UNSCEAR - 2000: Report to the General Assembly, Annex J. The most recent information about Chernobyl from the UNSCEAR 2000 report The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) A full assessment of the Chernobyl accident is included in the UNSCEAR 2000 Report as Annex J "Exposures and effects of the Chernobyl accident". This web article reproduces that annex. The annex is well written and easy to read. But you will need some definitions, such as: t : metric tonne, 1000 kg GWd t-1 : gigawatt days per tonne, the amount of thermal energy produced from each tonne of nuclear reactor fuel PBq : peta becquerel, 10**15 becquerels um : micro meter, one millionth of a meter kBq m-2 : kilo becquerels per square meter MBq m-2 : mega becquerels per square meter Ci km-2 : curies per square kilometer Gy : gray Gy h-1 : grays per hour mSv : milli sieverts A "becquerel" (Bq) of radioactivity occurs if there is one nucleus decay event every second. So kBq indicates one thousand nucleus decay events every second, i.e. one thousand becquerels. MBq indicates one million becquerels. Associating this with a square meter gives a measure of the radioactivity of a land area. A "curie" (Ci) of radioactivity is 37 giga becquerels (GBq), i.e. 37,000,000,000 Bq. A "gray" (Gy) is a measure of an absorbed dose of radioactivity. A "sievert" (Sv) is a measure of a dose equivalent of radioactivity. A milli sievert is one thousandth of a sievert.

Eric J. Hall - 2002 Jul: An explanation of the types of radiation, the units used for measuring radiation, and the affect that various amounts of radiation have on people. Radiation is energy that travels through space. It can travel as a wave which has a frequency that determines penetration characteristics, or as a particle which has mass, size, and velocity that determine penetration ability. Life has evolved in a bath of radioactivity from the beginning, and today we add to this exposure with medical practices that have significant benefits. Radiation levels are measured in Becquerels (Bq) which consist of one atomic decay per second. There are several kinds of radiation: alpha, beta, gamma, and neutron. A radiation dose delivers energy into a human body. This is measured in grays, one joule of energy per kilogram of body. However, the effect of this energy transfer differs for each type of radiation. If this is taken into account, a radiation dose of one type can be compared with that of another type. This way of measuring radiation dose uses sieverts as the unit of measure. One sievert is the maximum dose that you can receive without being killed. Below 50 millisieverts (mSv) no effects of radiation have been measured. The general background level is around 3 mSv. Some places have backgrounds as high as 260 mSv without any evidence of health problems. For public exposure, 1 mSv per year averaged over five years is the typical regulated limit, over and above background levels and medical exposure.

Uranium Information Centre - 2007 Nov: Small nuclear reactors make it easier to introduce nuclear power to remote sites. There is revival of interest in small and simpler nuclear reactors for generating electricity, and for process heat. The interest is driven by a desire to reduce capital costs and to provide power away from main grid systems. The technologies involved are diverse, but two leading ones use high temperature helium to drive turbines directly.

Dr Christian Hoenraet - 1999 Sep: Report from a Catholic working group set up to review the issues associated with the production of nuclear energy. The working group concluded that respect for future generations requires us to make the best possible use of nuclear energy. All technologies used to produce electricity, whatever the energy source, have both advantages and disadvantages and carry certain risks. Nuclear energy looks very good when compared with the alternative technologies. Mankind is responsible for using it in an ethical manner.

Stewart Brand - 2005 May: Why environmentalists need new thinking about population growth, urbanization, genetically engineered organisms, and nuclear power. The environmentalist movement is dominated by dogmatic zealots who have a narrow concept of what needs to be done next. For these fanatics new information that demands a new approach is unwelcome. However, lots of new information is available. For instance, the world's human population has levelled off and is beginning to decline because most people live in cities where raising children is difficult. Environmentalists need to re-think their concerns. The big issue is climate change. We need to de-carbonize our energy production. The environmentalist's quasi-religious opposition to nuclear power is preventing this change. We are at a dangerous point where one more nuclear accident, even a small one, could seal off this avenue of hope. We need a revitalized nuclear initiative now.

Center for Reactor Information: A small web site run by retired engineers and scientists. All the articles posted here have been fully reviewed. This web site has been set up to provide accurate and complete information about nuclear energy using a writing style that non-technical people can understand easily. It is a small site with only a few posted articles and a few links to other information sources. However, the articles are good and the references point to the most informative sources.

John R. Cameron - 2003 Oct: Recent results from long term studies indicate that mild radiation exposure improves health A double blind study is needed to confirm the hypothesis that mild radiation improves longevity. Several long term studies indicate that this is so. Even fairly high doses, high enough to increase cancer rates, seem to cause enough beneficial effect to make overall longevity remain constant despite the inceased cancer deaths. Many standards for radiation safety are based on cancer rate statistics, so this may be the wrong base if it misses the positive effects. Settings dose standards too low as a result of using the wrong measure is causing increased costs for industry without producing any benefit. The basis for setting standards should be longevity which will the be influenced by the positive results of radiation exposure.

Jon Palfreman - : A discussion of the issues raised by the nuclear fuel cycle in France, and the policies being adopted there to gain public acceptance of the nuclear power technology. I think similar policies should be adopted in Canada.

Dr. Robert Dupont - : A question and answer session that addresses the false fears about nuclear power. A very good analysis of how people are made to be afraid.

C.W. Forsberg, P.F. Peterson, H. Zhao - 2004 Feb 28: Describes new technologies that improve the characteristics of a molten salt reactor design. Two liquid fuelled reactors were built and operated in the USA during the 1950's and 1960's. This research lead to a design for a 1000 MW(e) molten salt reactor. This paper describes the improvements that can be made in this design by using modern technologies that were not available when the original was produced. The improved technologies are Brayton helium power cycles, compact heat exchangers, and carbon-carbon composites.