Abstract
We consider the risk of high level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, once buried in the ground, being released by ground water intrusion and eventually being ingested by a human to cause cancer. A probabilistic risk analysis is given for an average United States burial site—it seems reasonable to assume that a particular carefully selected site would be at least as secure. If the effects are summed indefinitely into the future, the result is 0.02 deaths per gigawattelectric year (GWe -y). It is shown that this is thousands of times less than the deaths per GWe-y now being caused by coal burning electricity generation. Compelling arguments are given that only effects over the next 1,000 years should be considered, and these are very much smaller. A probabilistic risk analysis is given for an average low level waste burial site, adding up effects indefinitely into the future; the result is 0.0005 deaths per GWe-y . The reasons why the public perceives the dangers from radioactive waste to be so m...
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
More From: Practice Periodical of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste Management
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.