Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 6.9
Releases of uranium and thorium from coal combustion in the United States and the world
since 1937, with estimated 2040 fi gures based on the projected increase in the use of coal
(Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1993).
coal-burning power plant is 100 times greater than a comparable nuclear
power plant with the same electrical output; including processing output,
the radiation output from the coal power plant is more than three
times greater.
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Coal-burning power plants are not regulated for their
radioactive emissions.
The energy content of nuclear fuel released in coal combustion is
greater than that of the coal consumed. Americans living near coal-
burning power plants are exposed to higher radiation doses than those
living near nuclear power plants that meet government regulations.
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If
radiation emissions from coal plants were regulated, their costs would
increase and coal-fi red power would be less economically competitive.
Equally objectionable is the carbon dioxide that coal plants pump into
the air—35 to 40 percent of all the carbon dioxide released in the United
States, more than the emissions from all the cars and trucks on American
