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The Health Risks of Energy Production

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  • Andrew F. Fritzsche

Abstract

Any personal or societal activity, besides bringing us benefits, also carries some risk. Energy production and use are no exceptions. In order to judge these risks, they must be quantified, and the risks of all alternative methods of producing this energy must then be compared among each other. These risks originate in many parts of the energy cycle; they are diverse in character and involve different parts of the population. It is therefore necessary to discriminate between many aspects of risk so that only reasonably comparable categories are compared. The results of a critical analysis of the international risk literature are presented, which are applicable to power production plants as they could be built today in central European countries. This review pays special attention to the possibility of severe accidents occurring, which attract so much attention in our modern societies. It turns out that the health risks of routine nuclear energy production are lower than the risks of other energy options, particularly for the general public. The probability of a severe accident occurring is far higher for all conventional energy options. Only the renewable systems utilizing the energy of the sun and the wind are not susceptible to severe accidents.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew F. Fritzsche, 1989. "The Health Risks of Energy Production," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 9(4), pages 565-577, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:riskan:v:9:y:1989:i:4:p:565-577
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1539-6924.1989.tb01267.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Joanne Linnerooth‐Bayer & Björn Wahlström, 1991. "Applications of Probabilistic Risk Assessments: The Selection of Appropriate Tools," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(2), pages 239-248, June.
    2. Gian Paolo Clemente & Alessandra Cornaro & Rosanna Grassi & Giorgio Rizzini, 2022. "Strategic energy flows in input-output relations: a temporal multilayer approach," Papers 2212.11585, arXiv.org.
    3. Spada, Matteo & Paraschiv, Florentina & Burgherr, Peter, 2018. "A comparison of risk measures for accidents in the energy sector and their implications on decision-making strategies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 277-288.
    4. Andrew F. Fritzsche, 1992. "Severe Accidents: Can They Occur Only in the Nuclear Production of Electricity?," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(3), pages 327-329, September.

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