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Science 8 December 1978:
Vol. 202. no. 4372, pp. 1045 - 1050
DOI: 10.1126/science.202.4372.1045
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Articles

Radiological Impact of Airborne Effluents of Coal and Nuclear Plants

J. P. McBride 1, R. E. Moore 2, J. P. Witherspoon 2, and R. E. Blanco 3

1 Research staff member of the Chemical Technology Division, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830
2 Research staff members of the Health and Safety Research Division, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830
3 Manager of Radioactive Waste Management Research and Development Programs at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830

Radiation doses from airborne effluents of model coal-fired and nuclear power plants (1000 megawatts electric) are compared. Assuming a 1 percent ash release to the atmosphere (Environmental Protection Agency regulation) and 1 part per million of uranium and 2 parts per million of thorium in the coal (approximately the U.S. average), population doses from the coal plant are typically higher than those from pressurized-water or boiling-water reactors that meet government regulations. Higher radionuclide contents and ash releases are common and would result in increased doses from the coal plant. The study does not assess the impact of non-radiological pollutants or the total radiological impacts of a coal versus a nuclear economy.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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R. Giere, R. Giere, L. E. Carleton, and G. R. Lumpkin (2003)
American Mineralogist 88, 1853-1865
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Risk, uncertainty and nuclear power.
J. Elster (1979)
Social Science Information 18, 371-400


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