Abstract: In recent years, it has attracted wide attention that the radiation impact on the environment and the public from the coal-fired power plant. Three representative coal-fired power plants along the Yangtze River were selected as the research object, and the evaluation methods of direct emission and settlement into water body were adopted to evaluate the radiation effects of the gaseous effluents on the surrounding environment based on the annual emissions of the main radionuclides from coal-fired power plants. The results showed that the gaseous effluents from three coal-fired power plants caused very little radiation effect within the range of 80 km, and the maximum normalized individual dose were respectively 3.02×10^-4, 4.32×10^-5 and 8.50×10^-5 Sv/GW. The major contributor to dose was found to be the direct emission of ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb, whose impact was far greater than that of their entry into the water and the contribution of ²²²Rn. It was also found that the critical pathway was food ingestion. The relatively long half-life of ²¹⁰Pb resulted in its specific activity in the soil was increased, and it was suggested that the related research focus on its long-term radiation effect within the range of 30 km on the basis of analysis of ²¹⁰Pb deposition concentration. The results obtained can provide technical support for the radiation impact assessment of similar site, and can provide basic data for public communication and technical research in the construction of inland nuclear power, and also provide reference for decision-making of relevant government departments.