Warfare Radioactive Substances

Warfare and radiation substances. Warfare radioactive substances are specific chemical compounds that have the ability to cause acute toxic poisoning or radiation sickness in humans and animals. By introducing themselves into living tissue, they are involved in biochemical processes, disrupt the functions of a number of organs and tissues, and depress the central nervous system. Radiation damage is associated with the damaging effect of certain types of ionizing radiation, namely electromagnetic waves in the form of a stream of elementary particles (neutrons, protons). The most dangerous radiation effects are caused by photon fluxes, so-called high-energy charged particles (α - radiation), and gamma ray fluxes. Radiation sources from nuclear warheads, which are carriers of energy pulses of electromagnetic nature, create different types of ionizing radiation during nuclear explosions: a - rays, β - rays or γ - rays. The maximum content of α - particles in the air is observed during the first hours after a nuclear explosion, the flow of β - rays persists for a long time.