Friend just sent me this link,

what do you guys think about it?

http://www.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/rev26-34/text/colmain.html

It is basically purporting that the uranium and thorium by-products of coal burning power plants is larger than all the material we use in Nuke plants...

Enjoy

 

Not a clue. I have to wonder who cuts his check though.

Soot kills, and it has nothing to do with radioactivity.

 

Must depend upon the quality of the coal and the type of power station. Modern coal fired stations have had to install all sorts of exhaust cleanup in the UK at least.

I know the basic premise to be true of some older UK coal fired stations and is often quoted by proponents of the UK nuclear industry.

 

To Paulo540

Uranium and thorium (which is one of the by-products of uranium nuclear decay) are by-products of coal burning power plants. You have to understand uranium and thorium exist naturally everywhere. The quantity will vary from location to location. Uranium and thorium (and other elements) will be present in coal also. So, when you burn coal these elements will pass thru the boiler in the burning process. If the station has a precipatator (maybe mis-spelled) the fly ash will be captured and most of these elements will be captured. Some will escape. There is an interesting idea (was presented in an Am Sci article years ago) that the fly ash that does escape will settle around the coal burning station. Therefore, what was distributed 3-d is now concentated to 2-d (ie. flat plain). Thereby, causing an increase of the background radiation. Mind you the other effects/benefits of living near a coal burning station will kill you faster than the increased background radiation! I am a former electric utility engineer (retired), worked for a company that ran nuclear, coal and hydralic generating stations. I was on the transmission side of the business, but had to go to these stations. Hope this helps!
Stonege signing off!