I really enjoyed reading this, and learning about the symmetries between electron shells and nuclear/proton shells. It wasn’t clear to me why the nuclear waste in concrete is safe to hug—from a quick google, apparently all matter blocks gamma radiation, and concrete is made out of matter. Concrete is typically used because it is cheap and dense, and often “heavy concrete” made with dense industrial waste material (fly ash, slag, etc) is used for radiation shield. source
I really enjoyed reading this, and learning about the symmetries between electron shells and nuclear/proton shells. It wasn’t clear to me why the nuclear waste in concrete is safe to hug—from a quick google, apparently all matter blocks gamma radiation, and concrete is made out of matter. Concrete is typically used because it is cheap and dense, and often “heavy concrete” made with dense industrial waste material (fly ash, slag, etc) is used for radiation shield. source
Yup, you can block any radiation with enough concrete around it.
Can’t block neutrinos that way, but you needn’t bother.