Environmental Radiation, Past, Present, and Future

At present, as in the past, the bulk of environmental radiation comes from natural sources, cosmic radiation, and natural radioactivity. The normal dose to man from natural sources ranges from about 60 to 250 mrads/year. Fallout from weapons testing has provided as much as 20 to 25 mrads/year during the early to mid-1960's. At present, medical uses provide 20 to 100 mrads/year to the average individual in the U.S. Radiation to the general population from nuclear power is insignificant at present. With the trend toward improved technology in the control and containment of radioactivity from nuclear facilities, future levels should not exceed those observed from fallout. Improvements in radiological procedures should materially reduce unnecessary exposure from this application.