What is the effect of nuclear radiation?

Radiation causes damage in cells by altering the DNA of the cell. It can deposit enough energy to kill the cell outright, or it will alter the genetic structure of the chromosomes in 1 of several ways. Changes that cause death in the cell are Ring, Dicentric and anaphase bridge breaks. Nonlethal chromosome aberations include symmetrical translocation and simple deletion. Nonlethal aberations can result in a transformed cell(possible cancerous). Lethal aberations prevent the cell from dividing properly during mitosis.