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Is the radioactive material being released into
the environment in Japan worse than what is
released from coal fired power plants continuously?
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Question Date: 2011-03-17 | | Answer 1:
There is a good Wikipedia article on fossil
fuel power stations that quotes references from
the international atomic energy agency for the
radioactivity of the coal power stations. In
summary, the old unfiltered power stations use to
to kick out up to 5200 kg of uranium a year (34 kg
of U235). For perspective, in 1982 all of the coal
power stations produced 155 times the radiation
released by the Three Mile Island incident (which
is compatible to the scale of the Fukushima
station incident to date. 5 out of 7). This would
be less than what the coal stations in China are
producing, and more that stations that filter the
smoke of particulates. fossil-fuel
science-environmentThat
gives the mass of material, but what is more
important is the dosage of radiation which depends
on proximity and duration. It also depends on if
the source has been irradiated to start the chain
reaction to increase the number of decay events
(kilograms of highly enriched uranium 235 can be
carefully handled before being irradiated with
neutrons and be well with in an acceptable
dosage.) To give you radiation dosages there is a
great pictorial representation put together by the
geek comic strip xkcd, which employed the help of
a senior reactor operator to make the chart and
provide the references (Yes, a comic with
references). This has been the most comprehensive
and digestible way I have seen this information
handled. radiation | | Answer 2:
Well that depends on how you look at it.
Burning coal produces CO2 and that will
tend to warm up the Earth's atmosphere will many
consequences such as rising sea level and coastal
flooding. Also some coal is Sulfur rich and the
sulfur can react and produce different kinds of
air pollution and cause sulfuric acid to form ACID
RAIN which can affect ecosystems. Radioactive
products are also harmful... so it is really an
issue of the following: For generating a
certain quantity of energy by coal or by nuclear,
which overall process is less harmful?This
question can not be answered unless ALL the
possible consequences are accounted for, and that
is not easy. | | Answer 3:
Define "worse". Pollution released from coal
fired power plants is not radioactive, so it is
not as bad to the individual person as actual
radioactive material that broken nuclear plants
emit. However, radioactivity only hurts people at
an individual level, not altering the entire
environment the way that greenhouse gasses and
other forms of pollution that coal-fired power
plants do. So while coal-fired pollution is less
likely to give you cancer, it's more likely to
change the weather. | | Answer 4:
From Helen, Biophysics click-here | | Answer 5:
The major pollutants caused by burning coal are
(in order) carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide,
nitrogen oxides, and carbon monoxide. Chemical
"scrubbers" are used to get trap much of the
harmful chemicals. There are some other more
harmful materials released, but they are in lower
concentrations. While rising carbon dioxide levels
is a major concern for the world right now, it is
not a toxic gas. The concern with the power plant
in Japan is radioactive materials. A substance
that is radioactive is unstable and emits
particles from its nucleus. These emissions can
cause irreversible damage to DNA resulting in
cancer or genetic defects. The radioactive
material being released is worse than what is
released from coal plants, it is just in much
lower volumes. Click Here to return to the search form.
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