Nuclear power and the environment. The Sylvanus Thompson Memorial Lecture, April 14, 1978

Abstract

There are so many aspects of nuclear power and the environment that it would be possible to give several quite different lectures all equally relevant to the title. There are, however, two quite separate aspects of the problem which are currently in the public eye and I would like today to concentrate on them. The first is the problem of the harmful effects of low levels of radiation which inevitably accompany any nuclear power programme and the other is the problem of radioactive waste management and the ultimate disposal of long-lived fission products. Let me deal first with the low levels of radiation which accompany a nuclear power programme, and for that matter the whole radiological industry whether associated with hospital diagnosis, industrial X-ray examination or, for that matter, passenger baggage examination at our airports. Table I shows the per caput radiation dose per annum received by the population of this country at the present time. It will be seen that natural radiation is far and away the principal source of this radiation. Some of this natural radiation comes from outer space, but the majority is from naturally occurring radioactive substances on the surface of the earth. This naturally-occurring radioactivity is dying away slowly with time and must have been considerably higher at the time when life was first evolving on this planet.