Coal pollutants are estimated to cause about 15,000 premature deaths annually in the United States. Radioactive fly ash, a coal byproduct used in building and paving materials, contributes an additional dose. Every year in the United States alone, coal-fired plants, which provide about half of the nation’s electricity, expel, along with toxic chemicals and greenhouse gases, 100 times the radioactivity of nuclear plants: hundreds of tons of uranium and thorium, daughter products like radium and radon, and hundreds of pounds of uranium-235. Other common manmade sources include mining residues, microwave ovens, televisions, smoke detectors, and cigarette smoke-a pack and a half a day equals four daily chest x-rays.Ĭoal combustion: 2 millirem. This is the largest source of manmade radiation affecting humans. Exposure is higher in certain locations and occupations than in others (airline flight personnel receive greater than average lifetime doses of cosmic radiation).ĭiagnostic medical radiation: 40 millirem (60 millirem in the United States). Cosmic rays, sunlight, rocks, soil, radon, water, and even the human body are radioactive-blood and bones contain radionuclides. The earth’s core is a natural reactor, and all life evolved within a cloud of radiation stronger than background radiation is today. Natural background radiation: 240 millirem worldwide (300 millirem in the United States). Some findings may remain undisclosed for security reasons others may be made public-soon, one hopes. The Energy Department’s nine national laboratories have begun an extensive review of counterterrorism, including the vulnerability of U.S. When it comes to domestic nuclear terrorism-a subject that has been touched recently by highly speculative journalism-making that distinction requires knowing some nuclear fundamentals.īased on science, what should Americans worry about? Is radiation always dangerous? How do we protect ourselves? Could terrorists unleash a Chernobyl on our soil? Could nuclear waste dumps or power plants be transformed into atomic weapons? Could terrorists make a “dirty” bomb capable of widespread contamination and deaths from radiation? Could they steal an American nuclear weapon and detonate it? Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, Americans have had to learn to discriminate between real and imagined risks in many areas.
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