Everything on earth is made up of tiny particles called atoms. Some atoms give off radiation. People cannot see, taste, feel, hear or smell radiation, but there are instruments that can detect it.
We are exposed to small amounts of radiation everyday. It's in the air we breath, the food we eat, even inside our own bodies. It's normal to be exposed to small amounts of radiation, but to be safe, you should limit the amount. The average American receives on average 620 millirem of radiation a year from natural background sources. Radiation also comes from man-made sources used by doctors and dentists, and in helpful medical ways.
Radiation levels at nuclear plants are checked constantly. The law limits levels released from a plant.
Examples of Radiation Doses:
The Earth and Air (Natural Background) - 310 millirem per year
Natural radioactivity in the body - 40 millirem per year
Safe Drinking Water limit (EPA) - 3.6 millirem per year
Chest X-rays - 10 millirem each
(source: NRC.gov Radiation Doses and Regulatory Limits)
What is Nuclear Power?
Nuclear power is produced by controlled (i.e., non-explosive) nuclear reactions. Commercial and utility plants currently use nuclear fission reactions to heat water to produce steam, which is then used to generate electricity. When uranium atoms are split, radiation is produced. Normally, a nuclear power plant releases very small amounts of radiation as a gas. At most, this will add only one or two millirem to the normal dose received by people in Lake County. This radiation is less than the limit set by the law. No radiation is released by the cooling towers.