Health Risks of Nuclear Power: Report

Health Risks of Nuclear Power

Jan Willem Storm van Leeuwen

Independent consultant

Ceedata Chaam, The Netherlands 22 November 2010

Abstract

This study starts with a physical assessment of the quantities of the radioactivity being generated and mobilized by the entire system of related industrial processes making civilian nuclear power possible. It assesses the actual and potential exposure of the public to natural and human-made nuclear radioactivity, and it discusses empirical evidence of harmful health effects of these exposures. The biomedical effects of radionuclides in the human body are briefly discussed.

Furthermore this study analyses the mechanisms which may cause the uncontrolled spread of very large amounts of radioactivity into the environment. The study explains some consequences of a basic law of nature (Second Law) for the health risks of nuclear power now and in the future. Misconceptions, uncertainties and unknowns of the nuclear safety issue are addressed. Risk enhancing factors are discussed, along with the consequences of the present economic paradigm for the health risks of nuclear power at this moment and in the future.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Ian Fairlie for reviewing this report and for his suggestions, Angelo Baracca for his suggestions, and Stephen Thomas and John Busby for their comments. The author notes that this report does not necessarily reflect their opinion.

Summary

(the full report can be read below in pdf format)

Assessment of nuclear health risks proves to be a complicated and multilayered issue. The first layer concerns the technical aspects and empirical observations. The second layer comprises the views and perspective of the nuclear industry and the information flow on nuclear matters to the public and to decision makers. The third layer concerns the relationship between health risks and common economic views.

Starting point of this study is formed the following observations:

•  The generation of nuclear energy irrevocably goes together with the generation of immense amounts of human-made radioactivity.
• Radioactivity cannot be destroyed.
• Radioactivity cannot be made harmless to humans.

Nuclear power involves the mobilization of naturally occurring radioactivity and the generation of human-made radioactivity, a billionfold of the mobilized natural radioactivity. Each reactor of 1 GWe power generates each year as much radioactivity as 1000 exploded nuclear weapons (Hiroshima bombs).
Nuclear health risks are posed by the spread of radioactive substances into the environment. Non-radioactive substances posing health risks are not included in this study to limit its scope.

The only way to prevent disastrous exposure of the public to human-made radioactivity on unprecedented scale is to immobilize the radioactive waste physically and to isolate it from the biosphere in deep geologic repositories, lasting at least a million of years.
To deal with the global radioactive waste at the current rate of generation about every year a new large deep geological repository has to be opened, at an estimated cost of at least €10bn each. To dispose of the existing radioactive wastes from the past dozens of deep geologic repositories would be required.

The nuclear energy system

The technical assessment of the potential spread of radioactivity into the human environment is based on an elaborate life-cycle analysis (LCA) from cradle to grave of the complete system of industrial processes which makes nuclear power possible. This LCA uncovered a number of uncertainties and unknowns of great importance with respect to the viability and safety of nuclear power now and in the future.

In the first part of this study the present state of the nuclear energy system is briefly described in connection with the potential pathways of radioactive discharges. The analysis follows the course of events involving the mobilized radioactivity and especially the human-made radioactivity. Adequate solutions to immobilize and isolate the human-made radioactivity from the biosphere exist only in cyberspace. All anthropogenic radioactivity ever generated is present in mobile state within the human environment.The nuclear process chain is still open ended.