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IMPACTS ON HUMAN HEALTH FROM THE COAL AND NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLES AND OTHER TECHNOLOGIES ASSOCIATED WITH ELECTRIC POWER GENERATION AND TRANSMISSION
Citation:
Radford, E. IMPACTS ON HUMAN HEALTH FROM THE COAL AND NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLES AND OTHER TECHNOLOGIES ASSOCIATED WITH ELECTRIC POWER GENERATION AND TRANSMISSION. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/7-81/055.
Description:
The report evaluates major public health impacts of electric power generation and transmission associated with the nuclear fuel cycle and with coal use. Only existing technology is evaluated. For the nuclear cycle, effects of future use of fuel reprocessing and long-term radioactive waste disposal are briefly considered. The health effects of concern are those leading to definable human disease and injury. Health effects are scaled to numbers of persons and activities associated with a nominal 1000-megawatt electric plant fueled by either option. Comparison of the total health effects to the general public shows that the health risks from the coal cycle are about 50 times greater than for the nuclear cycle (coal, 0.7-3.7 major health effects per 1000 MWe per year; nuclear, 0.03-0.05 per 1000 MWe per year). For workers, these rates are higher. No evidence is found that electrical transmission contributes any health effects to the general public, except when broken power lines come in contact with people.