Nuclear power plants and the environment

Until 1985, a period which can still be formed an approximate judgment of, and for which the energy programme of the Federal government was set up, the effects the energy transformation and consumption in the FRG has on the environment are foreseeable and on the average they can be prognosticated. The threat to the environment from polluting agents emitted by single nuclear power plants is very small in comparison with the natural radiation exposure and with the radiation exposure from other energy carriers. The problem of waste heat will not be a limiting factor for energy technology within the next few years if an optimal application of the known recooling techniques for power stations ('Kuehlregie') materializes. (orig./LN)