Long-term modelling of fly ash and radionuclide emissions as well as deposition fluxes due to the operation of large oil shale-fired power plants

摘要

Two of the world's largest oil shale-fired power plants (PPs) in Estonia have been operational over 40 years, emitting various pollutants, such as fly ash, SOx, NOx, heavy metals, volatile organic compounds as well as radionuclides to the environment. The emissions from these PPs have varied significantly during this period, with the maximum during the 1970s and 1980s. The oil shale burned in the PPs contains naturally occurring radionuclides from the U-238 and Th-232 decay series as well as 40K. These radionuclides become enriched in fly ash fractions (up to 10 times), especially in the fine fly ash escaping the purification system.