Not only nuclear power plants emit radioactive substancesRadioactive substances within the meaning of the Atomic Ener... with the exhaust air. Fossil fuels contain various concentrations of natural radioactive substancesRadioactive substances within the meaning of the Atomic Ener... which are released during combustion. Different firing techniques lead to extremely wide variations in enrichmentProcess by which the share of a certain isotpe in an element... of the flue dust due to the temperature-dependent volatility. For 1 GWa of electric energyAbility to do work or diffuse heat. The unit of energy is th... generated the emissionThe discharge (e.g. solid, liquid or gaseous substances, sou... of long-lived alpha-radiating substances amounts to about 10 GBq for a hard coal and 1 GBq for a lignite-fired power plant. The effective dose equivalentAccording to ICRU Report 51 the dose equivalent, H, is the p... for various power plants occurring at the most unfavourable point of influence is in the range of 0.1 to 5 microsievert per year.
Primary energy carrier |
Max. effective dose in the environment µSv per year |
Dose-relevant nuclides |
|
Lignite Hard coal |
0.5 to 2 |
U-238, Th-232 and decayThe spontaneous conversion of a nuclide into another nuclide... products, in particular Ra-226, Pb-210, Po-210 |
|
Natural gas |
0.2 to 1 |
Radon-222 and decayThe spontaneous conversion of a nuclide into another nuclide... products |
|
Nuclear power |
0.1 to 5 |
FissionSee 'nuclear fission'. and activation |
RadiationEnergy dispersion through matter or space. In atomic physics... exposure by power plants with various primary energyEnergy raw materials in their natural form prior to any tech... carriers standardized to the generation of 1 GWa electric energyAbility to do work or diffuse heat. The unit of energy is th...