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Why do people always forget that coal plants spew radiation into the environment?

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/coal-ash-is-more-...



There's a significant difference between diffuse radioactivity and the sort of waste nuclear plants put out, though. In both impact on humans, and mitigation.


Right - diffuse radioactivity is harder to contain or clean up.


Less necessary to do so, though.


Well, no - not if the linear no threshold theory of radiation dosages is correct. If it is, then that diffuse radiation leads to cancer just as surely as acute radiation exposure.


I was already aware. How does pointing this out solve nuclear waste storage issues?


Coal was the alternative we chose, so it set the standard to beat.


Coal wasn't chosen after nuclear was abandoned. Coal was used for centuries before. And the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is not only from the last 30-40 years. It started to rise significantly with the spreading of the industrial revolution.


How does this solve nuclear waste storage? It has nothing to do with the challenges of storing nuclear waste.




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