The Nevada Test Site (NTS), north of Las Vegas, was the scene of hundreds of nuclear weapons tests over four decades, both
above- and belowground. There is considerable interest, both in neighboring communities and elsewhere, in the risks it poses.
Overall, the greatest risks are nonradioactive in origin, with occupational risks to employees and accident risks in transporting
low-level nuclear wastes to the NTS from other Department of Energy (DOE) sites ranking highest. For radiation risks, that
to workers handling radioactive materials is much higher than that to the surrounding population, either present or future.
Overall, annual risks are small, with all fatalities approximately 0.008% of total Nevada deaths. At the NTS, the government
spends about 5000 times more on radiation as opposed to nonradiation deaths. This suggests that at least some resources may
be misallocated towards cleanup of public risks and that the occupational risk of cleanup may be much higher than the public
risk. Thus risk may be multiplied by well-meaning programs. 相似文献
The authors investigated the ignitability of aluminium and magnesium dusts that are generated during the shredding of post-consumer waste. The relations between particle size and the minimum explosive concentration, the minimum ignition energy, the ignition temperature of the dust clouds, etc. the relation between of oxygen concentration and dust explosion, the effect of inert substances on dust explosion, etc. were studied experimentally.
The minimum explosive concentration increased exponentially with particle size. The minimum explosive concentrations of the sample dusts were about 170 g/m3 (aluminium: 0–8 μm) and 90 g/m3 (magnesium: 0–20 μm). The minimum ignition energy tended to increase with particle size. It was about 6 mJ for the aluminium samples and 4 mJ for the magnesium samples. The ignition temperature of dust clouds was about 750 °C for aluminium and about 520 °C for magnesium. The lowest concentrations of oxygen to produce a dust explosion were about 10% for aluminium and about 8% for magnesium. A large mixing ratio (more than about 50%) of calcium oxide or calcium carbonate was necessary to decrease the explosibility of magnesium dust. The experimental data obtained in the present investigation will be useful for evaluating the explosibility of aluminium and magnesium dusts generated in metal recycling operations and thus for enhancing the safety of recycling plants. 相似文献
All economic sectors are associated with energy use; therefore, government organizations aim to supply sustainable energy for human needs and economic growth. In particular, increased environmental concerns of the public in Turkey have impacted policymaking for renewable energy (RE) management in Turkey. The primary objective for RE sources of the Turkish Ministry of Energy is to ensure that 30% of the share of electricity production is from RE resources in 2023. In this paper, the integrated multi-objective, multi-period linear programming model is presented to determine effective allocation of RE supply for seven different geographical regions in Turkey for the period of 2017 to 2024. The integrated model consists of two different stages. The first stage involves qualitative evaluations of RE sources for seven geographical regions. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is applied to determine criteria priorities and overall ratings of geographical regions across determined criteria for RE sources are computed. The second stage of the integrated model consists of a multi-objective, multi-period linear programming model. The proposed multi-objective linear programming model is coded in MPL (Mathematical Programming Language) and solved using the GUROBI 5.1.0 solver. The output of the integrated model presents the total supply amount of RE sources for geographical regions in planning period. The ε-constraints method is applied to compute the total supply amount of RE from geographical regions for the period of 2017 to 2024. In this study, a systematic decision-making model is generated to allocate renewable energy sources to the geographical regions. The presented model integrates qualitative evaluations and quantitative parameters of different geographical regions to determine the optimal supply amount of RE. The obtained results are consistent with the potential quantities of RE alternatives in geographical regions, regional specifications, and social requirements. 相似文献
A myriad of factors, both economic and political, influenced the voting by members of the United States Congress on the 1978 National Energy Act. Determinant factors considered in our analysis included the percentage of residents in the Congressman's district residing in the central city or on farms; the percentage of residents who belong to labor unions; the average level of education of the residents; oil, coal, and natural gas production in the state relative to total domestic production. The results, determined by means of logit analysis, indicate that the impact on low-income energy consumers, the effect on overall employment, the impact on farmers, and the benefits to energy interests, as well as ideology and the subjective perception that the need exists to do something about the energy situation in the United States, were all important explanatory factors.The author is an economist with the United States Department of Energy. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the policies of the Department of Energy or the views of other Department of Energy staff members. 相似文献
An evaluation of potential occupational and public health aspects of geopressure, hydrothermal, hot dry rock, silviculture, crop and animal residues, fermentable plant products, municipal waste, and plantation energy technologies has been performed. Future development of these energy options in the United States will contain hazards that could easily be eliminated by safer equipment design and common-sense attention to operation and maintenance. Occupational exposure to hydrogen sulfide gas occurs near all geothermal sites and wherever organic matter decomposes anaerobically. Respiratory damage has occurred to laborers in geothermal fields, while farm workers have been fatally overcome when employed near agitating liquid manure systems. However, the most frequent and severe of reported injuries to geothermal workers is dermal exposure to caustic sludges produced by H2S abatement systems.Principal health and safety considerations of biomass pathways are directly related to the diffuse nature of solar energy fixation by photosynthesis and subsequent transfer to animal food chains. Since the potential fuel is in an unconcentrated form, cultivation, harvest, and transport are necessarily laborintensive. Thus, a significant potential for occupational injuries and fatalities exists. Of all biomass systems evaluated, direct burning of solid fuels presents the greatest public health risk. Data are presented to characterize the population at risk and the frequency and severity of injuries.Operated by Union Carbide Corporation under contract W-7405-eng-26 with the U.S. Department of Energy. 相似文献