Does lead stop radiation

Answer 1

Alpha radiation does not pass to paper or skin Beta radiation can easily pass through paper and skin, but not through a Thin sheet of lead (about 3cm)Gamma radiation can pass through all of the above easily, however it can not pass through thick lead (around 3m) and even thicker concrete. People working with gamma radiation have to use robots or wear very heavy, thick lead suites, and they still dont work with them directly

Answer 2

For a nuclear bomb, the primary lingering gamma ray emitting isotope is 131 Iodine. 0.3 cm of lead blocks this gamma radiation by 50% (half value layer) Fourteen day cumulative exposure following a massive nuclear exchange could be 20,000 or more rads 100 miles downwind from a major city. You'll need to bring that down by about 100 fold. That calculates out to 2.1 cm. An inch is 2.54 cm. If you were in a basement with less than 1 foot of wall exposure above ground the need would be reduced to 1.2 cm.

Bear in mind that radiation from a nuclear bomb, if nearby, would fall by 10 fold in the first 8 hours and 100 fold in about 48 hours. You can therefore benefit by minimizing your exposure still further during this period - stay at the bottom of your basement and put some extra mass over you. Only walk around when you have to.

Answer 3

It can stop alpha and beta radiation. It only attenuates gamma, x-ray, and neutron radiation. For each of these types of radiation lead has what is called its "half thickness", or the thickness of lead that attenuates the radiation by half. Two half thicknesses attenuate the radiation to one fourth, three to one eighth, etc.

Other shielding materials have different half thickness than lead, some better some worse and it also varies with type of radiation. For example with borated concrete the half thickness for neutron radiation is much smaller than for gamma or x-rays.