Lecture # 9 -Technological Hazards Flashcards
What are some extreme tech hazards?
Nuclear
cumulative effects
What are some rare tech hazards?
Airplane crashes
Mine collapses
Shipwreck
What are some more common tech hazards?
Car crashes
Poisons
What are cumulative effects?
These are conditions that worsen slowly overtime as exposure to a concentration increases
-eventually a threshold will be reached
What is the risk for large-scale structures (buildings bridges dams)
Risk is defined as the probability of failure during the lifetime of the structure
What is the risk associated with transportation vehicles?
Risk is the probability of death or injury per km travelled
What is the risk associated with industries?
Risk is the probability of death or injury per person per number of hours exposed
Characteristics of Radon
- Froms from the decay of uranium in rock and soil
- Damages lungs
- it is odourless, colourless and tasteless, making it hard to detect
- Can travel easily through non-saturated soils and can seep through buildings and homes
What are the most common GMO food crops
Corn
Sybean
Canola
-modified to increase yeilds, drought resistant and incorporate pesticides into them
What do scientists currently believe now?
Benefits outweigh the risks
-can help a lot in developing countries
In what way can you be exposed to radiation?
Inhaling and ingestion
-impact can be direct or indirect
Where do you fin =d most nuclear reactors?
In the eastern half of the continent and located near water sources
Why is nuclear considered a clean source of energy?
It doesn’t emit GHG and can cause climate change
What is a nuclear meltdown?
Informal term for an accident that results in damage from overheating
how does nuclear meltdown occur?
When the heat generated by a nuclear reactor exceeds heat removed by the cooling systems
-fuel rods (made from uranium) turn to liquid and the walls of the reactor core could melt from extreme heat
Characteristics of the 3 Mile Ireland Nuclear accident
March 28th, 1979
- partial meltdown caused by a failure of a valve that controlled cool water entering the reactor core
- worst accident in US history
Characteristics of the Chernobyl nuclear accident
April 26th 1986
- Caused from a flawed design, operator error and disregard of safety regulations
- Caused immediate deaths and longterm health problems
- Their building codes weren’t up to the North American Standard
Why did nuclear energy development stop?
Combined results of the accidents caused a halt. but now because of the GHG’s we are looking into it more as a cleaner alternative
Titanic Characteristics?
- Hit and iceberg and sank on April 15th 1912
- thought to be unsinkable, and built with the best technology at the time
- 1517 people died because of the lack of safety boats
- Sank 37 seconds after it hit
- instead of turning to avoid the ice burg, it would have been better to hit it straight on
Where do most oil spill occur?
In marine environments but can also occur on land with pipeline breaks
-cleanups can take months to complete
Why are oil spills bad for animals?
oil penetrates feathers and fur, which reduces their ability to insulate themselves, leaving them more vulnerable to the elements and environment
Characteristics of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
caused by an oil striking a rocky reef
March 24th 1989
75 million litres or oil spilled
-remoteness of the spill made it hard to clean up
Characteristics of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
Caused by an oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico
April 20th 2010
The explosion was caused by methane gas that was release and rose up the pipe and killed 11 people
Released 11 million litres of oil everyday for 5 months
BP was to blame because they made lots of cost cutting measures on safety regulations.
What can contaminate ground water?
through bacteria, fertilizer, manure, toxic heavy metals, mining operation, tailing ponds
