Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Nuclear power activities involving the environment; mining, enrichment, generation and geological disposal. Nuclear power has various environmental impacts, both positive and negative, including the construction and operation of the plant, the nuclear fuel cycle, and the effects of nuclear accidents.
The focus of the first half of the chapter is designed to provide basic information about atoms and radiation to aid in later chapters. [1] The first half covers the basics on atoms such as: an atom consists of Neutrons, Protons, and Electrons; the atomic number of an atom determines the amount of protons in one atom; and that protons are roughly 2000 times heavier than electrons (see atom).
The effects of low-level radiation on human health are not well understood, and so the models used, notably the linear no threshold model, are open to question. [106] Given these factors, studies of Chernobyl's health effects have come up with different conclusions and are sometimes the subject of scientific and political controversy.
Nuclear power has also very high surface power density, which means much less space is used to produce the same amount of energy (thousands times less when compared to wind or solar power). [106] The primary environmental effects of nuclear power come from uranium mining, radioactive effluent emissions, and waste heat.
This waste is produced by nuclear power plants and weapons facilities, and is a serious human health and environmental issue. There are plans to permanently dispose of high-level waste in deep geological repositories, but none of these are operational. Corrosion of aging temporary containers has caused some waste to leak into the environment. [20]
Radioactive contamination, also called radiological pollution, is the deposition of, or presence of radioactive substances on surfaces or within solids, liquids, or gases (including the human body), where their presence is unintended or undesirable (from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) definition).
Interest in the environmental effects of nuclear war, however, had continued in the Soviet Union after Golitsyn's September paper, with Vladimir Alexandrov and G. I. Stenchikov also publishing a paper in December 1983 on the climatic consequences, although in contrast to the contemporary TTAPS paper, this paper was based on simulations with a ...
Nuclear safety covers the actions taken to prevent nuclear and radiation accidents or to limit their consequences and damage to the environment. This covers nuclear power plants as well as all other nuclear facilities, the transportation of nuclear materials, and the use and storage of nuclear materials for medical, power, industry, and ...