{"id":267818,"date":"2023-07-17T10:19:29","date_gmt":"2023-07-17T08:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=267818"},"modified":"2023-07-17T10:19:32","modified_gmt":"2023-07-17T08:19:32","slug":"nuclear-powers-next-big-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=267818","title":{"rendered":"Nuclear Power\u2019s Next Big Event"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Power_lines_(Unsplash) Charles Devaux mclytir, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WILL THE NEXT RADIATION RELEASE KILL OFF NUCLEAR POWER?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authored by Robert Hargraves via RealClear Wire<\/a>,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

July 10, 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two AP1000 nuclear power reactors are powering up in Georgia, and several ventures are developing new generation reactors. The outlook for more nuclear power seems bright. But will there be some future failure that leaks radioactive material out? Yes, perfection is impossible; airplanes crash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will such a radiation event kill off nuclear power, as did the harmless Three Mile Island accident?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, if we are guided by baseless fear. Regulators claim any radiation exposure is potentially harmful and so set unreasonably low limits. Media headlines frighten people about any radiation leaks, no matter how small. This article will contrast today\u2019s regulatory limits with published, recommended protective actions to avoid harm to the public after a radiation release from a nuclear reactor accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ionizing radiation harms by displacing electrons, breaking molecular bonds in cells. It is measured in Sieverts (Sv) or Grays, which are watt-seconds of energy absorbed, per kilogram of body weight. An intensive, brief 10 Sv dose is deadly, 1 Sv risks acute radiation sickness, and such a dose over 0.1 Sv can slightly increase future cancer risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. regulations limit annual public radiation exposure from nuclear power to 0.001 Sv. The limit is 100X smaller than a brief, intensive dose that\u00a0might<\/a>\u00a0cause cancer, and 1000X smaller than one requiring\u00a0medical<\/a>\u00a0attention. This enormous safety margin was created politically by reducing limits in an attempt to reassure frightened people, but resulted in most people viewing 0.001 Sv as dangerous. Worse, regulators magnify fear with the\u00a0ALARA<\/a>\u00a0rule (as low as reasonably achievable), claiming even lower exposures may cause cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The regulators\u2019 0.001 Sv limit counts not just a single dose, but all radiation absorbed over an entire year, as if the harm were cumulative, without any biological repair during the year. In reality, repair takes place at DNA, cellular, and tissue levels in time scales of hours to days. DNA\u00a0repair<\/a>\u00a0begins in seconds to minutes after exposure, and cellular repair within hours. How long does it take your cut finger to heal?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Radiation from the triple Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdown killed no public citizens, but Japan\u2019s government\u00a0killed<\/a>\u00a0over 1,600 people with unnecessary evacuations. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To prevent such future mistakes, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)\u00a0published<\/a>\u00a0Actions to Protect the Public in an Emergency due to Severe Conditions at a Light Water Reactor<\/em>\u00a0to protect the public from physical radiation harm, avoiding harm from fear based on regulators\u2019 limits. This IAEA documented advice is directed to accident site responders working to protect people\u2019s lives and health, independent of radiation limits promulgated by bureaucrats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chart 1 helps guide the accident response team and the public. IAEA\u2019s green\u00a0SAFE FOR EVERYONE,<\/strong>\u00a0year-long, dose rate is 25 microSv\/hour. This radiation exposure dose rate over a whole year totals to 0.2 Sv,\u00a0200X the regulators limit<\/strong>\u00a0of 0.001 Sv\/year, but is safe because the body repairs damage much more rapidly than 25 microSv\/hour damages it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jack Devanney\u2019s\u00a0substack<\/a>\u00a0article tabulates observed harms and radiation doses to actual people in many studies. He observes that dose rates under 0.01 Sv\/day did not exhibit statistically significant, detectable harm. The body\u2019s intrinsic repair rate exceeds the radiation damage rate. Using a 10:1 safety margin he suggests 0.001 Sv\/day safety limit. This is 40 microSv\/hour, close to the IAEA SAFE FOR EVERYONE rate of 25 microSv\/hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CHERNOBYL. The Chernobyl accident was deadly; 30 onsite workers with intensive doses over 2 Sv died. Cleanup workers exposed up to 0.3 Sv or more had slightly higher rates of cancer. Radioactive iodine dispersed into the food chain caused over\u00a01,400<\/a>\u00a0thyroid cancers leading to the deaths of 15 children; no other increases in public cancer rates was observed. Perhaps 200,000 people were evacuated. Radiation rates in the Chernobyl\u00a0exclusion<\/a>\u00a0zone are now under 10 microSv\/hour, not harmful to the 1,000 stubborn babushkas and others who still live there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FUKUSHIMA. Within the stricken Fukushima power plants site, radiation\u00a0peaked<\/a>\u00a0at 10,000 microSv\/hour, dropping 90% in 10 hours. Outside the plant IAEA\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0peak measured radiation of 170 microSv\/hour 30 km northwest of the site. By the next month radiation dropped to less than\u00a091<\/a>\u00a0microSv\/hour everywhere, provisionally safe by Chart 1 except in spots where radiation may have still exceeded 25 microSv\/hour. There was no need to evacuate\u00a0164,000<\/a>\u00a0people, leading to the deaths of over\u00a01,600<\/a>\u00a0people, and there was certainly no need to do it hastily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THREE MILE ISLAND. Around Three Mile Island reactor accident the\u00a0cumulative<\/em>\u00a0dose averaged only 15 microSv (likely under 25 microSv\/hour everywhere), so there was no need to evacuate anyone. Nevertheless the accident was a factor in ending nuclear power plants construction in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NATURAL RADIATION. The back of Chart 1 states the average annual dose rate from natural sources of radiation exposure fluctuates around 0.2 microSv\/hour, but in some locations it can be up to 15 microSv\/hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s dose rate, not dose, that matters. Harm results when dose rate exceeds repair rate. Regulators and the multi billion dollar radiation protection industry overstate radiation harm by orders of magnitude:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

100X:<\/strong>\u00a00.001 Sv\/year regulatory limit vs observed intensive 0.1 Sv cancer threshold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

52X:<\/strong>\u00a0regulatory yearlong biological repair assumption vs typical healing time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ALARA:<\/strong>\u00a0unknown whim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regulators should abandon cumulative, yearlong dose limits, and instead set dose rate limits consistent with biological repair times. The ALARA rule should be dropped. What should be the limit?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IAEA\u2019s Chart 1 shows a 25 microSv\/hour dose rate limit. Jack Devanney\u2019s article suggested 40 microSv\/hour. In 1934, the NCRP (National Commission on Radiation Protection)\u00a0advised<\/a>\u00a040 microSv\/hour (0.1 R\/day in old units). Nearly 50 years later, NCRP founder Lauriston Taylor\u00a0wrote<\/a>\u00a0\u201cNo one has been identifiably injured by radiation while working within the first numerical standards set by the NCRP and the ICRP in 1934.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nuclear power growth will end with the next radiation release unless we replace regulators with people who observe facts and consequences. The near century of concessions changing 1934 radiation limits from 40 microSv\/hour to 0.001 Sv\/year has not reduced harm one bit, but has increased public fear because the more restrictive limits have no evidential justification. Fear of nuclear power has killed many more people than radiation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nuclear power will be cheaper, ample, and less feared if regulators issue fact-based limits instead of conceding to protesters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr.\u00a0Hargraves\u00a0teaches energy policy at Dartmouth\u2019s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and is a co-founder of a nuclear engineering company.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article was originally published by RealClearEnergy and made available via RealClearWire.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

HT\/Yooper<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nuclear power will be cheaper, ample, and less feared if regulators issue fact-based limits instead of conceding to protesters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":267826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691821133,691821136,691819569,691818588,691821135,691821134,691821132],"class_list":{"0":"post-267818","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-ap1000","9":"tag-chernobyl","10":"tag-dna","11":"tag-fukushima","12":"tag-international-atomic-energy-agency-iaea","13":"tag-ionizing-radiation","14":"tag-nuclear-power-reactors","16":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0Power_lines.jpg?fit=1698%2C1131&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-17FE","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":246606,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=246606","url_meta":{"origin":267818,"position":0},"title":"IAEA: 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