Cosmic radiation permeates all of space, the source being primarily outside of our solar system. The radiation is in many forms, from high speed heavy particles to high energy photons and muons. The upper atmosphere interacts with many of the cosmic radiations, and produces radioactive nuclides.They can have long half-lives, but the majority have shorter half-lives than the primordial nuclides.ome of the major streets of the surrounding cites have radiation levels as high as 0.13 mrad/hr (1.3 Gy/hr), which is more than 10 times the normal background. Another high background area in Brazil is the result of large rare earth ore deposits that form a hill that rises about 250 meters above the surrounding area.