[ RadSafe ] 10 rem from lightning??

Thu Mar 25 15:53:06 CDT 2010

I am rather skeptical of these numbers, but I would love to see more data on lightning related doses issues.

True there would be a very large source of electrons - But Air is a very very poor Bremsstrahlung target for electrons and the electron range in air would be so small that It is hard to imagine a significant number of electrons making it to the aluminum fuselage (behind the low Z paint). Even then Aluminum (Z=13) is still not great at producing x-rays. Bremsstrahlung efficiency is roughly proportional to Z^2. That's one reason tungsten is used as xray tube targets (Z=74).

I could be wrong in that the sheer amount of electrons compensates for the low production efficiency, but for me , for now, it seems much more likely that their readings were wrong .. Say an RF signal is messing up their detector readings or the like.

Chip

Charles W. Dodge, Ph.D.

NASA, Johnson Space Center

Bldg.15 Rm266

Houston, TX. 77058

Fax 281-244-1768

Ph 281-244-6761

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Kulp, Jeffrey B
Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 6:33 PM
To: Joel C.; radsafe at agni.phys.iit.edu
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] 10 rem from lightning??

Would there be a large dose from Bremsstrahlung and Beta in the vicinity

of a lightning bolt? It seems as though the electrons would be fairly

energetic.

Jeff Kulp

Washington State University

Radiation Safety Office

Pullman, WA 99164-1302

(509) 335-8175

-----Original Message-----

From: radsafe-bounces at agni.phys.iit.edu

[mailto:radsafe-bounces at agni.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Joel C.

Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 4:05 PM

To: radsafe at agni.phys.iit.edu

Subject: [ RadSafe ] 10 rem from lightning??

The esteemed journal, USA Today, reports that a lightning strike to an

airliner can deliver 0.1 Sv to passengers.  This comes from research at

the Florida Institute of Technology.  Anyone know what this is about?

Joel I. Cehn, CHP

joelc at alum.wpi.edu

_______________________________________________

You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list

Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and understood

the RadSafe rules. These can be found at:

http://health.phys.iit.edu/radsaferules.html

For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings

visit: http://health.phys.iit.edu

_______________________________________________

You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list

Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and understood the RadSafe rules. These can be found at: http://health.phys.iit.edu/radsaferules.html

For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings visit: http://health.phys.iit.edu