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PubMed1999

Effects of distance, age and sex upon attitudes toward nuclear power plants: an empirical study.

Several aspects regarding nuclear power plants and works of the chemical industry were assessed by self-report inventories. The inventories included items related to attitudes and mood. Subjects (N = 228) were divided according to living distance to a nuclear power plant (up to 5 km, 5-10 km, 10-15 km), age (18-39 versus 40-59 years) and sex. Results demonstrate different risk perception referring to nuclear power plants and works of the chemical industry. Women and older persons reported more negative attitudes. In addition, the results confirm the assumption of an inverted U-shaped relationship between strength of negative attitudes toward nuclear power plants and distance of dwelling to the plant. The results are best explained by psychobiological models of stress.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Possible genetic damage in the Czech nuclear power plant workers.

The aim of our study was to identify occupational risk of irradiation exposure in the Czech nuclear power plant workers. We analyzed levels of chromosomal aberrations, a well-known biomarker of early biological effects and a predictor of cancer risk. We applied the conventional method of cytogenetic analysis and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH, whole chromosome painting for chromosomes 1 and 4, combined with a pancentromeric probe) to three groups: 123 subjects in the Temelin nuclear power plant (2 years in use), 114 subjects in the Dukovany nuclear power plant (20 years in use), and 53 matched controls from Ceske Budejovice. Nuclear power plant workers were divided into two groups: subjects with admittance into the monitored zone, and others. Following factors were also analyzed: GSTM1, GSTT1, GSTP1, XPD, XRCC1, hOGG1, p53, MTHFR, and MS gene polymorphisms, levels of vitamins A, C, E, and folate in plasma, and level of cotinine in urine. Long-term exposure to ionizing radiation in the monitored zone was 0.47+/-1.50 mSv (miliSievert) in the Temelin nuclear power plant and 5.74+/-9.57 mSv in the Dukovany nuclear power plant. Using the conventional cytogenetic analysis, we observed 1.90+/-0.95 and 1.82+/-1.19% AB.C. (percent of aberrant cells) in the Temelin nuclear power plant, and 2.39+/-1.01 and 2.33+/-1.04% AB.C. in the Dukovany nuclear power plant, for monitored zone workers and others, respectively. In the control group, we found 2.25+/-0.82% AB.C. Genomic frequency of translocations F(G)/100 measured by FISH was 1.89+/-1.40 and 2.01+/-1.68 in the Temelin nuclear power plant, and 2.48+/-1.93 and 2.14+/-1.62 in the Dukovany nuclear power plant for monitored zone workers and others, respectively. In the control group, F(G)/100 was 1.83+/-1.19. Following factors were identified as potential confounders by the conventional cytogenetic analysis: XPD-6, by the FISH: age, GSTP1 and p53Bst genotypes, long-term use of medication, alcohol consumption, and smoking. No association between the dose of irradiation and the level of chromosomal aberrations in any nuclear power plant was detected either by the conventional cytogenetic analysis or by FISH.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMed2004

Developing a virtual reality application for training nuclear power plant operators: setting up a database containing dose rates in the refuelling plant.

Operators in Nuclear Power Plants can receive high doses during refuelling operations. A training programme for simulating refuelling operations will be useful in reducing the doses received by workers as well as minimising operation time. With this goal in mind, a virtual reality application is developed within the framework of the CIPRES project. The application requires doses, both instantaneous and accumulated, to be displayed at all times during operator training. Therefore, it is necessary to set up a database containing dose rates at every point in the refuelling plant. This database is based on radiological protection surveillance data measured in the plant during refuelling operations. Some interpolation routines have been used to estimate doses through the refuelling plant. Different assumptions have been adopted in order to perform the interpolation and obtain consistent data. In this paper, the procedures developed to set up the dose database for the virtual reality application are presented and analysed.

Computer Simulation↗
PubMed1984

Cancer mortality among workers in a thermoelectric power plant.

At a thermoelectric power plant in Turbigo (Milan, Italy), an analysis of the technological process has shown the presence of exposure to several carcinogens: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, asbestos, hydrazine, polychlorinated biphenyls, chromium, nickel, and beryllium. An epidemiologic study was carried out to quantify the effect of the detected exposures on the workers, and the cancer mortality of the cohort was compared with the corresponding rates from the closest town and with cancer register data from a nearby province. Excess mortality was found for workers with 10 or more years of employment; the median latency time was about 20 years.

Carcinogens↗
PubMed2001

Stable and unstable chromosomal aberrations among Finnish nuclear power plant workers.

Twenty nuclear power plant workers with relatively high recorded cumulative doses were studied using FISH chromosome painting and dicentric analysis after solid Giemsa staining. The results indicated that chronic exposure to ionising radiation can be detected on the group level using translocation analysis after chromosome painting, although the mean cumulative dose was approximately 100 mSv. A significant association between translocation frequency and cumulative dose was observed. Variability in the translocation yields among workers with similar recorded doses was large, resulting in a poor correlation between translocation frequencies and documented doses on the individual level. The yields of dicentric and acentric chromosomes were not correlated with the cumulative dose, indicating the inability of unstable aberrations to monitor long-term exposures. It was also shown that the unstable aberrations were not correlated with the most recent annual dose.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Respiratory complaints and spirometric parameters of the villagers living around the Seyitomer coal-fired thermal power plant in Kütahya, Turkey.

The aim of the study was to investigate the respiratory effects of the stack emissions of the Seyitömer coal-fired thermal power plant in the Kütahya Province of Turkey. The three villages that are located within 5 km around the power plant were investigated as our "Villages around Power Plant." Two villages which were similar to the Villages around Power Plant as far as climate, culture, and lifestyle were concerned and which were located more than 30 km away from the thermal power plant were investigated as our "Control Villages." The study design was based on the comparison of the respiratory complaints and the spirometric parameters of the individuals living in the two groups of villages. The study was carried out on individuals of 15 years of age and above living in these villages (277 of 302 individuals living in the Villages around Power Plant and 225 of 264 living in the Control Villages). Among the ones living in the Villages around Power Plant, 46.2% had complaints of chest tightness and 29.2% repeated coughing attacks present for more than one year, whereas these percentages were 28.0 and 20.4% in the Control Villages, the differences being statistically significant (P=0.001 and P=0.024, respectively). The complaint of productive coughing present for more than one year was not found to differ statistically significantly between the two groups of villages (P=0.0885). The means of the spirometric parameters of FEV1 and FEF25-75% were found to be statistically significantly lower in the individuals of the Villages around Power Plant compared to the individuals of the Control Villages (P=0.0001 and P=0.0001, respectively). When the spirometric parameters of nonsmokers were compared between the two groups of villages, FEV1, FVC, and FEF25-75% were found to be statistically significantly lower in the Villages around Power Plant compared to the Control Villages (P=0.0001, P=0.0001, and P=0.0001, respectively). No statistically significant differences of the spirometric measurements of current smokers were observed between the two groups of villages (P>0.05). The spirometric parameters revealed statistically significant adverse health effects of the Power Plant, this was particularly apparent v212nfor the nonsmokers. More specific tests to confirm the diagnosis of acute and chronic lung diseases can be suggested to be carried out in the area in further studies. Also follow-up studies can be recommended in the area to detect any new adverse health effects of the Power Plant.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Modeling the benefits of power plant emission controls in Massachusetts.

Older fossil-fueled power plants provide a significant portion of emissions of criteria air pollutants in the United States, in part because these facilities are not required to meet the same emission standards as new sources under the Clean Air Act. Pending regulations for older power plants need information about any potential public health benefits of emission reductions, which can be estimated by combining emissions information, dispersion modeling, and epidemiologic evidence. In this article, we develop an analytical modeling framework that can evaluate health benefits of emission controls, and we apply our model to two power plants in Massachusetts. Using the CALPUFF atmospheric dispersion model, we estimate that use of Best Available Control Technology (BACT) for NOx and SO2 would lead to maximum annual average secondary particulate matter (PM) concentration reductions of 0.2 microg/m3. When we combine concentration reductions with current health evidence, our central estimate is that the secondary PM reductions from these two power plants would avert 70 deaths per year in a population of 33 million individuals. Although benefit estimates could differ substantially with different interpretations of the health literature, parametric perturbations within CALPUFF and other simple model changes have relatively small impacts from an aggregate risk perspective. While further analysis would be required to reduce uncertainties and expand on our analytical model, our framework can help decision-makers evaluate the magnitude and distribution of benefits under different control scenarios.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed2001

Microbial ecology of soils surrounding nuclear and thermal power plants in Taiwan.

This paper reports a study of the effect of three nuclear and one thermal power plants on the microbial ecology of soils. Populations of bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, cellulolytic microbes, phosphate-solubilizing microbes and nitrogen-fixing microbes in the soil in the vicinity of each plant were studied. Soils were acidic at three sites, and moisture contents of the power plant soils were lower than those of the surrounding areas. Microbial populations of the topsoils (0-20 cm deep) were higher than the subsoils (21-40 cm deep), and only 10-15% of them showed significant difference (P < .05). Thirty-three percent of the samples from the surrounding areas had higher microbial population than those from the power plant areas, but 19% was the reverse. Populations of cellulolytic, phosphate-solubilizing and nitrogen-fixing microbes varied with sampling locations, season and environmental conditions. Ratios of cellulolytic, phosphate-solubilizing and nitrogen-fixing microbes to total viable counts in some samples of the surrounding areas were significantly higher than in the power plant areas. Although the microbial populations of power plant soil and its surrounding area were somewhat different, it cannot be attributed as an effect of power plant operation, as the differences were not consistent.

Environmental Monitoring↗
PubMed2006

Modeling mercury in power plant plumes.

Measurements of speciated mercury (Hg) downwind of coal-fired power plants suggest that the Hg(II)/(Hg0 + HgII) ratio (where HgII is divalent gaseous Hg and Hg0 is elemental Hg) decreases significantly between the point of emission and the downwind ground-level measurement site, but that the SO2/(Hg0 + HgII) ratio is conserved. We simulated nine power plant plume events with the Reactive & Optics Model of Emissions (ROME), a reactive plume model that includes a comprehensive treatment of plume dispersion, transformation, and deposition. The model simulations fail to reproduce such a depletion in HgII. A sensitivity study of the impact of the HgII dry deposition velocity shows that a difference in dry deposition alone cannot explain the disparity. Similarly, a sensitivity study of the impact of cloud chemistry on results shows that the effect of clouds on Hg chemistry has only minimal impact. Possible explanations include HgII reduction to Hg0 in the plume, rapid reduction of HgII to Hg0 on ground surfaces, and/or an overestimation of the HgII fraction in the power plant emissions. We propose that a chemical reaction not included in current models of atmospheric mercury reduces HgII to Hg0 in coal-fired power plant plumes. The incorporation of two possible reduction pathways for HgII (pseudo-first-order decay and reaction with SO2) shows better agreement between the model simulations and the ambient measurements. These potential HgII to Hg0 reactions need to be studied in the laboratory to investigate this hypothesis. Because the speciation of Hg has a significant effect on Hg deposition, models of the fate and transport of atmospheric Hg may need to be modified to account for the reduction of HgII in coal-fired power plant plumes if such a reaction is confirmed in further experimental investigations.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed1994

Physical fitness and CHD risk factors in operators and managers of nuclear and thermal power plants situated in environmentally different regions of the Czech Republic.

Nuclear and thermal power plants are seen as one of the threats to human health. Most investigations explore the potential hazards of radiation and the potential impact of a polluted environment. Less attention is being paid to the human factor, i.e. to the people who actually are directly involved in the generation of electrical power and whose sudden collapse could result in a disaster. In this paper dealing with the prevention of CHD we submit, in a condensed form, the results of our long-term testing of operators and managers from one nuclear and two thermal power plants, located in totally dissimilar regions of the Czech Republic. In our investigations, which are still going on, we are using a whole battery of methods--case history, anthropological, clinical and functional tests. Our test subjects are middle-aged men, an age group most prone to CHD. The most favourable results of the vast majority of tests were obtained at the nuclear power plant in southern Moravia, while the most adverse ones--with respect to the danger of CHD--in the men from the thermal power plant in Prague. For the most part these results, in the light of a thorough analysis of the case history, anthropological, clinical, functional and biochemical investigations of these middle-aged men, should be seen as the cumulative effect of both their way of life (locomotor activities, nutrition) and the environment, in which they live. The men working at the nuclear power plant live in the least polluted environment. People's way of life may to some extent be influenced and some preventive steps along these lines have already been taken.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Emissions of mercury and other trace elements from coal-fired power plants in Japan.

To evaluate trace element emissions from modern coal-fired power plants into the atmospheric environment in Japan, trace elements in the coal used in electric utility boilers, stack concentrations, emission rates and emission ratios of coal-fired power plants, and proportions of trace elements in coal-fired power plants were studied. The elements were As, B, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, F, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se and V, which are designated in the Law of Pollutant Release and Transfer Register. The particulate trace elements were collected in an electrostatic precipitator and a wet desulfurization scrubber. Emissions into the atmosphere were lower than 1% of the quantity in coal, but the volatile trace elements showed somewhat higher emission ratios. For mercury, the mean concentration in coal was 0.045 ppm, the mean emission rate was 4.4 microg/kW h, and the mean emission ratio was 27%, the highest ratio among all elements in this study. The total annual emission of mercury from coal-fired power plants of the electric power industry in Japan was estimated to be 0.63 t/y. On the basis of these data, the atmospheric environment loads from a coal-fired power station were investigated. The calculation of stack gas dispersion showed that maximum annual mean ground level concentrations were in the order of 10(-2) to 10(-5) of the background concentrations, and that the adverse effect of the emissions from the coal-fired power station was small.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed2004

Speciation and mass-balance of mercury from pulverized coal fired power plants burning western Canadian subbituminous coals.

This report summarizes the results of a study carried out on six pulverized coal-fired power plants in western Canada burning subbituminous coal for the mass-balance and speciation of mercury. The main objectives of this study were to: determine the total gaseous mercury (TGM) emitted from stacks of power plants using the Ontario Hydro method; identify the speciation of emitted mercury such as metallic (Hg(0)) and gaseous elemental (GEM) mercury; and perform mass-balance calculations of mercury for milled-coal, bottom ash, electrostatic precipitators (ESP) fly ash and stack-emitted mercury based on three tests. Sampling of mercury was carried out using the Ontario Hydro method and mercury was determined using the USEPA method 7473 by cold vapor atomic absorption (CVAAS). The sample collection efficiencies confirmed that both oxidized and the elemental mercury had been successfully sampled at all power plants. The total gaseous mercury emitted (TGM) is 6.95-15.66 g h(-1) and is mostly in gaseous elemental mercury (GEM, Hg(0)) form. The gaseous elemental mercury is emitted at a rate of 6.59-12.62 g h(-1). Reactive gaseous mercury (RGM, Hg(2+)) is emitted at a rate of 0.34-3.68 g h(-1). The rate of emission of particulate mercury (Hg(p)) is low and is in the range 0.005-0.076 g h(-1). The range of mass-balances for each power plant is more similar to the variability in measured mercury emissions, than to the coal and ash analyses or process data. The mass-balance calculations for the six power plants, performed on results of the three tests at each power plant, are between 86% and 123%, which is acceptable and within the range 70-130%. The variation in mass-balance of mercury for the six power plants is mostly related to the variability of coal feed rate.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed1993

Risk perception among nuclear power plant personnel: a survey.

This study investigated risk perception, well-being, and organizational commitment among nuclear power plant personnel. The study group, 428 employees from a nuclear power plant, completed a questionnaire which included the same questions as those in previous surveys on risk perception of lay persons and industrial workers. Hazards at work were not seen as a sizable problem by nuclear power plant personnel. The study group estimated the safety of nuclear power plants better and the possibility of serious nuclear accident as more unlikely than the general public. Compared to employees in other industrial companies, the overall perceived risks at work among plant personnel did not exceed the respective perceptions of the reference groups. Risk-related attitudes did not explain well-being among plant personnel, but the relationship between the perceived probability of a serious nuclear accident at work and organizational commitment yielded to a significant correlation: Those plant workers who estimated the likelihood of an accident higher were less committed to the organization.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed2005

Evaluation of the emission characteristics of trace metals from coal and fuel oil fired power plants and their fate during combustion.

Coal as well as fuel oil combustion generates emissions of potentially toxic trace pollutants including organic and inorganic chemical compounds besides major pollutants. A study on As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, and Zn emissions from a 220 MW coal-fired power plant equipped with a electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) and 6 MW oil fired-power plant was carried out, using stack monitoring kit, Envirotech APM 620, which is similar to EPA Method 29. Simultaneous sampling of coal, fuel oil, oil waste, bottom ash, fly ash, flue gases, and particles associated with the gas phase has been performed. This sampling method was used for trace metal sampling. The content of all these metals in coal, oil, oil waste, bottom ash, fly ash have been determined by XRF, whereas their contents in the flue gases, and particles associated with the gas phase has been analyzed with ICP-AES. The mass balances obtained for trace elements were satisfactory in case of fuel oil based power plant, whereas in case of coal fired power plant, the mass balance for all the trace elements were below 50% except for the As, Se, and Hg. The enrichment factors for all trace metals was <1 in both cases. The above sampling method is moderately adequate method for trace element sampling in coal as well as oil fired power plants except for Hg. The results indicate that trace metals emissions were higher in coal-based power plant than the fuel oil-fired power plant.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed1985

Investigations on fly-ash and soil samples in the environment of a coal-fired power plant.

In the main wind direction of a coal-fired power plant dust and soil samples have been collected to analyse the content of fly-ash coming from the power plant. The fly-ash particles are spherical and contain the natural radionuclides mainly Ra-226, Pb-210, Po-210 and K-40 in a higher concentration when compared with the original coal. The investigation of soil samples results in increased Pb-210 and Po-210 concentrations when compared with the natural environment. By presence of spherical particles in dust and soil samples the power plant can be identified as the emitter.

Air Pollutants↗