Environmental impact of nuclear power stations

Following a comparative consideration of the present and future environmental impact by coal, oil, and nuclear power plants, the special risks connected with the use of the latter are dealt with. A distinction is made in considering the risk between public exposure, in the environment of a plant due to operational leakage and radiation exposure in the plant under normal operation and in the case of an accident. The accident risk consideration is the basis of the Rasmussen study where the different containment construction of german plants as well as the higher population density for sites in the FRG are considered. Evaluation parameters are given to quantify the risks and using this, the risks of various cases of impact of nuclear power plants are compared. The comparison shows that the risks of nuclear power plant operation according to the value in normal operation are comparable to those in the case of an accident. (ORU/LH)