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Going Nuclear: Notes from the officially unofficial book tour
I work in the analytical labs at one of Europe’s oldest and largest nuclear sites: Sellafield, in northwestern England. I spend my days at the fume hood front, pipette in one hand and radiation probe in the other (and dosimeter pinned to my chest, of course). Outside the lab, I have a second job: I moonlight as a writer and public speaker. My new popular science book—Going Nuclear: How the Atom Will Save the World—came out last summer, and it feels like my life has been running at full power ever since.
Carl M. Unruh
Nuclear Technology | Volume 24 | Number 3 | December 1974 | Pages 314-322
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste | doi.org/10.13182/NT74-A31493
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Man receives radiation doses from a variety of sources. Background radiation from terrestrial sources, cosmic rays, and the internal deposition of naturally occurring radioactive materials amounts to about 94 mrem/yr at sea level and varies widely with location and elevation. Medical services are estimated to contribute an average of 75 mrem/yr currently. Global fallout from previous weapons tests contribute about 4 mrem/yr. For 1970 the average annual dose from the U.S. nuclear power industry was about 0.003 mrem. Extensive studies have shown that in the year 2000 the average annual dose from nuclear power generation may be about 0.4 mrem/yr. For the average U.S. citizen, the largest annual radiation dose arises from naturally occurring background. For the year 1970, the radiation dose from the U.S. nuclear power industry was about 0.003% of that received from unavoidable natural background radiation. For the year 2000, the radiation dose from the U.S. nuclear power industry is predicted to be about 0.5% of that received from unavoidable natural background radiation.