What is radiation and how is it measured?

Radiation is simply energy from unstable atoms — and we live in a gentle bath of it all the time, from cosmic rays, rocks, the air, even the potassium in our own bodies. The key is to separate exposure (being near a source) from contamination (material on or in you), and to keep dose in perspective: natural background runs a few millisieverts a year.

Getting comfortable with these basics is liberating, because it reveals how much of the fear around nuclear comes from unfamiliarity rather than real risk. Radiation is measurable, well-understood, and routinely managed.