Will radiation damage electronics (without killing the characters wearing them)
Searched: how does radiation affect electronics, will radiation affect electronics before humans, what level of radiation damages electronics, how much radiation to make a computer malfunction, radiation hardening, beta radiation, gamma radiation, etc.
Setting: Dystopian future, the bombing stopped a few decades ago but the effects linger
The situation: My main characters have tracking devices implanted in them. At one point another character is going to give them clothing which is contaminated with radiation. The characters given this clothing are going to be horrified when they find out that they've been walking around with death on for several days, but it will also be revealed that the radiation made their implants malfunction, thus preventing the evil government (tm) from tracking them down.
Question 1: Is this at all plausible? My google-fu makes it clear that radiation DOES effect electronics, especially mirco electronics, but it doesn't make clear the level of radiation needed for this to occur. Apparently humans were used rather than robots at Chernobyl, but I can't figure out if this was due to conserving costs+disregard for human life, the technology of the time not being up to making the needed robots, or electronics not working in the vicinity (one source says that heat, not radiation was the problem). Is it possible for my characters to be wearing clothing (for a few days) that will mess with their trackers without killing them? I don't mind if they get sick, but I don't want them dying or unable to walk.
Question 2: If this isn't plausible, is there another way the trackers could be disabled i. without the characters knowing ii. that could potentially make the characters sick/be interpreted as a malicious action
Much thanks in advance!
Setting: Dystopian future, the bombing stopped a few decades ago but the effects linger
The situation: My main characters have tracking devices implanted in them. At one point another character is going to give them clothing which is contaminated with radiation. The characters given this clothing are going to be horrified when they find out that they've been walking around with death on for several days, but it will also be revealed that the radiation made their implants malfunction, thus preventing the evil government (tm) from tracking them down.
Question 1: Is this at all plausible? My google-fu makes it clear that radiation DOES effect electronics, especially mirco electronics, but it doesn't make clear the level of radiation needed for this to occur. Apparently humans were used rather than robots at Chernobyl, but I can't figure out if this was due to conserving costs+disregard for human life, the technology of the time not being up to making the needed robots, or electronics not working in the vicinity (one source says that heat, not radiation was the problem). Is it possible for my characters to be wearing clothing (for a few days) that will mess with their trackers without killing them? I don't mind if they get sick, but I don't want them dying or unable to walk.
Question 2: If this isn't plausible, is there another way the trackers could be disabled i. without the characters knowing ii. that could potentially make the characters sick/be interpreted as a malicious action
Much thanks in advance!