RE: Coal Fired Plants and Release of Radioactivity

[Rick_Strickert@radian.com]

Erik Nielsen referenced  an ORNL article, "Coal Combustion: Nuclear Resource
or Danger " by Alex Gabbard
(http://www.ornl.gov/ORNLReview/rev26-34/text/colmain.html)
<http://www.ornl.gov/ORNLReview/rev26-34/text/colmain.html)>  as the
definitive on-line report on this subject. At one point the article
discusses the production of Pu-239 from uranium in coal wastes exposed to
the neutrons in the air and notes:

		"The radiotoxicity of plutonium-239 is 3.4 x 10E11 times
that of uranium-238."

No reference is given.  Does anyone know where this factor comes from?

Rick Strickert
Austin, TX
rick_strickert@radian.com

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