Читать книгу Industrial and Medical Nuclear Accidents - Jean-Claude Amiard - Страница 30

In the first volume of this series on radioactive risk, we have reviewed nuclear accidents of military origin. We must now address civil nuclear accidents. Atomic energy is mainly used to produce electricity in nuclear reactors and relies on a set of industries capable of extracting, concentrating, transforming, using, reprocessing and reusing nuclear fuel (mainly uranium and plutonium). Nuclear accidents can occur at any stage of the fuel cycle. However, unfortunate experience has shown that nuclear reactors and spent fuel reprocessing plants are the most frequent and most serious locations for accidents. The consequences of accidents remain local when releases are low, regional for medium releases and global only for the most serious accidents.