Which element has "stronger" radiation?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on comparing the radiation danger of tritium (3H) and uranium-235 (235U). Tritium has a much lower effective dose due to its weak beta radiation, making it one of the least dangerous isotopes per activity. However, tritium's shorter half-life results in a significantly higher activity per gram, leading to claims that it could be "millions of times more dangerous" than 235U. The conversation highlights that "dangerous" is not an intrinsic property and depends on various factors such as exposure method and context. Ultimately, the risk assessment requires a nuanced understanding of activity, mass, and exposure scenarios.
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Sorry if I am asking a stupid question. I recently had an argument with my friend which among this two is more dangerous: 3H or 235U(not considering its decay chain products). I was under the impression that 3H has an effective dose about 1000 times smaller than 235U due to its weak beta-radiation. Various sources seem to confirm my guess that at least per *activity* tritium is one of the least dangerous radiactive iostope. However my friend said because tritium has a shorter-half life and lighter nuclei, it has very high activity/gram rate, about 10^11 higher than 235U which means it is in fact "millions of times of more dangerous" than 235U.

His argument sounds convincing but a little contradictory to what I was originally impressed. I know 235U itself isn't that dangerous as media reported but I never thought it is "millions of times of safer" than tritium...

So is he correct on this argument? Thanks.
 
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"Dangerous" is not an intrinsic property of atoms. Are you talking the same activity or the same mass or the same volume or...? Are you inhaling, ingesting, touching or at a distance from the source? All of these influence risk.
 

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