Radiation risks from plutonium recycle
A computer simulation method was used to estimate the health risks associated with alpha-emitting radionuclides that could be released to the environment from a nuclear reactor program with plutonium recycle and from burning low-sulfur, Western U.S. coal. Many of the base assumptions for the model were taken from the LMFBR Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The probabilities and consequences of severe nuclear accidents were projected to be low, and health risks to the general public over a long period of time were projected to result primarily from releases of actinide radionuclides during normal operations. No assumptions concerning the environmental transport of transuranic radionuclides or their deposition in human tissues were identified as having sufficient uncertainty to cause more than a factor of two or three changes in the overall projected health effects. The most significant remaining needs are for better information on the physical and chemical nature of released material, environmental weathering of particles, the physical size of particles resuspended from ground surfaces, uptake of radionuclides by plants and the validity of low-dose health-risk extrapolations from high-level biological dose-response studies. In estimating the potential health effects of burning coal, bone tumors and genetic defects were projected to be the major healthmore » impact rather than lung tumors, as in the LMFBR simulation. This was the result of the increased importance of the ingestion pathway, although this is probably the most uncertain aspect of the composite model. Still, even the projection for lung tumors was 400 times greater for operation of a coal-fired plant compared to that of an equivalent size LMFBR. This evaluation is limited in scope compared to all the hazards associated with either the total nuclear or coal fuel cycle. It applies the same criteria, degree of conservatism and scientific base of information in making this one health risk comparison.« less