What are the radiations from nuclear power plants?

Answer 1

Nuclear power plants do not normally give off radiation that can be detected, but then can have accidental leaks of radioactive materials which, in turn give off radiation.

These can get into the environment and be dispersed, eventually causing damage.

Probably the most common radioactive substance to get out of nuclear power plants in leaks is tritium. Tritium emits beta radiation with a rather low energy (as beta radiation goes). This means that it cannot penetrate skin deeply enough to damage living cells. The problem is that the tritium is bound in tritiated water and this can be ingested or inhaled, and the tritium winds up being incorporated into the body, where it can do damage. Internally, low energy beta radiation is as damaging as high energy, because the damage is done as the radiation slows down. More than a quarter of the nuclear power plants in the United States are known to be leaking tritium. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says this is not sufficiently important to close the plants.

Other kinds of leaks can release other kinds of materials. When fission occurs, as it does in the nuclear reactor fuel, there is a wide variety of fission fragments that are produced. These are all different in the types and powers of radiation produced. So they will radiate alpha, beta, and gamma particles, along with neutrons - all forms of ionizing radiation and all dangerous. This is true for both low level and high level nuclear waste.