Radiological consequences of effluent releases

The majority of the artificial radionuclides produced by the fission process in nuclear power generation are contained within the irradiated nuclear fuel. Small quantities of radionuclides are released from operating reactors and from reprocessing plants which extract uranium and plutonium from irradiated fuel for eventual recycling in reactors. This paper presents results of recent assessments of effluent releases from UK nuclear installations and estimates the potential doses from increased world nuclear energy production. (author)