Health effects of technologies for power generation: Contributions from normal operation, severe accidents and terrorist threat

As a part of comprehensive analysis of current and future energy systems we carried out numerous analyses of health effects of a wide spectrum of electricity supply technologies including advanced ones, operating in various countries under different conditions. The scope of the analysis covers full energy chains, i.e. fossil, nuclear and renewable power plants and the various stages of fuel cycles. State-of-the-art methods are used for the estimation of health effects. This paper addresses health effects in terms of reduced life expectancy in the context of normal operation as well as fatalities resulting from severe accidents and potential terrorist attacks. Based on the numerical results and identified patterns a comparative perspective on health effects associated with various electricity generation technologies and fuel cycles is provided. In particular the estimates of health risks from normal operation can be compared with those resulting from severe accidents and hypothetical terrorist attacks. A novel approach to the analysis of terrorist threat against energy infrastructure was developed, implemented and applied to selected energy facilities in various locations. Finally, major limitations of the current approach are identified and recommendations for further work are given.

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