Editing Nuclear power (section)

=== Radiation ===
The average dose from natural [[background radiation]] is 2.4 [[millisievert]] per year (mSv/a) globally. It varies between 1{{nbsp}}mSv/a and 13{{nbsp}}mSv/a, depending mostly on the geology of the location. According to the United Nations ([[UNSCEAR]]), regular nuclear power plant operations, including the nuclear fuel cycle, increases this amount by 0.0002{{nbsp}}mSv/a of public exposure as a global average. The average dose from operating nuclear power plants to the local populations around them is less than 0.0001{{nbsp}}mSv/a.<ref name=UNSCEAR_GA>{{cite web |url=http://www.unscear.org/docs/reports/2008/09-86753_Report_2008_GA_Report_corr2.pdf |title=UNSCEAR 2008 Report to the General Assembly |publisher=United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation |year=2008 |access-date=2012-05-17 |archive-date=2019-01-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105222241/http://www.unscear.org/docs/reports/2008/09-86753_Report_2008_GA_Report_corr2.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> For comparison, the average dose to those living within {{convert|50|miles}} of a [[coal power plant]] is over three times this dose, at 0.0003{{nbsp}}mSv/a.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nsc.org/resources/issues/rad/exposure.aspx |title=National Safety Council |publisher=Nsc.org |access-date=18 June 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091012025401/http://www.nsc.org/resources/issues/rad/exposure.aspx |archive-date=12 October 2009 }}</ref>

Chernobyl resulted in the most affected surrounding populations and male recovery personnel receiving an average initial 50 to 100{{nbsp}}mSv over a few hours to weeks, while the remaining global legacy of the worst nuclear power plant accident in average exposure is 0.002{{nbsp}}mSv/a and is continuously dropping at the decaying rate, from the initial high of 0.04{{nbsp}}mSv per person averaged over the entire populace of the Northern Hemisphere in the year of the accident in 1986.<ref name=UNSCEAR_GA />