Environmental Effects Of Nuclear Power
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Nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by ...
has various environmental impacts, both positive and negative, including the construction and operation of the plant, the
nuclear fuel cycle The nuclear fuel cycle, also known as the nuclear fuel chain, describes the series of stages that nuclear fuel undergoes during its production, use, and recycling or disposal. It consists of steps in the ''front end'', which are the preparation o ...
, and the effects of nuclear accidents.
Nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power st ...
s do not burn
fossil fuels A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geologica ...
and so do not directly emit carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide emitted during mining, enrichment, fabrication and transport of fuel is small when compared with the carbon dioxide emitted by fossil fuels of similar energy yield, however, these plants still produce other environmentally damaging wastes. Nuclear energy and renewable energy have reduced environmental costs by decreasing emissions resulting from energy consumption. There is a catastrophic risk potential if containment fails, which in nuclear reactors can be brought about by overheated fuels melting and releasing large quantities of fission products into the environment. In normal operation, nuclear power plants release less radioactive material than coal power plants whose
fly ash Coal combustion products (CCPs), also called coal combustion wastes (CCWs) or coal combustion residuals (CCRs), are byproducts of burning coal. They are categorized in four groups, each based on physical and chemical forms derived from coal combust ...
contains significant amounts of thorium, uranium and their daughter nuclides. A large nuclear power plant may reject waste heat to a natural body of water; this can result in undesirable increase of the water temperature with adverse effect on aquatic life. Alternatives include
cooling tower A cooling tower is a device that rejects waste heat to the atmosphere through the cooling of a coolant stream, usually a water stream, to a lower temperature. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove heat and cool the ...
s. Mining of uranium ore can disrupt the environment around the mine. However, with modern in-situ leaching technology this impact can be reduced compared to "classical" underground or
open-pit mining Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique that extracts rock (geology), rock or minerals from the earth. Open-pit mines are used when deposits of commercially ...
. Disposal of
spent nuclear fuel Spent nuclear fuel, occasionally called used nuclear fuel, is nuclear fuel that has been irradiated in a nuclear reactor (usually at a nuclear power plant). It is no longer useful in sustaining a nuclear reaction in an ordinary thermal reactor and ...
is controversial, with many proposed long-term storage schemes under intense review and criticism. Diversion of fresh- or low- burnup spent fuel to weapons production presents a risk of
nuclear proliferation Nuclear proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons to additional countries, particularly those not recognized as List of states with nuclear weapons, nuclear-weapon states by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonl ...
, however all nuclear weapons states derived the material for their first nuclear weapon from (non-power) research reactors or dedicated "production reactors" and/or uranium enrichment. Finally, some parts the structure of the reactor itself becomes radioactive through neutron activation and will require decades of storage before it can be economically dismantled and in turn disposed of as waste. Measures like reducing the cobalt content in steel to decrease the amount of
cobalt-60 Cobalt-60 (Co) is a synthetic radioactive isotope of cobalt with a half-life of 5.2714 years. It is produced artificially in nuclear reactors. Deliberate industrial production depends on neutron activation of bulk samples of the monoisotop ...
produced by neutron capture can reduce the amount of radioactive material produced and the radiotoxicity that originates from this material. However, part of the issue is not radiological but regulatory as most countries assume any given object that originates from the "hot" (radioactive) area of a nuclear power plant or a facility in the
nuclear fuel cycle The nuclear fuel cycle, also known as the nuclear fuel chain, describes the series of stages that nuclear fuel undergoes during its production, use, and recycling or disposal. It consists of steps in the ''front end'', which are the preparation o ...
is ipso facto radioactive, even if no contamination or neutron irradiation induced radioactivity is detectable.


Waste streams

Nuclear power has at least three waste streams that may impact the environment:Benjamin K. Sovacool. A Critical Evaluation of Nuclear Power and Renewable Electricity in Asia, ''Journal Contemporary Asia'', Vol. 40, No. 3, August 2010, pp. 376. #
Spent nuclear fuel Spent nuclear fuel, occasionally called used nuclear fuel, is nuclear fuel that has been irradiated in a nuclear reactor (usually at a nuclear power plant). It is no longer useful in sustaining a nuclear reaction in an ordinary thermal reactor and ...
at the reactor site (including fission products and
plutonium Plutonium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is a silvery-gray actinide metal that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four ...
waste) #
Tailings In mining, tailings or tails are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different from overburden, which is the waste rock or other material ...
and waste rock at
uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...
mining mills # Releases of ill-defined quantities of radioactive materials during accidents
Nuclear reprocessing Nuclear reprocessing is the chemical separation of fission products and actinides from spent nuclear fuel. Originally, reprocessing was used solely to extract plutonium for producing nuclear weapons. With commercialization of nuclear power, the ...
and breeder reactors which can decrease the need for storage of spent fuel in a
deep geological repository A deep geological repository is a way of storing hazardous or radioactive waste within a stable geologic environment, typically 200–1,000 m below the surface of the earth. It entails a combination of waste form, waste package, engineered seals ...
have faced economic and political hurdles but are in some use in Russia, India, China, Japan and France, which are among the countries with the highest nuclear energy production outside the United States. However, the U.S. has not undertaken significant efforts towards either reprocessing or breeder reactors since the 1970s instead relying on the once through fuel cycle.


Radioactive waste


High-level waste

The spent nuclear fuel from
uranium-235 Uranium-235 ( or U-235) is an isotope of uranium making up about 0.72% of natural uranium. Unlike the predominant isotope uranium-238, it is fissile, i.e., it can sustain a nuclear chain reaction. It is the only fissile isotope that exists in nat ...
and
plutonium-239 Plutonium-239 ( or Pu-239) is an isotope of plutonium. Plutonium-239 is the primary fissile isotope used for the production of nuclear weapons, although uranium-235 is also used for that purpose. Plutonium-239 is also one of the three main iso ...
nuclear fission contains a wide variety of
carcinogen A carcinogen () is any agent that promotes the development of cancer. Carcinogens can include synthetic chemicals, naturally occurring substances, physical agents such as ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, and biologic agents such as viruse ...
ic
radionuclide A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess numbers of either neutrons or protons, giving it excess nuclear energy, and making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ...
isotope Isotopes are distinct nuclear species (or ''nuclides'') of the same chemical element. They have the same atomic number (number of protons in their Atomic nucleus, nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemica ...
s such as
strontium-90 Strontium-90 () is a radioactive isotope of strontium produced by nuclear fission, with a half-life of 28.79 years. It undergoes β− decay into yttrium-90, with a decay energy of 0.546 MeV. Strontium-90 has applications in medicine a ...
, iodine-131, and caesium-137. Such waste includes some of the most long-lived
transuranic elements The transuranium (or transuranic) elements are the chemical elements with atomic number greater than 92, which is the atomic number of uranium. All of them are radioactively unstable and decay into other elements. Except for neptunium and pluton ...
such as
americium-241 Americium-241 (Am, Am-241) is an isotope of americium. Like all isotopes of americium, it is radioactive, with a half-life of . Am is the most common isotope of americium as well as the most prevalent isotope of americium in nuclear waste. It ...
and isotopes of
plutonium Plutonium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is a silvery-gray actinide metal that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four ...
. The most long-lived radioactive wastes, including spent nuclear fuel, usually must be contained and isolated from the environment for a long period of time. Spent nuclear fuel storage is mostly a problem in the United States, following a 1977 prohibition by then-President
Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
on nuclear fuel recycling. France, The United Kingdom, and Japan are some of the countries that have rejected the repository solution. Spent nuclear fuel produced by some types of reactors is a valuable asset, not simply waste. Disposal of these wastes in specially-engineered underground repositories is the preferred long-term storage solution. The International Panel on Fissile Materials has said:
''It is widely accepted that spent nuclear fuel and high-level reprocessing and plutonium wastes require well-designed storage for long periods of time, to minimize releases of the contained radioactivity into the environment. Safeguards are also required to ensure that neither plutonium nor highly enriched uranium is diverted to weapon use. There is general agreement that placing spent nuclear fuel in repositories hundreds of meters below the surface would be safer than indefinite storage of spent fuel on the surface.''
When designing long-term storage facilities, there are several crucial considerations, including the specific type of radioactive waste, the containers enclosing the waste, other engineered barriers or seals around the containers, the tunnels housing the containers, and the geologic makeup of the surrounding area.US DOE – Radioactive waste: an international concern
The ability of natural geologic barriers to isolate radioactive waste is demonstrated by the natural nuclear fission reactors at Oklo, Africa. During their long reaction period, about 5.4 metric tons of fission products, 1.5 metric tons of
plutonium Plutonium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is a silvery-gray actinide metal that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four ...
, and other
transuranic elements The transuranium (or transuranic) elements are the chemical elements with atomic number greater than 92, which is the atomic number of uranium. All of them are radioactively unstable and decay into other elements. Except for neptunium and pluton ...
were generated in the uranium ore body. These elements remain immobile and stable to this day, a span of almost 2 billion years. Despite long-standing agreement among many experts that geological disposal can be safe, technologically feasible, and environmentally sound, a large part of the general public in many countries remains skeptical.Vandenbosch, Robert, and Susanne E. Vandenbosch. 2007. ''Nuclear waste stalemate''. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. One of the challenges facing the supporters of these efforts is to demonstrate confidently that a repository will contain waste for so long that future containment breaches will pose no significant health or environmental risks.
Nuclear reprocessing Nuclear reprocessing is the chemical separation of fission products and actinides from spent nuclear fuel. Originally, reprocessing was used solely to extract plutonium for producing nuclear weapons. With commercialization of nuclear power, the ...
does not eliminate the need for a repository, but it reduces the required volume, the need for long-term heat dissipation, and the long-term radiation hazard. Reprocessing does not eliminate the political and social challenges to repository siting. The countries that have made the most progress towards a repository for high-level radioactive waste have typically started with
public consultation Public consultation, public comment, or simply consultation, is a process by which members of the public are asked for input on public issues. This can occur in public meetings open to all (such as town hall meetings) in written form (such as in ...
s and made voluntary siting a necessary condition. This consensus-seeking approach is believed to have a greater chance of success than top-down modes of decision making, but the process is necessarily slow, and there is "inadequate experience around the world to know if it will succeed in all existing and aspiring nuclear nations." Moreover, many communities do not want to host a nuclear waste repository as they are "concerned about their community becoming a de facto site for waste for thousands of years, the health and environmental consequences of an accident, and lower property values." In a 2010 Presidential Memorandum, U.S. President Obama established the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future. The commission, composed of fifteen members, conducted an extensive two-year study of nuclear waste disposal. During their research, the Commission visited Finland, France, Japan, Russia, Sweden, and the UK, and in 2012, the Commission submitted its final report. The Commission did not issue recommendations for a specific site but rather presented a comprehensive recommendation for disposal strategies. One major recommendation was that "the United States should undertake an integrated nuclear waste management program that leads to the timely development of one or more permanent deep geological facilities for the safe disposal of spent fuel and high-level nuclear waste." Pressurized heavy water reactors like the Canadian
CANDU The CANDU (CANada Deuterium Uranium) is a Canadian pressurized heavy-water reactor design used to generate electric power. The acronym refers to its deuterium oxide (heavy water) neutron moderator, moderator and its use of (originally, natural ...
or the Indian IPHWR do not need enriched fuel and can operate using
natural uranium Natural uranium (NU or Unat) is uranium with the same isotopic ratio as found in nature. It contains 0.711% uranium-235, 99.284% uranium-238, and a trace of uranium-234 by weight (0.0055%). Approximately 2.2% of its radioactivity comes from ura ...
. This allows better use of the energy contained in the initial uranium ore (while higher enrichment allows higher burnup, the amount of natural uranium needed to produce this fuel increases faster than the achievable burnup) and reduces the energy needed in fuel manufacturing as the conversion of the yellowcake to uranium hexafluoride and back into an oxide fuel as well as the energy-intensive enrichment process can be skipped.


Other waste

Moderate amounts of low-level waste are managed through a chemical and volume control system (CVCS). This includes gas, liquid, and solid waste produced via the process of purifying the water through evaporation. Liquid waste is reprocessed continuously, and gas waste is filtered, compressed, stored to allow decay, diluted, and then discharged. The rate at which this is allowed is regulated and studies must prove that such discharge does not pose public health risks (see radioactive effluent emissions). Solid waste can be disposed of simply by placing it where it will not be disturbed for a few years. There are three low-level waste disposal sites in the United States, in South Carolina, Utah, and Washington. Solid waste from the CVCS is combined with solid waste that comes from handling materials before it is buried off-site.


Power plant emission


Radioactive gases and effluents

Most commercial nuclear power plants release gaseous and liquid radiological effluents into the environment as a byproduct of the Chemical Volume Control System. These effluents are monitored in the US by the EPA and the NRC. Civilians living within of a nuclear power plant typically receive about 0.1 
μSv The sievert (symbol: SvPlease note there are two non-SI units that use the same Sv abbreviation: the sverdrup and svedberg.) is a derived unit in the International System of Units (SI) intended to represent the stochastic health risk of ionizing ...
per year.ANS dosechart
merican Nuclear Society/ref> For comparison, the average person living at or above sea level receives at least 260 μSv per year from
cosmic radiation Cosmic rays or astroparticles are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Sol ...
. All reactors in the United States are required by law to have a containment building. The walls of containment buildings are several feet thick and made of concrete designed to stop the release of any radiation emitted by the reactor into the environment. For comparison: The total amount of radioactivity released through the CVCS depends on the power plant, the regulatory requirements, and the plant's performance. Atmospheric dispersion models combined with pathway models are employed to accurately approximate the exposure to a member of the public from the effluents emitted. Effluent monitoring is conducted continuously at the plant.


Tritium

A leak of
radioactive Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is conside ...
water at Vermont Yankee in 2010, along with similar incidents at more than 20 other US nuclear plants in recent years, has kindled doubts about the reliability, durability, and maintenance of aging nuclear installations in the United States.
Tritium Tritium () or hydrogen-3 (symbol T or H) is a rare and radioactive isotope of hydrogen with a half-life of ~12.33 years. The tritium nucleus (t, sometimes called a ''triton'') contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of the ...
is a radioactive isotope of
hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...
that emits a low-energy beta particle and is usually measured in
becquerel The becquerel (; symbol: Bq) is the unit of radioactivity in the International System of Units (SI). One becquerel is defined as an activity of one per second, on average, for aperiodic activity events referred to a radionuclide. For applicatio ...
s (i.e. atoms decaying per second) per liter (Bq/L). Tritium can be contained in water released from a nuclear plant. The primary concern for tritium release is its presence in drinking water, in addition to biological magnification leading to tritium in crops and animals consumed for food. Legal concentration limits of tritium have differed greatly from place to place (see table right). For example, in June 2009 the Ontario Drinking Water Advisory Council recommended lowering the limit from 7,000 Bq/L to 20 Bq/L. According to the NRC, tritium is the least dangerous radionuclide because it emits very weak radiation and leaves the body relatively quickly.


Uranium mining

Uranium mining is the process of extracting
uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...
ore from the ground.
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, and
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
are the top three producers and together account for 63% of world uranium production. A prominent use of uranium is as fuel for
nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power st ...
s. The mining and milling of uranium present significant dangers to the environment. In 2010, 41% of the world's uranium production was produced by in-situ leaching, which uses solutions to dissolve the uranium while leaving the rock in place. The remainder was produced by conventional mining, in which the mined uranium ore is ground to a uniform particle size and then the uranium extracted by chemical leaching. The product is a powder of unenriched uranium, " yellowcake," which is sold on the uranium market as U3O8. Uranium mining can use large amounts of water—for example, the Roxby Downs Olympic Dam mine in South Australia uses 35,000 m3 of water each day and plans to increase this to 150,000 m3 per day.Nuclear power and water scarcity
ScienceAlert, 28 October 2007, Retrieved 2008-08-08
The
Church Rock uranium mill spill The Church Rock uranium mill spill occurred in the U.S. state of New Mexico on July 16, 1979, when United Nuclear Corporation's tailings disposal pond at its Uranium mining#Heap leaching, uranium mill in Church Rock, New Mexico, Church Rock breac ...
occurred in
New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
on July 16, 1979, when the
tailings In mining, tailings or tails are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different from overburden, which is the waste rock or other material ...
disposal pond breached its dam. Over 1,000 tons of solid radioactive mill waste and 93 million gallons of acidic, radioactive tailings solution flowed into the Puerco River, and contaminants traveled downstream to Navajo County, Arizona and onto the
Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation (), also known as Navajoland, is an Indian reservation of Navajo people in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. The seat of government is located in ...
. The accident released more radiation than the
Three Mile Island accident The Three Mile Island accident was a partial nuclear meltdown of the Unit 2 reactor (TMI-2) of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station, located on the Susquehanna River in Londonderry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Londonderry T ...
that occurred four months earlier and was the largest release of radioactive material in U.S. history, although the radioactive material was diluted by the 93 million gallons of water and sulfuric acid.US Congress, House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment. ''Mill Tailings Dam Break at Church Rock, New Mexico'', 96th Cong, 1st Sess (October 22, 1979):19–24.
Groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...
near the spill was contaminated and the Puerco rendered unusable by local residents, who were not immediately aware of the toxic danger. Despite efforts made in cleaning up Cold War
nuclear arms race The nuclear arms race was an arms race competition for supremacy in nuclear warfare between the United States, the Soviet Union, and their respective allies during the Cold War. During this same period, in addition to the American and Soviet nuc ...
uranium sites, significant problems stemming from the legacy of uranium development still exist today on the Navajo Nation and in the states of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. Hundreds of abandoned mines, primarily used for the US
arms race An arms race occurs when two or more groups compete in military superiority. It consists of a competition between two or more State (polity), states to have superior armed forces, concerning production of weapons, the growth of a military, and ...
and not nuclear energy production, have not been cleaned up and present environmental and health risks in many communities. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that there are 4,000 mines with documented uranium production, and another 15,000 locations with uranium occurrences in 14 western states, most found in the Four Corners area and Wyoming. The '' Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act'' is a United States environmental law that amended the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and gave the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to establish health and environmental standards for the stabilization, restoration, and disposal of uranium mill waste.


Cancer

Numerous studies have been done on the possible relationship between nuclear power and
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
. Such studies have looked for excess cancers in both plant workers and surrounding populations due to releases during normal operations of nuclear plants and other parts of the nuclear power industry, as well as excess cancers in workers and the public due to accidental releases. There is agreement that excess cancers in both plant workers and the surrounding public have been caused by accidental releases such as the Chernobyl accident. There is also agreement that some workers in other parts of the nuclear fuel cycle (most notably uranium mining) have had elevated rates of cancer, at least in past decades. Excess mortality is associated with all mining activity and is not unique to uranium mining. However, numerous studies of possible cancers caused by nuclear power plants in normal operation have come to opposing conclusions, and the issue is a matter of scientific controversy and ongoing study.US Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Fact Sheet on Analysis of Cancer Risk in Populations Near Nuclear Facilities—Phase 1 Feasibility Study
29 Mar. 2012.
Several epidemiological studies have found that there is an increased risk of various diseases, especially cancers, among people who live near nuclear facilities. A widely cited 2007
meta-analysis Meta-analysis is a method of synthesis of quantitative data from multiple independent studies addressing a common research question. An important part of this method involves computing a combined effect size across all of the studies. As such, th ...
by Baker ''et al.'' of 17 research papers was published in the ''European Journal of Cancer Care''. It offered evidence of elevated
leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...
rates among children living near 136 nuclear facilities in the United Kingdom, Canada, France, United States, Germany, Japan, and Spain. However, this study has been criticized for several reasons, such as its combination of heterogeneous data (different age groups, sites that were not nuclear power plants, different zone definitions), arbitrary selection of 17 out of 37 individual studies, and exclusion of sites with zero observed cases or deaths. Elevated leukemia rates among children were also found in a 2008 German study by Kaatsch ''et al.'' that examined residents living near 16 major nuclear power plants in Germany. This study has also been criticized for reasons similar to those described above. These 2007 and 2008 results are not consistent with many other studies that have tended not to show such associations. The British Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment issued a study in 2011 of children under five living near 13 nuclear power plants in the UK during the period 1969–2004. The committee found that children living near power plants in Britain are no more likely to develop leukemia than those living elsewhere.Elliott, A, Editor (2011
COMARE 14th Report: Further consideration of the incidence of childhood leukaemia around nuclear power plants in Great Britain
6 May 2011, Retrieved 6 May 2011
Similarly, a 1991 study for the National Cancer Institute found no excess cancer mortalities in 107 US counties close to nuclear power plants. However, in view of the ongoing controversy, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has requested the National Academy of Sciences to oversee a state-of-the-art study of cancer risk in populations near NRC-licensed facilities. A subculture of frequently undocumented nuclear workers do the dirty, difficult, and potentially dangerous work often shunned by regular employees. The World Nuclear Association states that the transient workforce of "nuclear gypsies"—casual workers employed by subcontractors—has been "part of the nuclear scene for at least four decades." Existing labor laws regarding worker health are not always properly enforced. A 15-country collaborative cohort study of cancer risks due to exposure to low-dose ionizing radiation, involving 407,391 nuclear industry workers, showed significant increase in cancer mortality. The study evaluated 31 types of cancers, primary and secondary. Nuclear power reactor accidents can result in a variety of
radioisotope A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess numbers of either neutrons or protons, giving it excess nuclear energy, and making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ...
s being released into the environment. The health impact of each radioisotope depends on a variety of factors. Iodine-131 is potentially an important source of morbidity in accidental discharges because of its prevalence and because it settles on the ground. When iodine-131 is released, it can be inhaled or consumed after it enters the food chain, primarily through contaminated fruits, vegetables, milk, and groundwater. Iodine-131 in the body rapidly accumulates in the thyroid gland, becoming a source of beta radiation. The 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the most serious
nuclear accident A nuclear and radiation accident is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as "an event that has led to significant consequences to people, the environment or the facility." Examples include radiation poisoning, lethal effect ...
since 1986, resulted in the displacement of 50,000 households. Radiation checks led to bans of some shipments of vegetables and fish. However, according to UN reports, the radiation leaks were small and did not cause any health problems in residents. Evacuation of residents was criticized as not scientifically justified. Production of nuclear power relies on the nuclear fuel cycle, which includes uranium mining and milling. Uranium workers are routinely exposed to low levels of
radon Radon is a chemical element; it has symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive noble gas and is colorless and odorless. Of the three naturally occurring radon isotopes, only Rn has a sufficiently long half-life (3.825 days) for it to b ...
decay products and
gamma radiation A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol ), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from high energy interactions like the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei or astronomical events like solar flares. It consists o ...
. Risks of
leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...
from acute and high doses of gamma radiation are well-known, but there is debate about risks from lower doses. Only a few studies have examined the risks of other hematological cancers in uranium workers.


Comparison to coal-fired power generation

In terms of net radioactive release, the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) estimated the average radioactivity per short ton of coal is 17,100 millicuries per 4,000,000 tons. With 154 coal plants in the United States, this amounts to emissions of 0.6319 TBq per year, per plant. It is sometimes cited that coal plants release 100 times the radioactivity of nuclear plants. This comes from NCRP Reports No. 92 and No. 95, which estimate the dose to the population from 1000 MWe coal and nuclear plants at 4.9 man-Sv/year and 0.048 man-Sv/year, respectively (a typical
Chest x-ray A chest radiograph, chest X-ray (CXR), or chest film is a Projectional radiography, projection radiograph of the chest used to diagnose conditions affecting the chest, its contents, and nearby structures. Chest radiographs are the most common fi ...
gives a dose of about 0.06 mSv, for comparison).Coal Combustion – ORNL Review Vol. 26, No. 3&4, 1993
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates an added dose of 0.3 μSv per year for living within of a coal plant and 0.009 milli-rem per year for those living within the same distance of a nuclear plant.The EPA
Calculate Your Radiation Dose
/ref> Nuclear power plants in normal operation emit less radioactivity than coal power plants. Unlike coal-fired or oil-fired power generation, nuclear power generation does not directly produce any
sulfur dioxide Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless gas with a pungent smell that is responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is r ...
,
nitrogen oxides In atmospheric chemistry, is shorthand for nitric oxide () and nitrogen dioxide (), the nitrogen oxides that are most relevant for air pollution. These gases contribute to the formation of smog and acid rain, as well as affecting tr ...
, or mercury (pollution from fossil fuels is blamed for 24,000 early deaths each year in the U.S. alone). However, as with all energy sources, there is some pollution associated with support activities such as mining, manufacturing, and transportation. A major European Union-funded research study known as ExternE, or
Externalities In economics, an externality is an indirect cost (external cost) or indirect benefit (external benefit) to an uninvolved third party that arises as an effect of another party's (or parties') activity. Externalities can be considered as unpriced ...
of Energy, undertaken from 1995 to 2005 found that the environmental and health costs of nuclear power, per unit of energy delivered, was €0.0019/kWh. This is lower than that of many renewable sources, including the environmental impact caused by
biomass Biomass is a term used in several contexts: in the context of ecology it means living organisms, and in the context of bioenergy it means matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms. In the latter context, there are variations in how ...
use and the manufacture of photovoltaic
solar panels A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...
, and was over thirty times lower than coal's impact of €0.06/kWh, or 6 cents/kWh. However,
wind power Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails, windmills and windpumps, but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity ge ...
's impact was €0.0009/kWh, just under half the price of nuclear power. In May 2023, the Washington Post wrote, "Had Germany kept its nuclear plants running from 2010, it could have slashed its use of coal for electricity to 13 percent by now. Today’s figure is 31 percent... Already more lives might have been lost just in Germany because of air pollution from coal power than from all of the world’s nuclear accidents to date, Fukushima and Chernobyl included."


Contrast of radioactive accident emissions with industrial emissions

Proponents of nuclear power argue that the problems of nuclear waste "do not come anywhere close" to approaching the problems of fossil fuel waste. A 2004 article from the BBC states: "The
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...
(WHO) says 3 million people are killed worldwide by outdoor air pollution annually from vehicles and industrial emissions, and 1.6 million indoors through using solid fuel." In the U.S. alone, fossil fuel waste kills 20,000 people each year. A coal power plant releases 100 times as much radiation as a nuclear power plant of the same wattage. It is estimated that during 1982, US coal burning released 155 times as much radioactivity into the atmosphere as the
Three Mile Island accident The Three Mile Island accident was a partial nuclear meltdown of the Unit 2 reactor (TMI-2) of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station, located on the Susquehanna River in Londonderry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Londonderry T ...
. The World Nuclear Association provides a comparison of deaths due to accidents among different forms of energy production. In their life-cycle comparison, deaths per TW-yr of electricity produced from 1970 to 1992 are quoted as 885 for hydropower, 342 for coal, 85 for natural gas, and 8 for nuclear. The figures include
uranium mining Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the earth. Over 50,000 tons of uranium were produced in 2019. Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia were the top three uranium producers, respectively, and together account for 68% of w ...
, which can be a hazardous industry, with many accidents and fatalities.


Waste heat

As with all thermoelectric plants, nuclear power plants need cooling systems. The most common systems for thermal power plants, including nuclear, are: * Once-through cooling, in which water is drawn from a large body, passes through the cooling system, and then flows back into the water body. * Cooling pond, in which water is drawn from a pond dedicated to the purpose, passes through the cooling system, then returns to the pond. Examples include the South Texas Nuclear Generating Station and the North Anna Nuclear Generating Station. The latter uses a cooling pond or artificial lake, which at the plant discharge canal is often about 30 °F warmer than in the other parts of the lake or in normal lakes (this is cited as an attraction of the area by some residents). The environmental effects of the artificial lakes are often weighted in arguments against construction of new plants, and during droughts such lakes have drawn media attention. The Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station is credited with helping the conservation status of the
American Crocodile The American crocodile (''Crocodylus acutus'') is a species of crocodilian found in the Neotropics. It is the most widespread of the four Extant taxon, extant species of crocodiles from the Americas, with populations present from South Florida, ...
, largely an effect of the waste heat produced. * Cooling towers, in which water recirculates through the cooling system until it evaporates from the tower. Examples include the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant. A 2011 study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory determined that the median nuclear plant with cooling towers consumed 672 gallons of water per megawatt-hour, less than the median consumption of concentrating solar power (865 gal/MWhr for trough type, and 786 gal/MWhr for power tower type), slightly less than coal (687 gal/MWhr), but more than that for natural gas (198 gal/MWhr). Once-through cooling systems use more water, but less water is lost to evaporation. In the median US nuclear plant with once-through cooling, 44,350 gal/MWhr pass through the cooling system, but only 269 gal/MWhr (less than 1 percent) is consumed by evaporation.John Macknick and others
A Review of Operational Water Consumption and Withdrawal Factors for Electricity Generating Technologies
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Technical Report NREL/TP-6A20-50900.
Nuclear plants exchange 60 to 70% of their thermal energy by cycling with a body of water or by evaporating water through a
cooling tower A cooling tower is a device that rejects waste heat to the atmosphere through the cooling of a coolant stream, usually a water stream, to a lower temperature. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove heat and cool the ...
. This thermal efficiency is somewhat lower than that of coal-fired power plants, thus creating more
waste heat Waste heat is heat that is produced by a machine, or other process that uses energy, as a byproduct of doing work. All such processes give off some waste heat as a fundamental result of the laws of thermodynamics. Waste heat has lower utility ...
. It is possible to use waste heat in
cogeneration Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time. Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elec ...
applications such as
district heating District heating (also known as heat networks) is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location through a system of insulated pipes for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heater, space heating and w ...
. The principles of cogeneration and district heating with nuclear power are the same as any other form of thermal power production. The Ågesta Nuclear Power Plant in Sweden provides nuclear heat generation. In Switzerland, the Beznau Nuclear Power Plant provides heat to about 20,000 people. However, district heating with nuclear power plants is less common than with other modes of waste heat generation; because of either siting regulations and/or the
NIMBY NIMBY (, or nimby), an acronym for the phrase "Not In My Back Yard", is a characterization of opposition by residents to proposed real estate development and infrastructure developments in their local area, as well as support for strict land us ...
effect, nuclear stations are generally not built in densely populated areas. Waste heat is more commonly used in industrial applications. As district heating has a seasonal demand curve it is often only a seasonal solution of the waste heat problem. Furthermore, district heating is less efficient in less densely populated areas and as nuclear power plants are often constructed far out of population centers due to
NIMBY NIMBY (, or nimby), an acronym for the phrase "Not In My Back Yard", is a characterization of opposition by residents to proposed real estate development and infrastructure developments in their local area, as well as support for strict land us ...
and safety concerns, the usage of nuclear district heating hasn't been widespread. During Europe's
2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...
and 2006 heat waves, French, Spanish, and German utilities had to secure exemptions from regulations in order to discharge overheated water into the environment. Some nuclear reactors shut down. With
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
causing weather extremes such as
heat waves "Heat Waves" is a song by British indie rock band Glass Animals released as a single from their third studio album ''Dreamland (Glass Animals album), Dreamland'' on 29 June 2020. A sleeper hit, it is the band's signature song and biggest hit sing ...
, reduced precipitation levels and droughts can have a significant impact on
thermal power station A thermal power station, also known as a thermal power plant, is a type of power station in which the heat energy generated from various fuel sources (e.g., coal, natural gas, nuclear fuel, etc.) is converted to electrical energy. The heat ...
infrastructure, including large biomass-electric and fission-electric stations if cooling in these power stations is provided by certain
freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...
sources.Dr. Frauke Urban and Dr. Tom Mitchell 2011
Climate change, disasters and electricity generation
. London:
Overseas Development Institute ODI Global (formerly Overseas Development Institute) is a global affairs think tank, founded in 1960. Its mission is "to inspire people to act on injustice and inequality through collaborative research and ideas that matter for people and the ...
and
Institute of Development Studies An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...
A number of thermal stations use indirect seawater cooling or
cooling tower A cooling tower is a device that rejects waste heat to the atmosphere through the cooling of a coolant stream, usually a water stream, to a lower temperature. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove heat and cool the ...
s that use little to no freshwater. During heat waves, some stations designed to heat exchange with rivers and lakes are legally required to reduce output or cease operations to protect water levels and aquatic life. This presently infrequent problem common among all thermal power stations may become increasingly significant over time. If global warming continues, disruption of electricity may occur if station operators do not have other means of cooling, like cooling towers available. Nuclear plants, like all
thermal power plants A thermal power station, also known as a thermal power plant, is a type of power station in which the heat energy generated from various fuel sources (e.g., coal, natural gas, nuclear fuel, etc.) is converted to electrical energy. The heat ...
including coal, geothermal and biomass power plants, use special structures to draw in water for cooling. Water is often drawn through screens to minimize debris. Many aquatic organisms are trapped and killed against the screens, through a process known as impingement. Aquatic organisms small enough to pass through the screens are subject to toxic stress in a process known as entrainment. Summer shutdowns are especially pronounced in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, which produces some 70% of electricity with nuclear power plants and where electric home heating is widespread. However, in regions with high
heating, ventilation, and air conditioning Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC ) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. H ...
power use, the summer season, rather than imposing lower power demands, may be the peak season of electricity demand, complicating scheduled summer shutdowns.


Greenhouse gas emissions

Over its lifecycle nuclear energy has low greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Many stages of the nuclear fuel chain—mining, milling, transport, fuel fabrication, enrichment, reactor construction, decommissioning, and waste management—use fossil fuels or involve changes to land use, and hence emit some carbon dioxide and conventional pollutants.Mark Diesendorf
Is nuclear energy a possible solution to global warming?
pdf
Nuclear energy produces about 10 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour, compared to about 500 for fossil gas and 1000 for coal. Like all energy sources, various
life cycle analysis Life cycle assessment (LCA), also known as life cycle analysis, is a methodology for assessing the impacts associated with all the stages of the life cycle of a commercial product, process, or service. For instance, in the case of a manufact ...
(LCA) studies have led to a range of estimates on the
median The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...
value for nuclear power, with most comparisons of carbon dioxide emissions showing that
nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by ...
is comparable to
renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...
sources."Hydropower-Internalised Costs and Externalised Benefits"; Frans H. Koch;
International Energy Agency The International Energy Agency (IEA) is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organization, established in 1974, that provides policy recommendations, analysis and data on the global energy sector. The 31 member countries and 13 associatio ...
(IEA)-Implementing Agreement for Hydropower Technologies and Programmes; 2000.
Many people have argued that an expansion of nuclear power would help combat
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
. Others have argued that it is one way to reduce emissions, but it comes with its own problems, such as risks related to severe
nuclear accident A nuclear and radiation accident is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as "an event that has led to significant consequences to people, the environment or the facility." Examples include radiation poisoning, lethal effect ...
s, attacks on nuclear sites, and nuclear terrorism. Some activists also believe that there are better ways of dealing with climate change than investing in nuclear power, including the improved energy efficiency and greater reliance on decentralized and
renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...
sources.


Environmental effects of accidents and attacks

The 1979
Three Mile Island accident The Three Mile Island accident was a partial nuclear meltdown of the Unit 2 reactor (TMI-2) of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station, located on the Susquehanna River in Londonderry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Londonderry T ...
and 1986
Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...
, along with high construction costs and delays resulting from demonstrations, injunctions, and political actions by anti-nuclear activists, effectively ended the rapid growth of global nuclear power capacity. A release of radioactive materials followed the 2011 Japanese tsunami which damaged the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, resulting in hydrogen gas explosions and partial meltdowns. The Fukushima disaster was classified a Level 7 event. The large-scale release of radioactivity resulted in people being evacuated from a 20 km exclusion zone set up around the power plant, similar to the 30 km radius
Chernobyl Exclusion Zone The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone of Alienation, also called the 30-Kilometre Zone or simply The Zone, was established shortly after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union. Initially, Soviet authorities declar ...
still in effect. Published works suggest that the radioactivity levels around Chernobyl have lowered enough to now have only a limited impact on wildlife. In Japan, in July 2016, Fukushima Prefecture announced that the number of evacuees following the Great East Japan earthquake events had fallen below 90,000, in part because of the lifting of evacuation orders issued in some municipalities.


Fukushima disaster

In March 2011, an earthquake and tsunami caused damage that led to explosions and partial meltdowns at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. Since then, radiation levels at the Fukushima I power plant have varied, spiking up to 1,000 mSv/h ( millisievert per hour), which can cause
radiation sickness Acute radiation syndrome (ARS), also known as radiation sickness or radiation poisoning, is a collection of health effects that are caused by being exposed to high amounts of ionizing radiation in a short period of time. Symptoms can start wit ...
to occur following a one-hour exposure. Significant emissions of radioactive particles took place following hydrogen explosions at three reactors, as technicians tried to pump in seawater to keep the uranium fuel rods cool and bled radioactive gas from the reactors in order to make room for the seawater. Concerns about the possibility of a large-scale release of radioactive material resulted in 20 km exclusion zone being set up around the power plant and people within the 20–30 km band being advised to stay indoors. Later, the UK, France, and some other countries told their nationals to consider leaving Tokyo, in response to fears of spreading nuclear contamination. ''New Scientist'' reported that emissions of radioactive iodine and cesium from the crippled Fukushima I nuclear plant have approached levels evident after the
Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...
in 1986. On March 24, 2011, Japanese officials announced that "radioactive iodine-131 exceeding safety limits for infants had been detected at 18 water-purification plants in Tokyo and five other prefectures." Officials said also that the fallout from the Dai-ichi plant is "hindering search efforts for victims from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami." According to the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan, "by April 27 approximately 55 percent of the fuel in reactor unit 1 had melted, along with 35 percent of the fuel in unit 2, and 30 percent of the fuel in unit 3; and overheated spent fuels in the storage pools of units 3 and 4 probably were also damaged." As of April 2011, water was still being poured into the damaged reactors to cool melting fuel rods. The accident has surpassed the 1979
Three Mile Island accident The Three Mile Island accident was a partial nuclear meltdown of the Unit 2 reactor (TMI-2) of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station, located on the Susquehanna River in Londonderry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Londonderry T ...
in seriousness and is comparable to the 1986
Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...
. ''The Economist'' reported that the Fukushima disaster is "a bit like three Three Mile Islands in a row, with added damage in the spent-fuel stores," and that there will be ongoing impacts:
Years of clean-up will drag into decades. A permanent exclusion zone could end up stretching beyond the plant’s perimeter. Seriously exposed workers may be at increased risk of cancers for the rest of their lives...
John Price, a former member of the Safety Policy Unit at the UK's National Nuclear Corporation, said that it "might be 100 years before melting fuel rods can be safely removed from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant." In the second half of August 2011, Japanese lawmakers announced that Prime Minister Naoto Kan would likely visit the Fukushima Prefecture to announce that the large, contaminated area around the destroyed reactors would be declared uninhabitable, perhaps for decades. Some of the areas in the temporary radius evacuation zone around Fukushima were found to be heavily contaminated with radionuclides, according to a survey released by the Japanese Ministry of Science and Education. As of 2016, the government expects to gradually lift the designation of some “difficult-to-return zones,” a total area of , by 2021. Rain, wind, and natural dissipation have removed many radioactive contaminants, lowering levels at the central district of Okuma town to 9 mSv/year, one-fifth the level recorded in 2011. However, according to UN reports, radiation leaks were small and did not cause any health damage to residents. Rushed evacuation of residents was criticized as not scientifically justified, driven by
radiophobia Radiophobia is an irrational or excessive fear of ionizing radiation, leading to overestimating the health risks of radiation compared to other risks. It can impede rational decision-making and contribute to counter-productive behavior and poli ...
and causing more harm than the incident itself.


Chernobyl disaster

As of 2013, the 1986
Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...
in
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
remains the world's worst nuclear power plant disaster. Estimates of its death toll are controversial and range from 62 to 25,000, with the high projections including deaths that have yet to happen. Peer-reviewed publications have generally supported a projected total figure in the low tens of thousands. For example, an estimate of 16,000 excess cancer deaths are predicted to occur due to the Chernobyl accident out to the year 2065, whereas, in the same period, several hundred million cancer cases are expected from other causes. The IARC also stated in a press release: "To put it in perspective, tobacco smoking will cause several thousand times more cancers in the same population," but also, referring to the numbers of different types of cancers, "The exception is
thyroid cancer Thyroid cancer is cancer that develops from the tissues of the thyroid gland. It is a disease in which cells grow abnormally and have the potential to spread to other parts of the body. Symptoms can include swelling or a lump in the neck, ...
, which, over ten years ago, was already shown to be increased in the most contaminated regions around the site of the accident." The full version of the
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...
health effects report adopted by the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
, also published in 2006, included the prediction of, in total, no more of 4,000 deaths from cancer. The Union of Concerned Scientists took issue with the report, and they, following the disputed linear no-threshold model (LNT) model of cancer susceptibility, instead estimated that the Chernobyl disaster would cause a total of 25,000 excess cancer deaths worldwide. That would place the total Chernobyl death toll below that of the worst dam failure accident in history, the Banqiao Dam disaster of 1975 in China. Large amounts of
radioactive contamination Radioactive contamination, also called radiological pollution, is the deposition of, or presence of Radioactive decay, radioactive substances on surfaces or within solids, liquids, or gases (including the human body), where their presence is uni ...
were spread across Europe due to the Chernobyl disaster; cesium and
strontium Strontium is a chemical element; it has symbol Sr and atomic number 38. An alkaline earth metal, it is a soft silver-white yellowish metallic element that is highly chemically reactive. The metal forms a dark oxide layer when it is exposed to ...
contaminated many agricultural products, livestock, and soil. The accident necessitated the evacuation of the entire city of Pripyat and of 300,000 people from
Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
, rendering an area of land unusable by humans for an indeterminate period. As radioactive materials decay, they release particles that can damage the body and lead to cancer, particularly cesium-137 and iodine-131. In the Chernobyl disaster, releases of cesium-137
contaminated land Contaminated land contains substances in or under the land that are definitively or potentially hazardous to health or the environment. These areas often have a long history of industrial production and industrial farming. Many sites may be affect ...
. Some communities, including the entire city of Pripyat, were abandoned indefinitely. One news source reported that thousands of people who drank milk contaminated with radioactive iodine developed thyroid cancer. The exclusion zone (approximately a 30 km radius around Chernobyl) may have significantly elevated levels of radiation, which is now predominantly due to the decay of cesium-137. This contamination is expected to last approximately 300 years. Due to the
bioaccumulation Bioaccumulation is the gradual accumulation of substances, such as pesticides or other chemicals, in an organism. Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism absorbs a substance faster than it can be lost or eliminated by catabolism and excretion. T ...
of cesium-137, some mushrooms as well as wild animals which eat them may have levels which are not considered safe for human consumption. Mandatory radiation testing of sheep in parts of the UK that graze on lands with contaminated peat was lifted in 2012. In 2007, the Ukrainian government declared much of the
Chernobyl Exclusion Zone The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone of Alienation, also called the 30-Kilometre Zone or simply The Zone, was established shortly after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union. Initially, Soviet authorities declar ...
, almost , a zoological animal reserve. Many species of animals have experienced population increases since human influence has largely left the region, including moose, bison, and wolves. However, other species such as barn
swallow The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...
s and many
invertebrates Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordate subphylum ...
have diminished. There is much controversy among biologists over whether Chernobyl is now a wildlife reserve.


SL-1 meltdown

The
SL-1 Stationary Low-Power Reactor Number One, also known as SL-1, initially the Argonne Low Power Reactor (ALPR), was a United States Army experimental nuclear reactor in the Western United States, western United States at the Idaho National Laborato ...
, or Stationary Low-Power Reactor Number One, was a
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
experimental nuclear power reactor which underwent a
steam explosion A steam explosion is an explosion caused by violent boiling or flashing of water or ice into steam, occurring when water or ice is either superheated, rapidly heated by fine hot debris produced within it, or heated by the interaction of molten ...
and meltdown on January 3, 1961, killing its three operators: John Byrnes, Richard McKinley, and Richard Legg. The direct cause was the improper manual withdrawal of the central control rod, which was responsible for absorbing neutrons in the reactor core. This caused the reactor power to surge to about 20,000MW and in turn, an explosion occurred. The event is the only known fatal reactor accident in the United States and the first to occur in the world. Chapter 16. The accident released about of iodine-131, which was not considered significant due to its location in a remote desert of
Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...
. About of fission products were released into the atmosphere. Radiation exposure limits prior to the accident were 100 röntgens to save a life and 25 to save valuable property. During the response to the accident, 22 people received doses of 3 to 27 röntgens. Removal of radioactive waste and disposal of the three bodies eventually exposed 790 people to harmful levels of radiation. The hands of the initial victims were buried separately from their bodies because of their radiation levels.


Attacks and sabotage

Nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power st ...
s, uranium enrichment plants, fuel fabrication plants, and even potentially uranium mines are vulnerable to attacks which could lead to widespread
radioactive contamination Radioactive contamination, also called radiological pollution, is the deposition of, or presence of Radioactive decay, radioactive substances on surfaces or within solids, liquids, or gases (including the human body), where their presence is uni ...
. The attack threat is of several general types: commando-like ground-based attacks on equipment which, if disabled, could lead to a reactor core meltdown or widespread dispersal of radioactivity; and external attacks such as an aircraft crash into a reactor complex, or cyber attacks. Terrorists could target
nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power st ...
s in an attempt to release
radioactive contamination Radioactive contamination, also called radiological pollution, is the deposition of, or presence of Radioactive decay, radioactive substances on surfaces or within solids, liquids, or gases (including the human body), where their presence is uni ...
into the environment and community. Nuclear reactors become preferred targets during military conflict and have been repeatedly attacked by military air strikes: Benjamin K. Sovacool (2011). '' Contesting the Future of Nuclear Power: A Critical Global Assessment of Atomic Energy'', World Scientific, p. 192. *In September 1980, Iran bombed the incomplete Osirak reactor complex in Iraq. *In June 1981, an Israeli air strike completely destroyed Iraq's Osirak reactor. *Between 1984 and 1987, Iraq bombed Iran's incomplete Bushehr nuclear plant six times. *In Iraq in 1991, the U.S. bombed three nuclear reactors and an enrichment pilot facility. The United States 9/11 Commission said that nuclear power plants were potential targets originally considered for the September 11, 2001 attacks. If terrorist groups could sufficiently damage safety systems to cause a core meltdown at a nuclear power plant and/or sufficiently damage spent fuel pools, such an attack could lead to a widespread radioactive contamination. According to a 2004 report by the U.S.
Congressional Budget Office The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the United States Congress, legislative branch of the United States government that provides budget and economic information to Congress. I ...
, "The human, environmental, and economic costs from a successful attack on a nuclear power plant that results in the release of substantial quantities of radioactive material to the environment could be great.""Congressional Budget Office Vulnerabilities from Attacks on Power Reactors and Spent Material"
An attack on a reactor's
spent fuel pool Spent fuel pools (SFP) are storage pools (or "ponds" in the United Kingdom) for spent fuel from nuclear reactors. They are typically 40 or more feet (12 m) deep, with the bottom 14 feet (4.3 m) equipped with storage racks designed to hold ...
could also be serious, as these pools are less protected than the reactor core. The release of radioactivity could lead to thousands of near-term deaths and greater numbers of long-term fatalities. Insider sabotage occurs because insiders can observe and work around security measures. In a study of insider crimes, the authors repeatedly said that successful insider crimes depended on the perpetrators’ observation and knowledge of security vulnerabilities. Since the atomic age began, the U.S. Department of Energy’s nuclear laboratories have been known for widespread violations of security rules. A better understanding of the scope of the insider threat will help to overcome complacency and is critical to getting countries to take stronger preventative measures. Researchers have emphasized the need to make nuclear facilities extremely safe from sabotage and attacks that could release massive quantities of radioactivity. New reactor designs have passive safety features, such as automatic flooding of the reactor core without active intervention by reactor operators. These safety measures have generally been developed and studied with respect to accidents, not to deliberate reactor attacks by terrorist groups. However, the US
Nuclear Regulatory Commission The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with protecting public health and safety related to nuclear energy. Established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, the ...
now requires new reactor license applications to consider security during the design stage.


Natural disasters

Following the 2011 Fukushima I nuclear accidents, there has been increased focus on the risks associated with
seismic activity An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...
and the potential for environmental radioactive release. Genpatsu-shinsai, meaning ''nuclear power plant earthquake disaster,'' is a term coined by Japanese Seismology, seismologist Professor Katsuhiko Ishibashi in 1997.Genpatsu-Shinsai: Catastrophic Multiple Disaster of Earthquake and Quake-induced Nuclear Accident Anticipated in the Japanese Islands (Slides)
Katsuhiko Ishibashi, 23rd. General Assembly of IUGG, 2003, Sapporo, Japan, accessed 2011-03-28
It describes a domino effect scenario in which a major earthquake causes a severe accident at a
nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power st ...
near a major population center, resulting in an uncontrollable release of radiation that make damage control and rescue impossible. In such a scenario, earthquake damage severely impedes the evacuation of the population. Ishibashi predicts that such an event would have a global impact seriously affecting future generations.Genpatsu-Shinsai: Catastrophic Multiple Disaster of Earthquake and Quake-induced Nuclear Accident Anticipated in the Japanese Islands (Abstract)
Katsuhiko Ishibashi, 23rd. General Assembly of IUGG, 2003, Sapporo, Japan, accessed 2011-03-28
The 1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood was a flood that took place in France on the evening of December 27, 1999. It was caused when a combination of the tide and high winds from the Martin (storm), extratropical storm Martin led to the plant's sea walls being overwhelmed.Generic Results and Conclusions of Re-evaluating the Flooding in French and German Nuclear Power Plants
J. M. Mattéi, E. Vial, V. Rebour, H. Liemersdorf, M. Türschmann, ''Eurosafe Forum 2001'', published 2001, accessed 2011-03-21
The event resulted in the loss of the plant's off-site power supply and knocked out several safety-related systems, resulting in a International Nuclear Event Scale#Level 2: Incident, Level 2 event on the International Nuclear Event Scale. The incident illustrated the potential for flooding to damage nuclear plants, with the potential for radioactive release.Lessons Learned from 1999 Blayais Flood: Overview of the EDF Flood Risk Management Plan
Eric de Fraguier, EDF, published 2010-03-11, accessed 2011-03-22


Decommissioning

Nuclear decommissioning is the process by which a
nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power st ...
site is dismantled so that it will no longer require measures for radiation protection. The presence of
radioactive Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is conside ...
material necessitates processes that are occupationally dangerous, hazardous to the local environment, expensive, and time-intensive. Most nuclear plants currently operating in the US were originally designed for a life of about 30–40 years and are licensed to operate for 40 years by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The average age of these reactors is 32 years. Therefore, many reactors are coming to the end of their licensing period. If their licenses are not renewed, the plants must go through a decontamination and decommissioning process. debate continues in many countries about how long their nuclear plants should run for, with some being shut-down earlier than expected when they were built and others having their lifetimes extended by decades. Decommissioning is an administrative and technical process. It includes clean-up of radioactivity and progressive demolition of the plant. Once a facility is fully decommissioned, no danger of a radiologic nature should persist. The costs of decommissioning are to be spread over the lifetime of a facility and saved in a decommissioning fund. After a facility has been completely decommissioned, it is released from regulatory control, and the licensee of the plant will no longer be responsible for its nuclear safety. With some plants, the intent is to eventually return to "greenfield" status.


See also

* Anti-nuclear movement *
Church Rock uranium mill spill The Church Rock uranium mill spill occurred in the U.S. state of New Mexico on July 16, 1979, when United Nuclear Corporation's tailings disposal pond at its Uranium mining#Heap leaching, uranium mill in Church Rock, New Mexico, Church Rock breac ...
* '' Contesting the Future of Nuclear Power'' * Ecological footprint * Environmental impact of electricity generation * ''Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy'' * International Nuclear Event Scale * List of books about nuclear issues * Lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents * ''Non-Nuclear Futures'' * ''Nuclear or Not?'' * ''Nuclear Power and the Environment'' * Plutonium in the environment * Pro-nuclear movement * Renewable energy commercialization * ''The Clean Tech Revolution'' * Three Mile Island accident health effects * Waste Isolation Pilot Plant


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Environmental Effects Of Nuclear Power Environmental impact of nuclear power, Nuclear power