Influence of coal-fired power stations on the concentration of radioisotopes in the environment

The life in the 21st century carries the consequence of using many goods and conveniences of the technocratic world. Doubtless, electric energy is one of such good. According to the principle of conservation of energy, we have to use different sources of energy with the aim of production of electric current. Most frequently the energy contained in mineral fuels or nuclear energy is being used [6, 14]. The activity of institutions producing electricity causes the necessity of liquidation and utilization of combustion exhausts. Dusts emitted to the atmosphere by coal-fired power stations are since a pretty long time dangerous and a serious problem for the environment [7]. It seems that not only smog, but heavy metals are also emitted by the institutions burning coal as a fuel. Radioactive elements are also the product of coal combustion. The problem of building nuclear power stations causes the protests of ecologists in the world. The attention devoted to the influence of the combustion gas on the radioactivity of the environment is insufficient. Coal-fired power stations except CO2 and NOx emit to the atmosphere the dust which is the product of coal combustion. Coal-fired power stations spread around the pollution and moves the radioisotopes to local ecosystems at a distance of several kilometers and farther [12]. Conducted measurements aimed at elucidating the relation between the radioactivity of conventional coal-fired power stations on the terrain of Poland and the radioactivity of the environment. Influence of coal-fired power stations on the concentration of radioisotopes in the environment Grzegorz Mazur, Paweł Mazur