Book research on radiation

[Saturn97]

I want to write a book but I need some information on radiation first. My questions are:

 

1. What materials can't be damaged by radiation? I found online that metal doesn't work because it doesn't have ionic bond, is that correct? I need to know what can stand up to radiation. There will be an AI and I need them to be able to go out into the radiation.

 

2. Does radiation block signal transmissions?

 

3. Theoretically, what could power a spaceship and not blow up when in contact with radiation?

 

If there is any more information about radiation that you think might be relevant please let me know. Also, if you can put your answers in layman's terms as much as possible that would be great thanks.

[swansont]

I'm not sure if there any materials that can't be damaged by radiation, because there are different types of radiation — radiation is any energetic particles that are emitted by atomic or nuclear processes. So that's electromagnetic, but also alpha, beta, neutron and neutrino, and they all interact in different ways. You also have different categories of damage. You can disrupt information (e.g. in DNA) or the damage can be structural (e.g. fast neutron embrittlement of containment vessels in nuclear reactors)

 

The best you can probably do is a material that repairs itself quickly after damage is done.

 

Since there is such a wide spectrum covered by "radiation" your questions are to vague to be answered definitively. #2 might be yes or it might be no, depending on the details. #3 depends on what type and how much. All power systems we currently have survive contact with some kinds of radiation (non-ionizing EM radiation, background levels of other types) but it might not survive higher levels of exposure. It will depend on the details.

[Saturn97]

The radiation would be nuclear after nuclear bombs made the surface uninhabitable. This is going to be set in the future so I don't need it be super exact, just believable. As for #2 if the whole earth's surface is irradiated can you send a signal or 'call' a space station orbiting the earth, the moon, or even Mars? Again, it's science fiction so there has to be some fiction. #3 I don't know much about what it would take to power a spaceship, as far as I'm concerned I don't care what it is as long as it will believably power a spaceship. My characters have to build it in a underground facility, and then use the ship to leave earth without blowing up. I'm not good at science, I just saw all the comments on the TV show 100 about how none of the science worked.All of it sounded fine to me but like I said I'm not so good with science. I just want my book to make sense and be believable.

 

The main character is an AI, obviously humans can't go out into radiation but I need my AI to be able to. She doesn't have to live in the radiation just go out in it. I don't know, maybe this story won't work. Maybe I'll have to come up with a different environment for my story.

[swansont]

Electronics doesn't like ionizing radiation; there are designs that are more resistant, but it still eventually fails. There are videos from Fukushima where you can see effects from the damage to the camera pixels. The radiation would also tend to show up as noise.

 

You can attenuate radiation, but shielding tends to be heavy, which is bad for launching anything into space.