I think you would have to look at the release pathways. I do not know if a terrorist attack would result in the uncontrolled release of radioactive material that the anti-nuclear reactor people claim.
To determine health consequences, I would say that you first would have to look at what is known about off-site exposures. At Three Mile Island (TMI), there was a release of Kr-85, but no significant (if any) exposure occurred to the population. With the Chernobyl accident, the primary health consequence was the increase of childhood cancers off-site. However, in a reactor with a containment dome, like TMI there was no release of iodine. I believe that iodine combined with cesium and was no longer in a volatile form.
Dr Christoph Hofmeyr <chofmeyr@nnr.co.za> wrote:
John and interested Radsafers,
Please allow me a question obliquely related to the thread:
I would like to know how to calculate the cost of a potential release
from a nuclear installation due to
1) an accident
2) a willful attack
with respect to radiation injury off-site. Some analysts claim this to
be the major cost component. I am deliberately aiming the question
primarily at yourself as a fairly consistent and visible 'defender of
the RP faith', but would welcome some open discussion. Without being
prescriptive, I might indicate that I am not basically looking for a
totally conservative method, nor for a totally optimistic one. Lengthy
answers may best be sent off-line in order to save Radsafe bandwidth.
Chris Hofmeyr
chofmeyr@nnr.co.za
-- John
John Jacobus, MS
Certified Health Physicist
e-mail: crispy_bird@yahoo.com