Not quite: beta decay will penetrate the skin enough to damage living tissue - beta burns are what caused the fatalities of the Chernobyl first responder fire fighters.
They spent a few hours covered in dust on their coats, and did a bunch of subsurface skin damage which manifested as third degree burns. Sepsis, not radiation poisoning, generally killed them.
They spent a few hours covered in dust on their coats, and did a bunch of subsurface skin damage which manifested as third degree burns. Sepsis, not radiation poisoning, generally killed them.