Nuclear Energy · 6 min read · Energy Atlas Editorial
Natural and Human-Made Radiation
Background radiation is unavoidable. Medicine, industry, and nuclear energy add further doses that are managed differently.
- radiation
Overview
Natural background includes cosmic rays, terrestrial radionuclides, and radon. Medical imaging is the largest artificial contribution for many people in high-income countries. Nuclear power's routine public doses are typically a small fraction of background, which is not an argument that accidents are impossible — only that routine operation is a different question from accident risk.