Health and Environmental Effects of the National Energy Plan: A Critical Review of Some Selected Issues

摘要

This is the first Health and Environmental Effects Document (HEED) on the National Energy Plan (NEP). As such, it can provide: (a) an overview of the health and environmental effects that may be expected from current US energy planning; (b) quantitative approaches to the analysis of these impacts, in the form of dose-response functions and example applications in context; (c) a framework for individual technology-based HEEDs; and (d) a background against which emerging technologies may be measured. Thus, this first NEP-HEED deals in depth with general and continuing thrusts of the NEP process: increased use of coal, continued reliance on nuclear, and eventual increased application of renewable technologies. Special attention is directed to the public health aspects of air pollution from coal, including an overview of recent health studies on effects of particles, sulfur dioxide, hydrocarbons, and radionuclides. Environmental topics including acid rain, the carbon dioxide problem, crop damage, coal mining, and solid waste disposal are also discussed. Nuclear safety and mill tailings are analyzed. Finally, a general assessment of the health effects of renewable technologies is given. (ERA citation 07:004358)