IMPACTSIntroduction

There are two types of power plants mainly.1. Thermal power plants2. Nuclear power plants

Here thermal plants are 2 types • Fossil fuel powered plants • Geothermal power plants

Analysis• Here we can see geothermal

power plants are eco- friendly . So main problems occur with-

Fossil fuel powered plants and Nuclear power plants

Waste from power plants

There are mainly 3 types of wastes• Hazardous waste• Air pollution• Water pollution

Hazardous waste and air pollution

• Thermal plants

Heavy and trace metals determined by atomic absorption spectrometry and inductively coupled

plasma emission spectrometry in severalash and slag samples

Heavy and trace metals determined by atomic absorption spectrometry and inductively coupled

plasma emission spectrometry

Handling of hazardous waste

Circle diagram of pollution control from power plants

The emission data illustrated in fig. reflects control efficiency achieved by wide range of technologies to reduced hazardous

waste and air pollution

Three major categories of air pollution control equipment are

used to reduce emissions of HAP’s including systems for acid gases , particulate matter and mercury.

A review shows significant reductions in condensable particulate emissions when comparing the average emissions of units with wet flue gas desulfurization versus those without it

Emission Rate , pounds per million B.T.U.

Types of radioactive wasteBroadly speaking, there are three

types of radioactive waste:• low-level waste (LLW), • intermediate-level

waste(ILW) • high-level waste (HLW)

Nuclear plants

Radioactive waste in perspective

The current global waste production rate is 8 000 – 10 000 million tones per year (excluding overburden from mining and mineral extraction wastes), of which about 400 million

tones per year is hazardous waste and about 0.4 million tones per year is radioactive waste from nuclear power plants and their fuel cycle support facilities (excluding

mining and extraction wastes). Compared with industrial toxic and hazardous waste, the volume of radioactive waste from nuclear power generation is therefore relatively small.

Impact of Nuclear waste

Nuclear waste management• Storage of radioactive waste• Transport of radioactive waste• Disposal of radioactive waste

Disposal of radioactive waste is done in 3 ways

1.Short-lived waste2.Long-lived waste

3.Geological disposal

Water Pollution • The water requirement for a coal-based power plant is about

0.005-0.18 m3/kwh. At STPS, the water requirement has been marginally reduced from about 0.18 m3/kWh to 0.15 m3/kwh after the installation of a treatment facility for the ash pond decant. Still the water requirement of 0.15 m3/kwh = 150 Liters per Unit of electricity is very high compared to the domestic requirement of water of a big city.

• Ash pond decant contains harmful heavy metals like B, As, Hg which have a tendency to leach out over a period of time. Due to this the ground water gets polluted and becomes unsuitable for domestic use.

CONCLUSION Thermal Power Plant affects environmental segments of the surrounding region very badly. Large amount of SOx, NOx & SPM are generated which damage the environment and are highly responsible for deterioration of health of human beings, animal kingdom as well as plants. Emission of SPM & RSPM disperse over 25 Kms radius land and cause respiratory and related aliments to human beings and animal kingdom.

Conclusion• SPM gets deposited on the plants which affect

photosynthesis. Due to penetration of pollutants inside the plants through leaves & branches, imbalance of minerals, micro and major nutrients in the plants take place which affect the plant growth severely. Spreading & deposition of SPM on soil, disturb the soil strata thereby the fertile and forest land becomes less productive. Because of continuous & long lasting emission of SOx & NOx, which are the principal pollutants emitted from a coal based power plant, structures & buildings get affected due to corrosive reactions