Why radiation literacy?
It’s not a traditional physics topic so why should I care?
Take it from a student:
“I really know very little about radiation. Why were we never taught about radiation at all in the school system? I understand that is not really that popular of a subject but you would think it would be mentioned in a science class. If nuclear power plants are a part of how we get our energy it’s interesting that the subject is never mentioned in any class I and many others have taken throughout our schooling history.” – IiR Student
The United States has the largest nuclear electrical generating capacity of any country in the world, but US citizens know very little about nuclear power and radiation. Ionizing radiation is rarely taught in schools, especially not as a literacy topic. Nevertheless, diagnostic x-rays are increasingly common, along with other medical uses of radiation for imaging and cancer treatment. Industrial uses of ionizing radiation are proliferating and uranium mining continues to expand. The meltdowns of three reactors at Fukushima in 2011, and the prevalence of radon in basements, remind us that ionizing radiation is everywhere and it affects everyone.
A society dependent on radiation, nuclear power, and nuclear technology should be radiation literate. Citizens should understand general ideas about what ionizing radiation is, where it comes from, and how it affects living things.
But most otherwise literate people don’t understand those things. Instead, the (incorrect) majority view is that radiation has substance-like characteristics and that it can get in or on other objects and make them radioactive as well. Most people do not distinguish between radiation and radioactivity.
Achieving radiation literacy requires that people adopt the particle view of ionizing radiation, and abandon their “substance-like” thinking. Only then can they understand the basic information taught about radiation. Our classroom testing has shown that most non-science majors can accomplish this transformation in their thinking. The IiR project is dedicated to improving radiation literacy through creating and disseminating effective tools, strategies, and course materials.
“It’s been a lot of fun getting to learn more about a subject that I had no idea about before this semester.” – Another IiR Student