Preliminary Assessment of the Impact of Radionuclides in Western Coal on Health and Environment

Download or read book Preliminary Assessment of the Impact of Radionuclides in Western Coal on Health and Environment written by and published by . This book was released on 1978 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Samples of coal, ash, stack effluents, airborne particulates, soil, and vegetation associated with a power plant using Western coal were prepared and analyzed by alpha pulse height spectroscopy. The data were then used in an effort to calculate the radionuclide balance for the power plant, to model radiation dose to the population adjacent to the power plant, and to estimate radiation doses for power plant workers. Details of sampling and analytical procedures are presented elsewhere. The greatest fraction of uranium-234 (87%), uranium-238 (87%), polonium-210 (87%), and lead-210 (82%) in feed coal remained with the ash after combustion. Electrostatic precipitators on the stack of Unit No. 2 of the Neal Station removed over 70% of the radionuclides entering the stack in association with fly ash, and thus the precipitators appear to be of value in controlling radionuclide emissions. Other particulate emission control devices, e.g., bag houses, should also be very effective in removing radionuclides that enter the stack in association with fly ash. Atmospheric diffusion modeling of stack effluents for uranium-234, uranium-238, lead-210, polonium-210, and radon-222 identified no radionuclides of dosimetric significance for inhalation or ingestion pathways. Occupational exposures of workers inside the Neal Station are also of no dosimetric significance. Furthermore, specific trends in distribution of radionuclides measured in the environment (airborne particulates, vegetation, and soil) relative to the power plant were not apparent. Use of Western coal in a modern power plant with effective emission controls has led to no significant environmental contamination by radionuclides.