Table 4.27 Welfare Effects of a Light Water Reactor Fuel Cycle3 Air Pollution Thermal Discharges Water Pollution Water Use Changes Solid Waste Land Use Disturbance Electromagnet ic Disturbances Ionizing Radiation Noise Aesthetic Disturbances Mining UFg production Enrichment Fuel fabrication Transportation Power generation Reprocessing Enrichment Power generation Mining Milling UFg production Enrichment Fuel fabrication Power generation Reprocessing Mining Power generation Enrichment Mining Milling UFg production Fuel fabrication Mining Enrichment Reprocessing Decomiss ioning Transmission Mining Mil ling Conversion Enrichment Fuel fabrication Power generation Reprocessing Mining Power generation Transmission Mining Power generation Transmiss ion Fluorine and sulfuric acid emissions could damage livestock, grazing land, and crops. Other air pollutants are emitted from coal plants, which may be used to supply process power. Cooling tower operation can increase local fogging and icing with effects on visibility, traffic, and convenience for nearby residents. Cloud and precipitation augmentation is possible, but should be minor, with little effect on crop productivity. The same effects would be possible from power generation for uranium enrichment facilities. Nuclear power parks would release much more heat than single power plants, with increased welfare effects. Process effluents can on occasion degrade drinking water supplies; degrade irrigation water, impairing crop growth; and reduce commercial and recreational use. Mining operations can disrupt water flow. Cooling needs during power production require extensive amounts of water if evaporative systems are used; uranium enrichment also has significant water requirements. All three impacts can conflict with downstream uses. Release of trace elements into terrestrial ecosystems may locally reduce crop productivity. Lateral and upward movement of leachates may contaminate rooting zones of otherwise productive cropland. Agricultural use of reclaimed mines may be less productive. Exclusion zones around enrichment and reprocessing plants remove land from other uses, whereas burial of nuclear wastes may remove all further use of land involved. High intensity magnetic fields around transmission lines can cause radio and TV interference in fringe-reception areas. Low-level radiation emissions could act as an extremely low-level mutating agent for crops and livestock. Knowledge of a threshold level for adverse effects from ionizing radiation is uncertain. No major effects. High-voltage transmission lines create a barely audible hum. Aesthetic degradation due to mines, cooling tower plumes, transmission corridors.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTU5NjU0Mg==