation that causes death of additional 10,000 deaths is 1 Sv.

c) If there is actual radiation released, the people living in the immediate vicinity of radiation source should be removed on priority basis. Adequate measures to prevent the spread of radiation like lead shields has to be placed in appropriate places. Then, children and pregnant women in other parts of the city has to be taken to a safer place.