Question

How much radiation is given off by nuclear power plants?

Answer 1

Nuclear power plants give off very little radiation.

Explanation:

If you live within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant, you can expect to receive 0.01 millirem per year (source).

To put this in perspective, the average resident of the United States receives 360 millirem a year, 53 of that from medical procedures. A dental x-ray will expose you to 10millirems of radiation. Thus, the amount of radiation given off by nuclear power plants is very, very small in comparison to other natural sources of radiation.

To learn more and see a table of radiation exposure by different sources, check out this link .