• JackbyDev@programming.dev
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    1 year ago

    This is a fun fact but I don’t think it matters, no one is getting radiation sickness from coal smoke. Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying coal smoke is healthy, it’s fucking awful and causes way more deaths than nuclear power plants.

    • PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Federation of American scientists (FAS) believe that the number is actually calculable:

      “The quantity of radioactive material liberated by the burn- ing of coal is considerable, since on average it contains a few parts per million of uranium and thorium”

      “Per gigawatt- year (GWe-yr) of electrical energy produced by coal, using the current mix of technology throughout the world, the population exposure is estimated to be about 0.8 lethal cancers per plant-year distributed over the affected population.”

      “Table 7.2 summarizes these data. With 400 GWe of coal-fired power plants in the world, this amounts to some 320 deaths per year; in the world at large, some plants have better filters and cause less harm, while others have little stack-gas cleanup and cause far more.”

      https://rlg.fas.org/mwmt-p233.pdf

      That’s about the number of people who died from Chernobyl, every year. From the radiation from coal power plants.

        • PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Sure sure, but we are still pumping out isotopes of uranium and plutonium into the atmosphere. We are lucky the effects of radioactive isotopes are generally overblown then, huh?

          • JackbyDev@programming.dev
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            1 year ago

            🙏 I need you to listen to me extremely closely. I am not saying nuclear shit in the atmosphere is good. I never said this. I never implied this. All I’m saying is that the nuclear aspects of coal usage are a drop in the bucket in the massive pile of problems it has. I’m not saying coal is good either.

      • JackbyDev@programming.dev
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        1 year ago

        No, I’m saying that saying the radiation concerns specifically of coal output isn’t a concern with regards to health.

        • Womble@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          You’re right coal deaths are just confined to mines, respiratory illnesses and excess cancers from chronic low dose exposure.

            • Womble@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              No, I’m saying that saying the radiation concerns specifically of coal output isn’t a concern with regards to health.

              So chronic low level exposure to radiation is fine?

              • JackbyDev@programming.dev
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                1 year ago

                I’m not saying it’s fine, I’m saying it feels like an order of magnitude less of a concern compared to all of the other bad things that can happen from coal smoke.