Ask A Scientist© General Science Archive

>   name         Andrew Mellor
>   status       student
>   age          16
     
>   Question -   Is it true that a coal fired power station can actually
release more radioactive material into the atmosphere than a nuclear
power station?

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That really depends on the coal that is being used in the plant.
Atoms of all elements have isotopes, different nuclei with various
amounts of neutrons. The protons are the same for a given element. Many
of the elements are naturally radioactive, hence when you burn coal,
wood, paper or anything else, radioactive elements are released


Dr. Myron
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Right.  Coal can contain radioactive material in it;  after all, coal is a
rock, and it contains lots of minerals in addition to the carbonaceous
plant material that provides the energy.  Some of these minerals may
contain naturally-occurring radioactive elements (uranium, thorium).  When
coal is burned, ashes go out the stack;  most of these are removed by
electrostatic precipitators, but not all.  This is how a coal-fired plant
can release radioactivity.

In nuclear plants, the radioactive fuel elements are sealed into rods,
which are cooled by a variety of liquid coolants.  Some of the rods do leak
after some time of use.  The cooling liquid, however, is also in a sealed
recirculating system, which in turn exchanges its heat with another system
on the outside, which is the system that drives the power generator.  Not
much of a nuclear plant's waste is released into the atmosphere, so the
radioactive emissions from a coal plant easily surpass it.


                Richard Barrans Jr., Ph.D.
                Chemical Separations Group
                Chemistry Division CHM/200
                Argonne National Laboratory
                9700 South Cass Avenue
                Argonne, IL 60439
                richb@anl.gov


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