Comparative Study of Health and Safety Aspects in the Utilisation of Coal and Nuclear Energy for Power Production

摘要

Some aspects of the analysis of the risks associated with nuclear energy systems and coal-fired power stations are discussed and compared. The average dose has been estimated to be less than 5 mrem/a for a fully developed ruclear power programme. This dose is about 5% of the natural dose of 100 mrem/a. On the basis an average of 1500 spontaneous cancer deaths per million per year, the contribution due to 5 mrem/a would be one additional cancer death of the exposed group i.e. 0.066%. On the other hand, effluents from the coal-fired stations have been found to contribute 5.5% to 19% of the total lung cancer deaths. A point often not noticed is the radiological hazards due to the natural radioactive content of coal. The fly-ash contains radium-226 and radium-228. The plumes of the coal-fired stations contain radon and its daughter products. Taking into account the radiological and chemical hazards of coal burning, the nuclear energy systems are far better than coal-fired power stations. (Atomindex citation 12:634885)