ABSTRACT
The major environmental effect relating to health considered here is the oxides of sulfur in air pollution. Coal and oil produce by far the largest proportions of all the risk. Only natural gas, ocean thermal, hydroelectricity, and nuclear contribute small proportions of the total risk. Natural gas-fired electricity has the lowest public risk, followed by nuclear and ocean thermal. For nuclear power, both the risk of waste management and possible reactor catastrophes were included. Nuclear waste risk is long-term, extending many centuries into the future. The construction of most solar energy systems would require considerably more energy-intensive materials such as steel and cement, than a nuclear plant of equivalent capacity. Some non-conventional technologies have moderate values of public risk, primarily due to the energy back-up required to provide base load reliability. Finally, natural gas used to produce electricity and nuclear power appear to have the smallest number of deaths and man-days lost.
