Development of a technique for comparing relative risk as measured by leukemia incidence of radionuclide air stack emissions from nuclear versus coal power generation

A method for comparing environmental risks associated with radionuclide air stack emissions of coal and nuclear power generation has been developed. The methodology can be expended to allow prediction of the future risks associated with coal and nuclear power generation. Risks associated with radionuclide air stack emissions from coal versus nuclear power generation were evaluated to develop a minimum relative risk technique, (MRRT). The MRRT compares risks that are too small to be detected by traditional epidemiological techniques. Specifically leukemia incidences associated with radionuclide air stack emissions from the total nuclear and coal power industries are compared using presently proposed dose-response curves. A general conclusion is the demonstration that nuclear is a less hazardous power generating technique than coal in terms of the leukemia incidence during normal plant operation even when multiple events of TMI size and larger are assumed