Key Facts about: Radioactivity
Sources of radioactivity
United Kingdom
- Exposure of the population from all sources of radiation
- the total annual average dose of radiation to members of the UK population from all sources is estimated to be around 2.6 millisieverts (mSv)
- some 85 per cent of this average total radiation dose to UK individuals comes from natural radiation sources
- frequent fliers who travel over 1200 hours in aircraft in a year could receive a dose of up to 5 mSv
- radon (a gas that naturally occurs in types of rocks) accounts for half of total average population dose
- of 34000 annual deaths in the UK from lung cancer, around 5 per cent are attributable to radon
- artificial radiation accounts for the remaining 15 per cent of total average population dose (around 0.4 mSv), most of which comes from medical sources
- in 1997, exposure from discharges from nuclear installations accounted for 0.7 per cent of total exposure from artificial radiation sources. Fallout accounted for a further 1 per cent of the dose from artificial sources (around 0.004 mSv)
- by UK law the individual dose to members of the public from artificial sources - excluding medical procedures - in a year must be below 1 mSv.
In Detail:
Further Information:
- Source:
- National Radiological Protection Board
- Key Facts:
- Natural sources: Radon,
- Gamma,
- Cosmic,
- Food and drink
- Artificial sources:
- Medical,
- Fallout,
- Occupational,
- Products,
- Discharges
Data Tables:
Download Chart Data: Microsoft Excel
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Page last modified: 16 September 2003
Page published: 10 September 2003