ABSTRACT
New technologies and processes have promoted our economic growth and have been remarkably changingourlifestyles.Theyhavecreatedasophisticatedsocietyandwehavebeenenjoyingcomfortablelives.However,technologicalinnovationisnotalwayswelcome.Itdestroystheenvironmentandputsusinadangeroussituation.Theemissionofinorganicpollutantssuchasnitrogen oxides(NOX) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) has been remarkably reduced by state-of-the-art technologiesduringthepast50years.However,industrialcountrieshavebeenusingalotofoilandcoalto obtainenergyforelectricity,vehicles,chemicalproducts,etc.Thecombustionofoilandcoalproduceslargeamountsofcarbondioxide,whichcausesthegreenhouseeffect.Forthisreason,energy sourceshavebeendiversiŸedfromconventionaloilandcoaltoatomic,solar,andbiomassenergies, so as to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide and geopolitical risk against the energy supply. The EU-15emissiontrendforNOX and SO2 shows emission reductions of 31% and 70%, respectively, from1990to2004(EuropeanEnvironmentalAgency,2006).Althoughthedevelopingcountries alsotrytoincreasetheconsumptionofenvironment-friendlyenergiesinsteadoffossilfuels,the steepdemandforenergyduetotherecenteconomicgrowthmakesitdifŸculttoreducetheusage offossilfuels.ThiscausesalargeamountofemissionofNOX, SO2, as well as carbon dioxide to the atmosphere(Streetsetal.,2000;KatoandAkimoto,2007;GaffneyandMarley,2009;Ramanathan andFeng,2009).Accordingtoestimatedlong-termSO2 emission trends for Asia (Carmichael et al., 2002),evenifvariouschemicalprocessesemittingSO2 are operated under current legislation, the emissionofSO2 will increase. In particular, China is the major source of NOX and SO2 emissions. TheemissionofSO2 in 1995 was about 25,200 kt in China. It will increase by about 60,700 kt, ifemissioncontrolisnotimplemented.Evenwithemissioncontrol,theSO2 emission would be
32.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................923 32.2Radiation Treatment .............................................................................................................926
