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Nuclear reactors or combustible oil products for energy
Name: Susan M Buta
Status: Other
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
At a lunchtime discussion a colleague mentioned a statistic he thought was a
fact, yet could not remember the source. The context was beneficial uses of
nuclear reactors: "Chernobyl, the worst reactor accident, claimed about 2500
lives to date. Yet in the USA alone, 60,000 lives are lost a year to
pollution related illnesses caused by combustion of oil products." Is anyone
familiar with this or a similar quote?
Replies:
This probably came from a popular news magazine like Newsweek or US News and
World Report, which do fine as far as bringing you the news, but may overlook
facts from time to time. Yes, Chernobyl killed around 2500 to 3000 people,
but you have to remember, that is a figure which counts the people who died in
the initial explosion and subsequent deaths due to exposure to ionizing
radiation. The town of Pripyat, about 25 km away from Chernobyl, was not
evacuated until several hours after the radiation plume had passed overhead,
exposing around 45 000 people. We do not know what kinds of cancer related
deaths will increase in number due to this exposure. Now, as far as other
OPERATIONAL NPC's, there is always a certain degree of stray radiation, and
studies all over the world are being conducted on the effects this has on
human life as well as the ecology of the surrounding environment.
Petroleum products, on the other hand, pose other problems. Hydrocarbon
poisoning is pretty nasty, and is being blamed for health problems suffered
by, among others, returning soldiers from the Persian Gulf War, who complain
of chronic dizziness, nausea, and confusion. Inhalation of gasoline fumes has
been linked to birth defects via genetic mutation of parental sex cells.
Inefficient burning of petroleum products produces the precursor compounds for
acid rain. And, of course, burning of gasoline produces toxic carbon
monoxide. So you see, you have a mixed bag. One source of power is not
necessarily worse than another. One of the big issues in our society today is
whether or not the benefits of ready, easy to generate power are worth the
price we pay in attempting to protect the environment (and in particular,
ourselves) from ourselves. Think about it and write me a report for next
week. *grin*
Wordsworth
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Update: June 2012
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