effects of pollution

[Michael V. Stein]

>> I think one of the most important differences between the effects of
>> nuclear and chemical power generation has been overlooked. The effects
>> of a nuclear accident, either reactor failure or waste spill is
>> localized. It is very bad for those close to it, but has almost no
>> effect on those farther away...
>> Joel Swank

>This is ridiculous. Tell the northern Italians and the Welsh that waste
>from Chernobyl was localized!!
>-Mark

Well although the media once again went into the panic mode, when they heard
the word nuclear, the facts speak for themselves. The data
collected by US embassys has now been collated and evaluated by the
EPA. In Kiev, let alone the West Europe, the dose received in the
first four days was about 300 millirems, or roughly the dose
recieved by citizens daring to live in Colorado for a year.
(And well below the 500 millirems allowed as an occupational risk
in the US.) The dose received by West Germans was estimated at
about 25 millirems.

The dose recieved by the people actually working in the plant is
estimated by Dr. Henry Hurwitz of being up to 1000 rems an hour. This
means the personell in the plant would recieve a lethal dose in about
a half-hour.

--
Michael V. Stein
Minnesota Educational Computing Corporation - Technical Services

UUCP ihnp4!dicome!meccts!mvs

[Michael V. Stein]

[Michael V. Stein]

[Michael V. Stein]

In article <2...@petrus.UUCP> m...@petrus.UUCP (Mark Garrett) writes:

>Ispra is close to the Italian/Swiss boarder. After Chernobyl they
>measured radiation levels "far in excess" of normal conditions for
>the area and discovered traces of radioactive iodine, cesium and other
>fallout. They are very worried and are sure that health problems
>due to this contamination will become apparent in the next 10-15 years.

Could you get any numbers on the above releases? Doses of radiation
measuring a couple of hundred millirem, are significant in terms of
what can be measured. The health effects though are not very
significant when 5 rem is allowed as an occupational hazard.

If the numbers are much higher than what I quoted, I would be
interested in hearing them.

>Anyway my impression from talking to my friend (and visiting Ispra
>in July) was that they are quite concerned and angry because a)
>this accident happened in the first place, b) the soviets were
>irresponsible in notifying affected populations in Europe and
>c) there are not sufficient international means for controlling
>such contamination and accidents.

Agreed. The Soviet arrogance was amazing.