Radiation, radioactivity and your local environment

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Radiation and radioactivity are a mystery at the centre of nuclear physics ever since the creation of this field of physics. It is one of the fields of science where breathtaking discoveries and leaps of creativity unlocked the hidden secrets of nature, but also one of the fields of science where its application can (and has) caused much good and much harm. The risk associated with applied nuclear physics is small, the consequences of the realisation of this risk can be immense. This has been shown again two years ago in the aftermath of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident, which despite its geographical distance and the time passed still has the potential to make headlines in the UK. And the consequences of the Chernobyl accident were still felt in the UK not too long ago. But linked with the pressing need to secure our future energy supplies, nuclear new built is actively discussed in the UK.It is therefore important that the general population can make an educated judgement on the advantages, risks and disadvantages associated with radiation and put radiation levels into perspective. Universities and academics are seen as sources of independent expert information on controversial issues and are thus best placed to provide information and interpretation to the general population. We want to raise the awareness on natural and man-made sources of radioactivity and radiation, focussing on the radiation environment where people spend their time. We will:- engage with as wide an audience as possible, starting from schools as they are easily accessible through our existing links, and then extending to science festivals, science centres and the wider public;- provide mobile fundamental nuclear physics experiments which demonstrate radioactive decay, isotope identification, attenuation of radiation and natural radioactive sources. These experiments will be possible with minimal instruction to the audience;- provide a data collection tool through simple Geiger counters operated from smartphones, displaying a people's radiation map of Scotland on a free web site;We will thus interact with a wide range of audiences, giving them ownership of the research methods and data collection, thus demonstrating not only nuclear physics, but in a broader sense the scientific method. The overarching aims and overall impact of the project can be summarised in three main topics;- raise awareness for the scientific method by using a simple but relevant measurement impacting on people's local life;- educate the interested public on the fundamentals of nuclear physics and radioactivity as well as the interaction of radiation with matter;- provide an example of "citizen science" by collecting position sensitive gamma dose rates and integrate them into an online map.