Radiation Doses from Hypothetical Exposures to Combustion Products of Plowshare Gas Discharged from Stacks

Abstract

Whole body annual radiation doses to man due to tritium were estimated for hypothetical exposures to stack gases discharged from the Cherokee Steam Electric Station in the Denver area burning 94 million ft³/day of nuclearly stimulated natural gas containing 10 pCi/cm³ of tritium. The highest dose that might be received by any person outside the plant area was estimated to be 0.006 mrem/yr, using annual average weather data. This predicted dose includes 0.005 mrem/yr from the initial exposure to plumes from the stacks, and 0.001 mrem/yr estimated for exposures to residual tritium repeatedly swept over the area by wind reversals which occur almost daily in the Denver area. The total dose to the nearby population of 1.55 million people was estimated to be 3.0 man-rem/yr, of which 1.6 man-rem/yr are attributable to the initial plume exposure, and the balance is from exposures due to wind reversals.