The influence of X-ray Flashes on the germinative faculty of cress seeds has been studied. The experiments show that the radiation damage produced by X-ray flashes (τ < 0,5 μs) is much stronger than the influence of continuous radiation if the absorbed dose is the same. With a dose of about 0.3 Gy, it is possible to reduce ther germinative faculty from 99 % to 85 % while the same dose of continuous radiation shows no significant influence on the growth process. The result indicates that short soft X-ray flashes with high intensity are particularly important in the production of biological defects and should be considered in radiation protection.

Date Published: 1 March 1983
PDF: 5 pages
Proc. SPIE 0348, 15th Intl Congress on High Speed Photography and Photonics, (1 March 1983); doi: 10.1117/12.967844

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 0348:
15th Intl Congress on High Speed Photography and Photonics
Lincoln L. Endelman, Editor(s)