Nuclear hazards

• Nuclear energy can be both beneficial and

harmful, depending on the way in which is it
used.
• Approximately 17% of the electrical energy
generated in the world comes from nuclear
power plants.
• The radioactive wastes from nuclear energy
have caused and continue to cause, serious
environmental damage.
Processing of nuclear fuel:
• Uranium ore which contains 0.2%
uranium by weight, is obtained by
surface or underground mining.
• After it is mined the ore goes through
milling process where it is crushed and
treated with a solvent to concentrate the
uranium and produces ‘yellow cake’, a
material containing 70-90% uranium
oxide.
 Uranium contains only 0.7% of fissionable U-235,which
is not high enough for most types of reactors.
 The enrichment process increases the U-235 content
from 0.7-3%.
 Fuel fabrication then coverts the enriched material into a
powder, which is compacted into pallets.
 These pallets ate sealed in metal fuel rods about 4m
into a powder, which is compacted into pellets.
 As fission occurs, the concentration of U-235 atoms
decreases. after about three year, a fuel rod must be
replaced by new ones.
 These spent rods are still very radioactive, containing
about 1% U-235 and 1% plutonium.
 An incident which changed people’s attitudes towards nuclear
power plants was the Chernobyl Disaster that occurred in 1986.
 Chernobyl is a small city in Ukraine, near the border with
Belarus, north of Kiev. At 1.00 am April 25, 1986, a test to
measure the amount of electricity that the still-spinning turbine
would produce if stream were shut off was being conducted at
the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Sation-4.
 The amount of Stream being produced was reduced by
lowering the rods into reactor.
 The operator failed to program the computer to maintain power
at 700mW and the output 30mW.
 Rapidly increases the power and many of the control rods were
withdrawn.
 Xenon had accumulated on the fuel rods.
 Slowed the rate of power increases.
 To obtain more power, the operators the withdrew all the
control rods (safety violation).
 At 1.00 am, the operators shut off emergency warning signals.
 In spite of the warning, the operators blocked the automatic reactor
shutdown and began the test.
 As the test continued the power output increases.
 The operator s activated the emergency system designed to put
the control rods back into the reactor and stop the fission but the
core had already been deformed and the rods would not fit
properly
 In 4.5 seconds the energy level of the reactor increased 2000
times!
 Explosion blew the 1000 metric tons concrete roof from the reactor
 In 1996, ten years after the accident, it was clear that one of the
long-term effects was the increased frequency of thyroid cancer in
children.
 There was also a spurt in genetic anomalies as doctors began
observing clusters of children born displaying monoadactyly
(fingers fused together to from a paddle) and polydactyly (more
than 5 digits on the hands and feet).
 What is Noise Pollution ?
• Noise is undesirable and unwanted sound.
• Not all sound is noise.
• Sound is measured in a unit called the
‘decibel’ (dB).
• Noise emanating from factories, vehicle,
and playing of loudspeakers.
Effects of Noise Pollution On
physical health:
• The temporary or permanent
hearing loss often called a
‘temporary threshold shift’
(TTS).
• Permanent hearing loss
usually called ‘noise-induced
permanent threshold shift’
(NIPTS)
• Below a sound levels between
80 and 130 dB hearing loss
does not occur at all.
• About 50% of the People
exposed to 95 dB sound levels
at work will develop NIPTS
• A sound level of 150 dB or
more can physically rupture
the human eardrum.
 Effect of noise pollution on
mental health:
• Noise can also cause
emotional or
psychological effects
such as irritability, anxiety
and stress.
• Lack of concentration and
mental fatigue are
significant health effects
of noise.
Noise-Control techniques:
There are four fundamental ways in which noise can be
controlled:
• Reduce noise at the source
• Block path of noise
• Increase the path-length
• Protect the recipient

The best control method is reduce noise at the source