Nuclear reactors health consequences

In the case of a nuclear accident, most of the radioisotopes in the environment and food can be reliably and quickly assayed by gamma spectroscopy. There is a problem with some important isotopes which are pure beta or alpha emitters and which cannot be identified directly by gamma spectroscopy. The activity of the isotopes of the strontium group Sr, Sr and Y after a three-year reactor fuel cycle can reach about 8% of the total in-core activity and one of them, Sr(Y), is important for the long-term health consequences. 

Even if terrorists succeeded in detonating an explosive at a reactor site, the health consequences would be limited. The reactor accident at the Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania nuclear power plant caused a small release of radiation, insufficient to cause any radiation injuries. Bypassing several safety systems caused the Chernobyl reactor incident, involving two explosions, fires and reactor core meltdown. This accident caused the following early phase health effects (1) ... 

As part of the biogeochemical cycle, the injection of iodine-containing gases into the atmosphere, and their subsequent chemical transformation therein, play a crucial role in environmental and health aspects associated with iodine - most importandy, in determining the quantity of the element available to the mammalian diet. This chapter focuses on these processes and the variety of gas- and aerosol-phase species that constitute the terrestrial iodine cycle, through discussion of the origin and measurement of atmospheric iodine in its various forms ( Sources and Measurements of Atmospheric Iodine ), the principal photo-chemical pathways in the gas phase ( Photolysis and Gas-Phase Iodine Chemistry ), and the role of aerosol uptake and chemistry and new particle production ( Aerosol Chemistry and Particle Formation ). Potential health and environmental issues related to atmospheric iodine are also reviewed ( Health and Environment Impacts ), along with discussion of the consequences of the release of radioactive iodine (1-131) into the air from nuclear reactor accidents and weapons tests that have occurred over the past half-century or so ( Radioactive Iodine Atmospheric Sources and Consequences ). 

Important data on the efficiency of oral AC in heavy metal removal have been obtained after the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident on April 26 1986. During the first 7 days after the accident significant amounts of radionuclides were released from the nuclear reactor to the environment, which required extensive measures and man-power to prevent further spretiding of the radioactive contamination and clean-up of the contaminated territories [49,50]. The military personnel who worked in the Chemolyl exclusion zone, known as liquidators because they liquidated the consequences of this disaster, were exposed to elevated levels of radioactivity. Although these levels could not cause the radiation sickness disease, they were sufficiently high to affect health of liquidators particularly if the radionuclides became incorporated in the body... 

The extent of land contaminated with more than 10 kBq m is about 5000 km. Other satellites with isotope generators or with a nuclear reactor, designed with lower strength characteristics than the one of the Cassini mission, could originate wider consequences, for example fragments of the reactor of the satellite Cosmos 954, which fell in Northern Canada in 1978, were found over more than 100000 km. No health consequences were present because of the low population density. 

The human health consequences of the accident at tire Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) nuclear reactor in Pennsylvania in 1979 were minimal. The small radioactive releases at Three Mile Island have had no detectable health effects on plant workers or the public, and a recent study determined that the actual release had negligible effects on the physical health of individuals or the environment (World Nuclear Association report, January 2012). 

The discovery of radioactivity a century ago opened up a new field in science, that of the atomic nucleus, which culminated 40 years later in the discovery of fission, and its practical consequences in the form of nuclear weapons and nuclear power reactors. That remains still die focus of news media as it influences international politics and national energy policies. However, nuclear science has contributed much more to our daily life as it has penetrated into practically every important area, sometimes in a pioneering way sometimes by providing conqiletely new solutions to old problems from the history of the universe and our civilisation to methods of food production and to our health from youth to old age. It is a fascinating field continuously developing. Nuclear chemistry is an important part of this. 

In the last three decades, stimulated by public reaction and health and safety legislation, the use of risk and reliability assessment methods has spread from the higher risk industries to an even wider range of applications. The Reactor Safety Study undertaken by the U.S.A (U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission (1975)) and the Canvey studies performed by the UK Health Safety Executive (HSE (1978, 1981a,b)) resulted from a desire to demonstrate safety to a doubtful public. Both these studies made considerable use of quantitative methods, for assessing the likelihood of failures and for determining consequence models. 

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