Abstract:
Radioactive sources are being used worldwide for various peaceful purposes such
as power generation and medical, industrial & research applications. Industrial
radiography is an important nondestructive technique to detect the presence of any
flaw or cracks in the industrial pressure vessels, boilers or piping transporting
hydrocarbons. These pressure vessels and boilers are subject to extreme dangers of
explosion as these are operated at high pressures. Hence, to reduce the associated
risks of such explosions, radiography inspections are carried out during
manufacturing of these vessels and at regular periodicity during operational life of
the vessel. It may be noted that during radiography testing, the physical and
chemical properties of the vessels do not change.
There are 554 industrial radiography institutions in India, which operate about 2700
radiography devices. Most of these radiography institutions are service providers.
Industrial radiography is carried out using radioactive sources like Ir-192, Co-60,
Se-75 etc. These radioactive sources continuously emit high energy gamma
radiations. The ionizing gamma radiation has the capability to create mutations and
damage to cells in the biological system. Therefore, potential exposure to radiation
will result in biological hazards to the human body, such as skin injury and
amputation of extremities. The nature of hazard depends on the quantity of
exposure received and on several other parameters. In the severest case, very high
exposure may cause death of the person also.
