Accidental Deaths from various methods of producing electricity.

[John Cameron <jrcamero@facstaff.wisc.edu>]

Title: Accidental Deaths from various methods of producing el

> Richard, you wrote:

> I think it would be very, very useful
>
> for someone (not me) to quantify (for example) the risks associated
>
> with generating electricity:

> Let's base it on risk per petawatthour
>
> and the cost per petawatthour based over a 60-year plant
>
> lifetime.

My reply:

Only certain risks can be documented. Risks from pollution in the environment can not be documented.

        The risks that can be documented are deaths from major accidents using various type of electrical generation.

        In 1993 Medical Physics Publishing (MPP) (www.medicalphysics.org)  published THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT RADIATION by John Lenihan (of Scotland). My wife and I paid the production costs. It sold so poorly that it was not economical to reprint it.  I hope to make it available on the Internet in the Virtual Radiation Museum currently located at http://www.medphysics.wisc.edu/~vrm  On p, 103 of Lenihan's book there is a table of Deaths between 1969 and 1986 resulting from severe accidents related to electrical power production

 

Energy source                           no. of accidents                number of deaths

Coal mining                                     62                      3600

Oil (refinery fires; transportation)                    57                      2070

Natural gas (fire; explosions)                  24                      1440

hydroelectric (dam failures)                    8                       3839

nuclear (Chernobyl)                             1                       31

(31 at time of accident; 3 from thyroid cancer after 1986)

A couple years ago there were two deaths in Japan from production of nuclear fuel.

It would be convenient to normalize the deaths to the electrical energy produced.

This type of information is generally not made available to the public.

Another book that gives information on risk is America the Powerless: Facing our Nuclear Energy dilemma by Alan E. Waltar (also published by MPP 1995) On p. 45-46 it quotes the risk given by H. Inhaber Risks with Energy from Conventional and unconventional sources. Science 203 1979, 718-723. He stated that natural gas was the safest all around, followed closely by nuclear energy. Approx. 10 times more dangerous were the other methods: oil, coal and solar!

        An older reference but still valuable is the book from the UK (Adam Hilger) Power Production: What are the risks? 2nd edition (about 1989) by John Fremlin. He concludes that overall nuclear is safest. (My copy of the book is in my summer home.)

        I expect Bernie Cohen's book on nuclear power would also give accident rates. It is available on Bernie's home page.  http://www.phyast.pitt.edu/~blc (It does not include the figures.)

        I am sure there must be additional data available on the Internet.  ( I still hope a few people will send suggestions to me to improve the Virtual Radiation Museum at  http://www.medphysics.wisc.edu/~vrm.  My home page is at  http://www.medphysics.wisc.edu/~jrc/

Best wishes,  John Cameron

--
John R. Cameron (jrcamero@wisc.edu)
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