An 85 kg worker at a breeder reactor plant accidentally ingests 2.5 mg of 239Pu dust. This isotope has a half-life of 24 100 y, decaying by alpha decay.The energy of the emitted alpha particles is 5.2 MeV, with an RBE factor of 13. Assume that the plutonium resides in the worker’s body for 12 h (it is eliminated naturally by the digestive system rather than being absorbed by any of the internal organs) and that 95% of the emitted alpha particles are stopped within the body. Calculate (a) the number of plutonium atoms ingested, (b) the number that decay during the 12 h, (c) the energy absorbed by the body, (d) the resulting physical dose in grays, and (e) the dose equivalent in sieverts.

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Chapter1: Units, Trigonometry. And Vectors
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An 85 kg worker at a breeder reactor plant accidentally ingests
2.5 mg of 239Pu dust. This isotope has a half-life of 24 100 y,
decaying by alpha decay.The energy of the emitted alpha particles
is 5.2 MeV, with an RBE factor of 13. Assume that the plutonium
resides in the worker’s body for 12 h (it is eliminated naturally by
the digestive system rather than being absorbed by any of the internal
organs) and that 95% of the emitted alpha particles are
stopped within the body. Calculate (a) the number of plutonium
atoms ingested, (b) the number that decay during the 12 h, (c) the energy absorbed by the body, (d) the resulting physical dose in
grays, and (e) the dose equivalent in sieverts.

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