Radioactive emission from thermal power plants

Radioactive hazards of the emissions and wastes of thermal power plants arising from fuel impurities of uranium and thorium are discussed. The hazard due to radioactive emission is calculated for an average Australian bituminous coal which contains 2 ppm of U and 2.7 ppm of Th. When the dust removal efficiency of a coal-fired power plant is 99%, the radioactive hazard is greater than that of a nuclear reactor of the same electrical output. After 500 years the radioactive toxicity of the coal waste will be higher than that of fission products of a nuclear reactor and after 2,000 years it will exceed the toxicity of all the nuclear wastes including actinides. The results of a recent calculation are shown, according to which the radioactive hazard of a coal-fired power plant to the public is from several hundred to several tens of thousands of times higher than that of a total fuel cycle of plutonium. It is found that in some regions, such as Japan, the hazard due to 210Po through seafood could be considerable