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3 - Radionuclides and Other Sources of Radiation in the Natural Environment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2021

R. J. Pentreath
R. J. Pentreath
Affiliation:
University of Reading
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Summary

Let us begin, literally, at the beginning. On the basis of our current understanding of the universe with respect to a number of different observations and measurements, such as its scale and its rate of expansion, the characteristics of the cosmic wave background, and on the abundance of the light elements distributed throughout it [1], an extraordinary event that has become known as the ‘big bang’ seems to have occurred some 1.38 × 1010 years ago. As a result, and within a matter of minutes, most of the mass of the nuclides in the universe is thought to have been produced from a mixture of quarks and gluons; these first created protons and neutrons which then combined to form 1H (protium), 2H (deuterium), 3He, and 4He.

Type
Chapter
Information
Radioecology
Sources and Consequences of Ionising Radiation in the Environment
 , pp. 69 - 125
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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