Comparative risks of electricity generating fuel systems in the UK

The objectives of this study have been to identify and where possible quantify with a view to comparing the fatal human health effects attributable to the production of electricity for public supply from coal, oil and nuclear power in the UK's present generating system. The design of nuclear reactor considered was the Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor (AGR). The complete fuel systems have been considered from the extraction of fuel through to the point at which electricity is fed into the transmission network and including all supporting activities, materials supply, construction, waste disposal and harmful emissions. Risk estimates are presented in units of deaths per GigaWatt year of electrical output. The risks have been estimated for the three stages, (i) fuel extraction, (ii) fuel preparation, reprocessing and transport, and (iii) electricity generation for each of the coal, oil and nuclear fuel cycles. From the results it is seen that all three fuel cycles considered are generally associated with low risk estimates per GigaWatt year of electrical output, when it is appreciated that this quantity of electricity will supply about 2 million of the UK population throughout one year. (author)