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From: res@ihuxn.UUCP (Rich Strebendt)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.misc
Subject: Re: Radioactivity of coal-fired power plants vs. TMI
Message-ID: <800@ihuxn.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 20-Aug-84 11:20:46 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihuxn.800
Posted: Mon Aug 20 11:20:46 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 21-Aug-84 00:17:18 EDT
References: <3397@decwrl.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 33

| There was a discussion not too long ago on radioactivity of coal-fired
| power plants vs. nukes.  I have an interesting question on the
| subject - Does anyone know how long a coal fired power plant with the
| same generating capacity as the crippled Three Mile Island plant would
| have to run to release as much radioactivity as the TMI plant released
| during the accident there?  Mail me the answer and please include
| references.  I will post to the net if there is enough interest.
| Thank you.
| 					Mike Moroney
| 				..decvax!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-jon!moroney

In order to calibrate those numbers, can we also get numbers from some
respectable source on the period of exposure needed to accumulate a
comparable dose from the following sources:

	Standing next to a granite building in New York City

	Standing in the open sunlight of Denver Colorado

	Hiking along a trail in one of the mountain ranges (Rockies,
	Appalachians, etc.)

	Flying in an open ballon at a reasonable altitude for such a
	craft.

From my hazy recollection (which is NOT a respectable source!!), the
duration of exposure to New York skyscrapers needed to be equivalent to
the dosage the nearest neighbors to TMI got was on the order of a
couple of hours.  This may have been published in an IEEE Spectrum
issue devoted to nuclear safety a while back.

					Rich Strebendt
					...!ihnp4!ihuxn!res