Nuclear Power Plant Accidents

Here is the timeline of famous nuclear accidents: 1952 Dec. 12, Chalk River, nr. Ottawa, Canada: a partial meltdown of the reactor's uranium fuel core resulted after the accidental removal of four control rods. Although millions of gallons of radioactive water accumulated inside the reactor, there were no injuries. 1957 Oct. 7, Windscale Pile No. 1, north of Liverpool, England: fire in a graphite-cooled reactor spewed radiation over the countryside, contaminating a 200-sq-mi area. South Ural Mountains: explosion of radioactive wastes at Soviet nuclear weapons factory 12 miles from city of Kyshtym forced the evacuation of over 10,000 people from a contaminated area. No casualties were reported by Soviet officials. 1976 nr. Greifswald, East Germany: radioactive core of reactor in the Lubmin nuclear power plant nearly melted down due to the failure of safety systems during a fire. 1979 March 28, Three Mile Island, nr. Harrisburg, Pa.: one of two reactors lost its coolant, which caused the radioactive fuel to overheat and caused a partial meltdown. Some radioactive material was released. 1986 April 26, Chernobyl, nr. Kiev, former U.S.S.R.: explosion and fire in the graphite core of one of four reactors released radioactive material that spread over part of the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, and later Western Europe. 31 claimed dead. Total casualties are unknown and estimates run into

the thousands. Worst such accident to date. 1999 September 30, Tokyo, Japan: workers added seven times the required amount. Radiation was released to the surrounding areas. The three workers performing the operation were exposed to high levels of radiation and were treated. Thirty-nine workers were exposed in total.

Nuclear Power Plants cause between 600-1000 deaths a year per million people. The vast majority of them, 80%, are to the plant workers. The distance from a nuclear power plant also has a direct affect on things such as breast cancer. In a extensive study it was found that, women living near a nuclear reactor had an average of 26-28 deaths from breast cancer per 100,000 women. Women living far from one averaged 22-23 deaths per 100,000.

Fallout

Nuclear fallout is the particles of matter in the air made radioactive from a nuclear explosion. Some of these particles fall in the immediate area and some get blown by upper winds many thousands of miles. Eventually they fall to the earth. This is called fallout.

Simulation of fallout in the US. The rate of fallout largely depends on the altitude of the nuclear explotion and to a lesser extent the magnitude of the explotion. If the explotion is in the air where it is unable to suck dirt particles from the ground then the particles are lighter and take much longer to fallout. If the blast is able to get particles from the ground then they fall much quicker in a more immediate area. Weather conditions can affect fallout immensely. Particularly rainfall can "rain out" fallout to create very intense localized concentrations. This poses a serious health hazard.

Human Health
Here is the effects of radiation on a humans. Below 100 rems No obvious sickness occurs. There might be a fluctuation in

white blood cell count, and may cause temporary male sterility. 100-200 rems Mild symptoms occur. Blood and sperm forming tissues are affected. Mild nausea and vomiting might occur. Temporary male sterility. Loss of appetite, fatigue might last up to 4 weeks. 200-400 rems Illness becomes increasingly severe, and significant mortality sets in. Onset of initial symptoms occur 1-6 hours and last 1-2 days. Nausea is universal and vomiting is 50% at 280 rems. After this a 7-14 day latency period sets in. Initial symptoms reoccur and also might include hair loss, fatigue, hemorrhage of the mouth, kidney. Susceptibility to infection is serious. At 300 rems the possibility of mortality without medical treatment increases to 10%. Possibility of permanent female sterility appears. Recovery takes around a month. 400-600 rems Mortality rises steeply, from around 50% at 450 rems to 90% at 600 unless there is medical intervention. The symptoms listed for 200-400 rems increase in occurrence and severity, reaching 100% occurrence at 600 rems. When death occurs, it is usually 2-12 weeks after exposure and results from infection and hemorrhage. Recovery takes several months to a year, blood cell counts may take even longer to return to normal. Female sterility becomes probable. 600-1000 rems Survival depends on stringent medical intervention. Bone marrow is almost completely destroyed and will require a transfusion of the bone marrow. Death usually follows 1-4 weeks from infection and internal bleeding. The recovery might never completely happen and if it does will take years. Above 1000 Above 1000 will cause severe intestinal and metabolic problems which include severe diarrhea, intestinal bleeding, and loss of fluids. Death will follow in a few hours from circulatory collapse. From 1000-5000 the onset time drops from 30 minutes to 5 minutes. Following the initial severe nausia a period of apparent well-being will last a few hours to a few days often called the walking ghost phase. The terminal phase will last 2-10 days. In rapid succession prostration, diarrhea, anorexia, and fever follow. Death is certain, often preceded by delirium and coma. Medical

treatment is only to relieve suffering. Above 5000 rems metabolic disruption is severe enough to interfere with the nervous system. Immediate disorientation and coma will result, onset is within seconds to minutes. Convulsions occur which may be controlled with sedation. Victim may linger for up to 48 hours before dying. The U.S. military assumes that 8000 rads of fast neutron radiation (from a neutron bomb) will immediately and permanently incapacitate a person. *These values are from exterior
absorption. Interior would be 70% of these values to produce the same effect.

In Chernobyl the survival rates of the people in the 400-1000 rems range was actually higher then what was given above. To put in in perspective the average human receives 360 millirem (.360 rems) a year of radiation from naturally occurring isotopes. Radiation has other effects. It can cause mutations. These mutations can either be somatic mutations (not inherited) or genetic mutations which are in reproductive cells and thus the mutations are passed on to offspring. Radiation also has long term effects on human health. It has been linked to leukemia, bone, lung, and breast cancer. It was thought at one time that radiation would cause nonspecific life shortening. There has been no evidence to suggest this anymore though.

Aquatic Health

It was also once believed that radiation would drastically effect aquatic animals such as fish. There have been a number of experiments done on this. All have shown little effect of radiation on fish. Only in extreme cases where fish were exposed to 11 rems

a day was there any evidence of mutations and life shortening.

Radiation Duration

Radiation can stay resonant for many years. Here is the breakdown of the half-lives of the most common nucleotides. Half-lives Radionuclid e Uranium233 Uranium235 Uranium238 Thorium232 Plutonium239 Half-Life 158,000 yrs 704 Million yrs 4.47 Billion yrs 14 Billion 24,400 yrs Products of Fission Iodine-131 Krypton-85 Tritium Strontium-90 Cesium-137 HalfLife 8 days 10.8 yrs 12.3 yrs 28 yrs 30 yrs

It was observed that from 1963 to 1965 the annual dose of global fallout dropped 50%. And from 1965 to 1969 it dropped 60%.

Nuclear energy is created by a controlled nuclear chain reaction that boils water, produces steam, and powers steam turbines. Although this is an excellent way to generate electricity, there are a few disadvantages of nuclear energy. Some of them include the waste, cost, and the possibility of accidents. This article will discuss the disadvantages of nuclear energy. Waste One of the biggest disadvantages of nuclear energy is the waste. Although the output of waste is relatively small, it releases harmful radiation as it decays. There is no method to get rid of the radioactivity of the waste or speed up the rate of decay. The waste must be sealed and buried in a safe location to prevent contamination of the environment and other people. Currently, there are no suitable locations that provide a permanent storage site for nuclear waste. Accidents Another one of the biggest disadvantages of nuclear energy is the occurrence of accidents due to core meltdown. These accidents happen when the core overheats and radiation products are allowed to escape the building. This contaminates the surrounding area with radioactive material that is very harmful people's health, often causing cancer. Cost Cost is also one of the major disadvantages of nuclear energy. It costs between three and five billion dollars just to build a nuclear power plant. Maintenance and operating costs are also high because lots of money must be sent on safety systems in case something goes wrong. Weapons

One of the most feared disadvantages of nuclear energy is the potential for weapons. Each year, every nuclear reactor is capable of making enough plutonium to build over thirty nuclear bombs. Nuclear plants must be secured well enough to prevent this material from falling into the wrong hands. Uranium One of the final disadvantages of nuclear energy is the uranium supply. Nuclear energy can't completely replace other fossil fuels because there is not enough uranium to power the needed plants. Other types of reactors can produce energy using other materials, but they are slow, expensive, and the technology won't be completely ready for at least another decade. These are the disadvantages of nuclear energy. The biggest problem is finding a way to safely dispose of the created waste. Another problem is that the nuclear plants cost up to five billion dollars just to build and have high operating and maintenance costs. A serious concern is the possibility of accidents because they can release harmful radiation.

Disadvantages of nuclear power generation:

The problem of radioactive waste is still an unsolved one. The waste from nuclear energy is extremely dangerous and it has to be carefully looked after for several thousand years (10'000 years according to United States Environmental Protection Agency standards). High risks: Despite a generally high security standard, accidents can still happen. It is technically impossible to build a plant with 100% security. A small probability of failure will always last. The consequences of an accident would be absolutely devastating both for human being as for the nature (see here ,here or here ). The more nuclear power plants (and nuclear waste storage shelters) are built, the higher is the probability of a disastrous failure somewhere in the world. Nuclear power plants as well as nuclear waste could be preferred targets for terrorist attacks. No atomic energy plant in the world

could withstand an attack similar to 9/11 in Yew York. Such a terrorist act would have catastrophic effects for the whole world. During the operation of nuclear power plants, radioactive waste is produced, which in turn can be used for the production of nuclear weapons. In addition, the same know-how used to design nuclear power plants can to a certain extent be used to build nuclear weapons (nuclear proliferation). The energy source for nuclear energy is Uranium. Uranium is a scarce resource, its supply is estimated to last only for the next 30 to 60 years depending on the actual demand. The time frame needed for formalities, planning and building of a new nuclear power generation plant is in the range of 20 to 30 years in the western democracies. In other words: It is an illusion to build new nuclear power plants in a short time.

Is nuclear power renewable energy?

Nuclear energy uses Uranium as fuel, which is a scarce resource. The supply of Uranium is expected to last only for the next 30 to 60 years (depending on the actual demand). Therefore nuclear energy is not a renewable energy.

Effect of Nuclear Plants on the Public

Nuclear plants are licensed on the basis that there will be no undue hazard or significant effect on the public health and safety. According to the NRC regulations, any individual member of the public should not receive more than 100 millirem per year In actuality, the effect on the public is usually less than 1 millirem per year. For comparison, a worker is allowed to receive up to 5000 millirem per year. Background radiation levels are typically around 300 millirem per year. In some areas of the world, background levels can reach as high as 15,000 millirem.