Glossary of Terms
AIR - Acid Rain-Rain that becomes acidified when exposed to pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides that are released when coal and oil are burned. Measured on a pH scale, the lower the pH, the higher the concentration of toxins. This rain presents a serious hazard not only to the health of lakes, fish, wildlife and forests, but to human beings and historic structures as well. Acidic Nitrates/Sulfates-Sulfates and nitrates occur in particulate or droplet form. In the droplet form they are already sulfuric acid/nitric acid droplets. When dry particulate sulfate mixes with water, it becomes sulfuric acid. Likewise, when dry particulate nitrate mixes with water it becomes nitric acid. Best Available Control Technology (BACT)-A program requirement established in the Clean Air Act calling for all major new or modified utilities in areas where pollutants in the air meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards to employ control technology based on performance, not economic cost. Bioaccumulation-The increase of a specific substance as it moves up the food chain in one or more organism that concentrates the substance in their bodies. Generally, this term is used in concert with hazardous toxic pollutants such as mercury which reach greater concentrations as they move from small organisms like fish up to humans. CENTER FOR ENERGY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTA non-profit group dedicated to protecting the future of coal-based energy production. Started in 1992 as a partnership between the U.S. coal and rail industries, membership today includes utility companies, equipment manufacturers, labor unions and others. CLEAN AIR ACT (CAA)Enacted in 1970, this Act is intended to enhance and protect the air quality of the nation and promote public health. It is under this Act that the EPA has established the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and works to enforce them. Expired in 1981, the Act was reauthorized in 1990 by President Bush, Sr. CLEAN AIR ACT AMENDMENTSFive amendments signed into law with the reauthorization of the Clean Air Act in 1990. The amendments tighten pollution control in cities not meeting the NAAQS; requires 40% reductions in acid rain causing SO2 emissions; lists close to 200 air pollutants and mandates for all major sources of air toxins; requires stronger control requirements for automobiles; and specifies a phase-out program for ozone-depleting chemicals. EIGHT-HOUR OZONE STANDARDThe standard of ozone currently believed to be more protective than the currently enforceable 1-hour ozone standard as it designates any location recording ozone levels of 80 parts per billion over an 8 hour period in a day as being in non-attainment of the National Ambient Air Quality standards. Although not currently enforceable, numerous cities across the Southeast are projected to be in non-attainment of the 8-hour standard (305 counties in the east currently violate the standard). FINE PARTICULATE MATTER (PM)Extremely small particles (less than 2.5 microns in sizeone-hundredth the width of a human hair). These particles are so small that they bypass the bodys natural defenses to lodge deep in the lungs, causing or exacerbating respiratory problems and even shortening lives. Sulfur dioxide is the dominant component of these particles in the eastern U.S. GRANDFATHERED PLANTS (GRANDFATHER LOOPHOLE)The Clean Air Act exempted the older, pre-1985 power plants from new pollution control requirements because the utility industry argued that they would eventually be phased out, so it would be wasteful to retrofit these plants with expensive technology. GREENHOUSE GASGases in the earths lower atmosphere which cause a greenhouse effect, where the gases trap a percentage of the heat radiating off of the Earths surface and remit it back to Earth. Examples are carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), ozone, methane, water vapor and nitrogen oxides. GREEN POWER PRICING PROGRAMOffered by local utility companies, the pricing program is offered to allow consumers to purchase electricity from renewable resources. Generally, this environmentally friendly option will cost slightly more than traditional power options. GROUND LEVEL OZONENitrogen oxides + volatile organic compounds (hydrocarbons) + molecular oxygen + sunlight = ground level ozone (O3). Ground level ozone can damage the lungs in the same way that a sunburn weakens the skin, leaving them swollen and unable to move air adequately. GULF COST OXIDANTS STUDY (GCOS)a study sponsored by ADEM, Southern Company, and the environmental regulatory agencies of Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi in an effort to gain a better understanding of eight-hour ozone issues across the Gulf Coast region spanning Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida panhandle. The first phase of GCOS has been completed and the study participants are waiting for more clarification from the U.S. E.P.A. on what the regulatory requirements of the new eight-hour ozone standard will be before beginning the next phase of the study. HAZARDOUS WASTEAny waste, whether solid, liquid, or containerized as gas that can catch fire easily, is corrosive to skin tissue or metals, is unstable and can explode or release toxic fumes, or has harmful concentrations of one or more toxic materials that can leach out. LOW N0X BURNERSControl technology used to reduce the amount of NOx emissions that are generated from the combustion of fossil fuels (i.e., coal). LOWEST ACHIEVABLE EMISSION RATE (LAER)A program requirement established in the Clean Air Act that demands that all major new or modified utilities in areas where pollutants in the air exceed the National Ambient Air Quality Standards employ control technology based on performance, not economic cost. MERCURYA toxic pollutant from coal-fired power plants that bioaccumulates in the food chain. It is toxic to the human body and can cause neurological damage. Fetuses, infants, women, and young children are at particular risk for neurological damage from mercury. NEW SOURCE REVIEW (NSR)A provision of the Clean Air Act that requires new power plants or significantly modified facilities to install modern pollution control technology to meet current clean air standards. NITROGEN OXIDES (N0X)A by-product of fossil fuel combustion for electricity generation that contributes to ozone smog pollution, acid rain, and nitrogen deposition through chemical reactions in the atmosphere. NON-ATTAINMENT AREAThe designation of a metropolitan statistical area upon failure to meet federal air quality standards. Restrictions are imposed on the non-attainment area by the federal government, such as fees, taxes, pollution control requirements, etc. N0X EMISSION CREDITSA credit is created when a power supply reduces NOx emissions beyond all required pollution standards. A credit equals one ton of reductions, and can be sold to another power source to help them comply with pollution standards. N0X SIP CALLNitrogen Oxide State Implementation Plan: A regulatory action taken by EPA, under the authority of the Clean Air Act, against 22 states (including the top 2/3 of Alabama) and the District of Columbia. States must propose plans to reduce NOx emissions that contribute to other states ozone problems through the transport of pollution. Reductions to be in effect by May 2004. ONE-HOUR STANDARD FOR GROUND LEVEL OZONEOutlined under the federal National Ambient Air Quality Standards, safe ozone levels in a specific area are exceeded at .125 parts per million (ppm) over a one-hour period in a day. This level is set based on scientific analysis of the effects of ozone pollution on human health and the environment. If this standard is exceeded more than three times in three years, the area in question is designated as non-attainment. PUBLIC BENEFITS FUND (PBF)A fund created by placing a fee on power companies and/or their customers. This fund supports and encourages the development and use of renewable energy. RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO STANDARD (RPS)A requirement that a small percentage of the nations power supply portfolio come from renewable sources. RETROFITTo furnish with new parts or equipment not available at the time of manufacture of the structure. SCRUBBERSA pollution control technology for coal-fired power plants, generally installed in the smoke stacks, to remove sulfur dioxide emissions. SELECTIVE CATALYTIC REDUCTION (SCR)A pollution control technology for coal-fired power plants to remove nitrogen oxide emissions. SO2 EMISSION CREDITSLike the NOX emission credits, these SO2 credits are created when a power supply reduces SO2 emissions beyond all required pollution standards. A credit equals one ton of reductions, and can be sold to another power source to help them comply with pollution standards. STATE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN (SIP)The regulations and other materials for meeting clean air standards and associated Clean Air Act requirements. These are federal requirements, and may not be identical to each individual states regulations. SULFUR DIOXIDE (SO2)A colorless, nonflammable toxic gas formed during combustion of sulfur containing fuels such as coal and oil. Partly converted by photochemical and catalytic reactions in the atmosphere, sulfur dioxide becomes sulfur trioxide, sulfuric acid, and various sulfate particles that can also have adverse health and environmental effects. TOXIC CHEMICALA chemical that is fatal to humans in low doses or fatal to more than 50 percent of test animals at stated concentrations. Most are neurotoxins, which attack nerve cells. |
NUCLEAR - ACTIVATION PRODUCT: The violent chain reaction resulting from splitting (fissioning) the atom that causes chemicals in air, water, or other materials to absorb energy, change structure slightly, and become radioactive. About 300 different radioactive chemicals are created with each chain reaction, which takes up to thousands or millions of years to return to their normal stable state, emitting radiation until stable. BACKGROUND RADIATION (NATURAL): Environmental radiation due to naturally occurring radioactive elements and cosmic rays. In general, it is about 100 millirem per year. CRITICALITY: A nuclear reaction has achieved criticality if it is generating enough neutrons to maintain the reaction at the same level that it is currently operating at. Creating too many neutrons makes the reaction super-critical, and too few neutrons makes the reaction sub-critical. An operating nuclear power plant is intentionally critical but can also have an uncontrolled nuclear reaction (e.g. Chernobyl). Spent fuel pools can also achieve criticality unless certain precautions are taken. CURIE: Traditional unit of radiation equal to the radioactivity of 1 gram of pure radium. One Curie gives off 37 billion nuclear disintegrations (mini-explosions) per second. FISSION: From the Latin to cleave or split i.e. the splitting of the nucleus of the atom, particularly the uranium or plutonium atom, releasing incredible amounts of energy. FISSION PRODUCT: A general term for the mixture of substances resulting from nuclear fission. A distinction should be made between these and the direct fission products or fission fragments which are formed by the actual splitting of the heavy-element nuclei. Something like 80 different fission fragments result from roughly 40 different modes of fission of a given nuclear species, e.g. uranium-235 or plutonium-239. These radioactive fission fragments decay forming additional daughter products with the result that the complex mixture of fission products so formed contains about 200 different isotopes of 36 elements. FUSION: In nuclear fusion, a pair of light nuclei unite (or fuse) together to form a nucleus of a heavier atom, which can only occur with temperatures of the order of several million degrees. Such temperatures can only be achieved on earth by means of fission explosion (atomic bomb). By combining a quantity of deuterium or tritium (or a mixture) with a fission device a thermonuclear fusion reaction can be initiated. This is the process that produces the hydrogen bomb, which is even more powerful than the atomic bomb. GENETIC EFFECT: The effect of nuclear radiation in particular of producing changes (mutations) in genes and in the hereditary components (genes) in germ cells in reproductive organs (gonads). A mutant gene causes changes in the next generation. IONIZING RADIATION: Electromagnetic radiation (gamma rays or X-rays) or particulate radiation (alpha particles, beta particles, neutrons, etc.) capable of producing ions, i.e., electrically charged particles, directly or indirectly, in its passage through matter.281 It causes genetic damage and mutations transmitted through generations. ISOTOPE: Forms of the same element having identical chemical properties but differing in their atomic masses, and in their nuclear properties.283 MEV (MILLION ELECTRON VOLT): A unit of energy commonly used in nuclear physics. Approximately 200 Mev of energy are produced for every nucleus that undergoes fission. REM (ROENTGEN EQUIVALENT MAN): The dose of any ionizing radiation that produces the same biological effect as that produced by one roentgen of high voltage X-radiation. It is a measure of biological damage. One rem equals 1000 millirem (mrem).285 TRITIUM: A radioactive isotope of hydrogen, having a mass of 3 units; it is produced in nuclear reactors by the action of neutrons on lithium nuclei. |
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