Radioactive Pollutants Research Papers

Health and environmental impacts of a fertilizer plant – Part I: Assessment of radioactive pollution

2005, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

The aim of the first part of this investigation is to assess the radioactive pollution caused by a production plant of complex fertilizers (that is to say containing nitrogen, phosphorus and, in some cases, potassium). Firstly, the... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

EVALUATION OF NATURAL RADIOACTIVITY AND ITS ASSOCIATED HEALTH HAZARD INDICES OF A SOUTH INDIAN RIVER

by Maycol Chaparro

2013, Radiation Protection Dosimetry

The activity concentration of the natural radionuclides 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K was measured for sediment samples collected from thirty-three different locations along the Bharathapuzha river basin by using high-resolution gamma-ray... more

Figure 1. Map of sampling locations. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS average values for 7°Ra, °°Th and “°K, respectively (Figure 3). The world average value is 35, 30 and 400 Bq kg! for ?°Ra, 7° Th and “°K, respectively. The frequency distributions (in per cent) of 7°Ra, ?°Th and *°K activity concentrations for all the thirty-three sediment samples are presented in Figure 4. It is inter- esting to note that ~63 % (21 samples) of the activity concentration of 7*°Ra was greater than the world- wide mean of 35 Bq kg. The highest percentage (27 %) is due to the activity concentration ranging from 40 to 50 Bq kg’. For ***Th, the activity concen- trations of all the samples (100 %) were higher than the worldwide mean of 30 Bq kg '. The highest per- centage (18 %) is due to the activity concentration ranging from 35 to 40 Bq kg”! (6 samples). For “°K, the distributed frequency of ~42 % is below the recommended mean value of 400 Bq kg ' and the remaining 58 % are of above this limit. The activity concentration was found to vary from one location to the other due to the fact that the river bottom reveals great changes in chemical, mineralogical and the nature of the environment. Increasing activity concen- trations may be due to the reason that the radioactive materials passing through clay soil will be removed

Figure 3. Increase of natural radionuclides (Bq kg!) in % compared with worldwide mean values. (+) represents increase in value.

Figure 2. Activity concentrations of 7?°Ra, 7°?Th and “°K in river sediments along the sampling locations.

Figure 4. Frequency distribution of ?*°Ra, 7°?Th and *°K activity concentrations measured in the Bharathapuzha river sediment samples.

Figure 5. Increase or decrease percentage of radiological hazard indices compared with worldwide mean values.

Figure 6. FCC classification, the obtained groups are represented in the coordinate plane (PC | and PC 2).

Table 1. Summary of activity concentrations of 26Ra, Th and “°K in sediment samples.

Table 2. Indoor dose rate (Dyy) and radiological hazard parameters (1.x, Hin, Igammay Latpna, AGDE and ELCR) in sediment samples.

Table 3. Summary of hazard parameters (Din, Hex, Hins Isammas apna, AGDE and ELCR) in sediment samples. (+) and (—) represent increase in value and decrease in value, respectively.

Table 4. Summary of 226Ra, *Th and “°K activity concentration ratios.

Table 5. Pearson’s correlation coefficient among the variables. Table 6. Statistical results from the fuzzy c-means cluster analysis and members of each cluster.

Values correspond to centroids of each variable based on hazard parameters. DE, differential evolution.

Table 7. Membership coefficients (in %, rounded) among the groups.

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

DEPLETED AND NATURAL URANIUM: CHEMISTRY AND TOXICOLOGICAL EFFECTS

by Elena Craft

2004, Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B

Depleted uranium (DU) is a by-product from the chemical enrichment of naturally occurring uranium. Natural uranium is comprised of three radioactive isotopes: 238 U, 235 U, and 234 U. This enrichment process reduces the radioactivity of... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

How "lucky" we are that the Fukushima disaster occurred in early spring: predictions on the contamination levels from various fission products released from the accident and updates on the risk assessment for solid and thyroid cancers

by Anders Moller

2014, The Science of the total environment

The present paper studies how a random event (earthquake) and the subsequent disaster in Japan affect transport and deposition of fallout and the resulting health consequences. Therefore, except for the original accident in March 2011,... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Determination of radioactivity levels and hazards of soil and sediment samples in Fırtına Valley (Rize, Turkey)

by Gursel Karahan

2007, Applied Radiation and Isotopes

The natural radioactivity levels in soil and sediment samples of Fırtına Valley have been determined. To our knowledge, there seems to be no information about radioactivity level in the Fırtına Valley soils and sediments so far. For this... more

Fig. 1. The location of sampling sites and geological map of Firtina Valley (MTA, 1998). The aim of this study is to determine natural (**U, ?2Th, “°K) and artificial ('*’Cs) radioactivity levels in soils and sediments collected from different points in Firtina Valley in Rize province of Turkey. Also, the average radium equivalent activity (Ra,q), the total absorbed dose The surface soil and sediment samples (at 0-15 cm depth level) were collected at 1km intervals along the Firtina Valley area in the summer of 2003. While the soil samples

Fig. 2. Variation of *8U, *??Th, “°K and '3’Cs concentrations in soil samples.

Fig. 3. Variation of 7°°U, 7°°Th, “°K and '°’Cs concentrations in sediment samples. 40K, respectively, in the samples. The conversion factors of 8U, °°Th and *°K are 0.427, 0.662 and 0.0432 nGy/h per Bq/kg, respectively (Beck, 1972). The absorbed dose rates in air for the areas under investigation are listed in Tables 1 and 2. The absorbed dose rates in air at Firtina Valley for soil samples varied from 19.1 to 149.6nGy/h and the average dose rate was 77.4nGy/h. For sedimental samples, the absorbed dose rate values varied from 33.7 to 150.8 nGy/h and average dose rate was 67.2nGy/h. The average D value was calculated as 124, 167, 49, 488 nGy/h in the Xiazhuang Granite Area (Yang et al., 2005), in Southeast part of Eskisehir (Orgun et al., 2005), in Istanbul (Karahan and Bayulken, 2005), in Eastern Desert of Egypt (Arafa, 2004), respectively. These average values in general are higher than our result and the international recom- mended value (55 nGy/h) (UNSCEAR, 1988). activity concentrations can be attributed to the atmo- spheric nuclear weapon tests conducted by several coun- tries. Significant differences in '*’Cs activity in soil and sediment samples were observed. '*’Cs activities in soil samples varied from 18 to 232 Bq/kg and average '*’Cs activity was found to be 85Bq/kg. '*’Cs activities in the sediment samples varied from 0.8 to 41 Bq/kg and average of 6Bq/kg was observed. The '*’Cs activity levels of sedimental samples are lower than that of the soil samples. Because of the Chernobyl accident, which occurred in 1986, and nuclear weapon tests, it was thought that '*’Cs was mixed up with soil and swept by rain. Since the flow rate of Firtina river is too high and almost constant, the 'S7Cs concentration in sediment samples was not expected to be as much as the concentration in soil samples. Hence, the water effects in sediments are higher than those in soil. So it is seen that there is 80% difference in '*’Cs concentration between sediment and soil samples.

Radioactivity concentrations of 7*8U series, **’Th series, “°K and '*’Cs in Bq/kg, as well as the calculated Ra equivalent, absorbed dose rates, external hazard index, annual gonadal dose equivalent and annual effective dose rates in soil samples at Firtina Valley *UNSCEAR (1988, 1993).

Concentrations of the natural radionuclides and a fission product in soil samples from different parts of the world, compared with those of the present study

Comparison of radioactivity of sediments with other areas of the world

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Release, deposition and elimination of radiocesium ((137)Cs) in the terrestrial environment

by Mushtaq Ahmad

2014, Environmental geochemistry and health

Radionuclide contamination in terrestrial ecosystems has reached a dangerous level. The major artificial radionuclide present in the environment is (137)Cs, which is released as a result of weapon production related to atomic projects,... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Recent climate change in the Arctic and its impact on contaminant pathways and interpretation of temporal trend data

by John Fyfe

2005, Science of The Total Environment

The Arctic has undergone dramatic change during the past decade. The observed changes include atmospheric sea-level pressure, wind fields, sea-ice drift, ice cover, length of melt season, change in precipitation patterns, change in... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Effects of non-human species irradiation after the Chernobyl NPP accident

by Stanislav Geras'Kin

2008, Environment International

The area affected by the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident in 1986 has become a unique test site where long-term ecological and biological consequences of a drastic change in a range of environmental factors as well as trends and... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Survey of the Potential Environmental and Health Impacts in the Immediate Aftermath of the Coal Ash Spill in Kingston, Tennessee

by Gary Dwyer

2009, Environmental Science & Technology

An investigation of the potential environmental and health impacts in the immediate aftermath of one of the largest coal ash spills in U.S. history at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Kingston coal-burning power plant has revealed... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Radioactive pollution in Athens, Greece due to the Fukushima nuclear accident

by H. Florou

2012, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

a b s t r a c t As a result of the nuclear accident in Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant, which started on March 11, 2011, radioactive pollutants were transferred by air masses to various regions of the Northern hemisphere, including Europe.... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

The sensitivity of different environments to radioactive contamination

by M. Iosjpe and

2013, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

This paper describes modelling calculations carried out to determine the sensitivity of various rural and semi-natural environments to radionuclide contamination by 137 Cs, 90 Sr, and 131 I released during a major nuclear accident.... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Radiological impacts of phosphogypsum

by Hussam Khalily

2011, Journal of Environmental Management

This study was carried out to assess the radiological impact of Syrian phosphogypsum (PG) piles in the compartments of the surrounding ecosystem. Estimating the distribution of naturally occurring radionuclides (i.e. 226 Ra, 238 U, 232... more

Fig. 1. Sampling locations surrounding PG piles in Syria; Qattina Lake is shown on the left-bottom. Numbered icons represent sampling sites of soil and plants; the air particulate sites are designated by “A”.

values presented are the arithmetic mean and 1SD. Activity concentrations of the radionuclides studied in PG piles (Bq kg~! dry weight). Table 1

Activity concentrations of the radionuclides studied in raw materials, fertilizer and PG (Bq kg~! dry weight). values presented are the arithmetic mean of triplicate samples and 1SD.

Activity concentrations of the radionuclides studied in water samples (mBq L~'). Number of samples is in parentheses. LLD is the Lower limit of detection (i.e. 0.15, 0.10 mBqL~! for 73°U & ?3?Th, and 0.18 mBq L“! for 2!°Po & 7!°Pb, respectively). Table 4

Range values are in brackets. LLD for 2??Th is 1.1 »Bq m7. * Number of samples is in parentheses. 2ometric means of TSP, activity concentrations in air particulates (1Bq m~?) and annual dose rates (Sv y~') of the studied radionuclides (via inhalation) Table 3

Activity concentrations of the radionuclides studied in soil samples (Bq kg~! dry weight). Number of samples is in parentheses. * sampled from uncontaminated area.

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Radioisotope contaminations from releases of the Tomsk–Seversk nuclear facility (Siberia, Russia)

by Jost Eikenberg and

2008, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

Soils have been sampled in the vicinity of the TomskeSeversk facility (Siberia, Russia) that allows us to measure radioactive contaminations due to atmospheric and aquatic releases. Indeed soils exhibit large inventories of man-made... more

F. Gauthier-Lafaye et al. / Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 99 (2008) 680—693

Fig. 2. Location of the R, Rb and Rc profiles at the Romashka canal. Fig. 1. Location of the SCC and of the sampled areas: forest soil, peat and Romashka canal.

F. Gauthier-Lafaye et al. / Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 99 (2008) 680—693 Fig. 3. Distribution of activities (Bq/kg) of *°°*?*°Pu, *?8Pu, *41Am and '37Cs and 7*8Pu/*??**°Pu and 741 Am/?*?*Py ratios in the peat profil

Fig. 4. Flux of *°**4°Pu vs. age in the peat bog.

Fig. 7. Plutonium isotopic ratios of some samples from S and Rb profiles and other possible sources of plutonium including Chernoby] fallout (Ketterer et al., 2004), global fallout (Ketterer et al., 2004; Kelley et al., 1999), production and testing of weapons (in Mayak and Semipalatinsk, after Beasley et al., 1998), nuclear weapons (Thule and Palomares accidents, after Mitchell et al., 1997). Samples from Tomsk are away from the mixing line joining the global fallout and Chernobyl! values. F. Gauthier-Lafaye et al. / Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 99 (2008) 680—693

Fig. 8. Plutonium isotopic ratios of the Ob River sediments (after Cochran et al., 2000) and other possible sources of plutonium, including global fallout (Ketterer et al., 2004; Kelley et al., 1999) and soils from strongly contaminated sites located in the Ob—Irtysh catchment: SCC discharges (present study) and Mayak discharges Semipalatinsk test sites (from Beasley et al., 1998). nuclear facilities, the drainage of the heavily contaminated ground and underground as well as the drainage of globa fallout account for the strong plutonium activity concentrations and the variability of plutonium ratios observed ir sediments of the Ob—Irtysh basin (Cochran et al., 2000; Kenna and Sayles, 2002; Beasley et al., 1998; Baskarar et al., 1996). Up to now, the influence of Tomsk—Seversk plutonium discharges was subject to speculation (Cochrar et al., 2000; Kenna and Sayles, 2002). Isotopic data from the present study show indeed clearly that plutonium mea. sured in SCC probably constitutes to massive source of plutonium in the aquatic environment (Fig. 8). This is sug: gested by the mixing line where “military” (including Tomsk, Mayak and Semipalatinsk) and global fallou plutonium constitute the two end members. From this pattern, we estimated the contri bution of Seversk plutoniun releases in the Ob sediments by using: (1) the mixing equation that had allowed Duffa and Fréchou (2003) to estimate the proportion of Pu released by Marcoule NRP and (2) the isotopic signatures of the two sources, i.e. Tomsk pluto: nium releases (*“°Pu/???Pu = 0.05 and **'Pu/?*?Pu = 0.0007) and plutonium global fal out (4°Pu/???Pu = 0.19 anc *41py/?>°Pu = 0.003). Thus we estimated that the proportion of plutonium from SCC source can reach 45% for 39Py and 60% for 7*'Pu in the Ob River sediments.

Peat ages and peat and plutonium accumulation rates Table 1B

Inventory of artificial radionuclides in studied soils (Bq m~7) Table 2

Activities (Bq kg~'), concentrations (at/gr) and atomic ratios of some plutonium isotopes (**°Pu, “Pu and **'Pu) measured by ICP-MS Table 4

Activity and activity ratios of man-made 7*°***°Pu, 738Pu, '77Cs (in Bqkg~’ of dry matter), °**Pu/**°***°Pu ratio in the R and Re soil profiles (reference date: 01. 01. 2004)

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Reproductive and developmental toxicity of natural and depleted uranium: a review

by Jose Domingo

2001, Reproductive Toxicology

Although the biokinetics, metabolism, and chemical toxicity of uranium are well known, until recently little attention was paid to the potential toxic effects of uranium on reproduction and development in mammals. In recent years, it has... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Thoroughly modern worries* 1:: The relationship of worries about modernity to reported symptoms, health and medical care utilization

by Børge Sivertsen

2001

Objective: There is now greater public concern about how features of modern life pose threats to personal health. In two studies, we investigated the relationship between individuals' worries about modernity affecting health to symptom... more

Principal components analysis of the MHW scale and Cronbach « fot each factor radiation (M= 44.5, S.D.=16.9, t= 12.60 and 14.59, respec- tively, P<.0001).

Fig. 1. Mean scores on MHW Scale items (rated from 1 “‘no concern” to 5 “extreme concern”’). The MHW Scale was first examined to determine the items that caused most anxiety for respondents. As can be seen from Fig. 1, the item with the largest concern for participants was “contaminated water supply” followed by “depletion of the ozone layer.” The two items causing least concer to participants were “medical and dental X-rays” and ‘‘cell phones.” To determine which group of worries were of most concern to individuals, subscales were developed ming items identified in the princi and, for comparison, item totals percentage of the total possible score. Paired sam showed environmental pollution to for individuals (M@= 65.18, S.D.= nificantly higher (P<.001) th 16.93), which by sum- pal components analysis were transformed into ple ¢ tests hold the greatest concern was sig- an both tain (M=55.70, S$.D.=20.81, t=12.8 ed food , P<.0001) and toxic interventions (W=55.62, S.D.=16.15, t=16.67, P<.0001), which were both significantly higher again than

Differences in numbers of self-reported illness by level of MHW Table 2

Logistic regression analysis of negative affect and number of MHW on health care visits

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Polonium-210 and Caesium-137 in lynx (Lynx lynx), wolverine (Gulo gulo) and wolves (Canis lupus)

by Elis Holm and

2014, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

Wolves, lynx and wolverines are on the top of the food-chain in northern Scandinavia and Finland. 210 Po and 137 Cs have been analysed in samples of liver, kidney and muscle from 28 wolves from Sweden. In addition blood samples were taken... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

A multi-instrumental geochemical study of anomalous uranium enrichment in coal

by Ivana Sýkorová and

2014, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

Contents of uranium in coals from Ode r in the northernmost part of the Sokolov Basin, Czech Republic, in the vicinity of the well known St. Joachimsthal uranium ore deposits, reach extremely high values. In the present work, coal samples... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Comparative analysis of radon, thoron and thoron progeny concentration measurements

by Chutima Kranrod and

2013, Journal of Radiation Research

This study examined correlations between radon, thoron and thoron progeny concentrations based on surveys conducted in several different countries. For this purpose, passive detectors developed or modified by the National Institute of... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

The IAEA handbook on radionuclide transfer to wildlife

by Brenda Howard and

2013, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues.

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Environmental pollution affects genetic diversity in wild bird populations

by Tapio Eeva

2006, Mutation Research/Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis

Many common environmental pollutants, together with nuclear radiation, are recognized as genotoxic. There is, however, very little information on pollution-related genetic effects on free-living animal populations, especially in... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Radioactivity and radiological risk associated with effluent sediment containing technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials in amang (tin tailings) processing industry

by Mohsen Nasirian

2007, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

The processing of amang, or tin tailings, for valuable minerals has been shown to technologically enhance NORM and this has stirred significant radiological safety and health concerns among Malaysia's regulatory authority. A growing... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Radioactivity in Trinitite six decades later

by Peter Rosenberg

2006, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

The first nuclear explosion test, named the Trinity test, was conducted on July 16, 1945 near Alamogordo, New Mexico. In the tremendous heat of the explosion, the radioactive debris fused with the local soil into a glassy material named... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Plutonium concentration and 240Pu/239Pu atom ratio in biota collected from Amchitka Island, Alaska: recent measurements using ICP-SFMS

by Douglas Dasher and

2013, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

Fig. 1. Map showing locations of Amchitka Island and Adak Island, Alaska in the northern Pacific (inset), and the Cannikin, Long Shot and Milrow underground test sites Amchitka (Burger et al., 2007; Dasher et al., 2002). Amchitka Island is a former US nuclear test site located among the Aleutian Islands in southwestern Alaska (Fig. 1). A detailed report on the Amchitka Test Site including the history of environ- mental sampling on the island is available elsewhere (Dasher et al., 2002; US Department of Energy Legacy Management, 2011). Three underground nuclear tests were conducted on the island between 1965 and 1971; Long Shot (1965) approximately 80 kt, Milrow (1969) approximately 1 Mt, and Cannikin (1971) approximately 5 Mt, the largest underground nuclear test in US history. Many of the refractory radionuclides were likely vitrified and have limited environmental release due to being trapped in the glass-like matrix which was formed after cooling of the molten rock generated by the extreme heat. Other radionuclides, such as 3H (tritium), would be more readily released to the environment. The actual hydrologic source term, while estimated from knowledge of other under- ground nuclear tests, is not actually known for these tests (US Department of Energy, 2002). Based on a US Department of

Fig. 2. Measured 7“°Pu/??Pu ratio results in biological and environmental samples collected from Amchitka Island (AI) and Adak Island (AD). The two solid lines represent the global fallout range (0.180 + 0.014). All error bars are one SD, except for mussel sample ANT (% difference).

Fig. 3. Possible Pu sources that contribute elevated 74°Pu/??°Pu ratios to the marine environment in northern Pacific Ocean region include the Marshall Islands, Rybachiy Naval Base, Fukushima, and Amchitka Test Site (circled in red). (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

* Triplicate analysis. > Duplicate analysis (average + % difference). © Single measurement. Pu concentrations (mBq kg~! + 1SD, dry weight) and 74°Pu/??°Pu atom ratios (+1SD) in biota from Amchitka Island (AI) and Adak Island (AD).

Range of 74°Pu/?3°Pu ratios found in marine biological and environmental samples Table 3

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

A review of the environmental corrosion, fate and bioavailability of munitions grade depleted uranium

by Stephanie Handley-Sidhu

2010, Science of The Total Environment

Depleted uranium (DU) is a by-product of nuclear fuel enrichment and is used in antitank penetrators due to its high density, self-sharpening, and pyrophoric properties. Military activities have left a legacy of DU waste in terrestrial... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Sediment deposition rate in the Falefa River basin, Upolu Island, Samoa

by James Terry

2006, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

The 137 Cs method was employed to investigate the recent historical rate of sediment deposition on a lowland alluvial floodplain in the Falefa River basin, Upolu Island, Samoa. Caesium stratigraphy in the floodplain sediment profile was... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Effects on non-human species inhabiting areas with enhanced level of natural radioactivity in the north of Russia: a review

by Stanislav Geras'Kin

2007, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

Results of long-term radioecological investigations in areas with an enhanced level of natural radioactivity in the north of Russia are summarized. Deleterious changes within animal and plant populations inhabiting areas with an enhanced... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Doses of external exposure in Jordan house due to gamma-emitting natural radionuclides in building materials

by J. Al-jundi

2009, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

Indoor exposure Monte Carlo Effective dose Organ equivalent dose a b s t r a c t

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Biomonitoring of 210Po and 210Pb using lichens and mosses around coal-fired power plants in Western Turkey

by Aysun Uğur

2011, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

In G . okova region where Yata& gan is located there are three major uraniferous coal-fired power plants (CPPs) and they cause some pollution in the surroundings. Studies were realized over a wide area around the coal-fired power station... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) from a former phosphoric acid processing plant

by Stuart Black

2006, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

In recent years there has been an increasing awareness of the radiological impact of non-nuclear industries that extract and/or process ores and minerals containing naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM). These industrial... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Lichens as rapid bioindicators of pollution and habit disturbance in the tropics

by Teresa Iturriaga

Revista Iberoamericana de Micología

Los líquenes tienen un importante papel como bioindicadores de lectura inmediata de la contaminación medioambiental, de los cambios climáticos y de la estabilización del suelo. Se han realizado muchos trabajos acerca de este tema en... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Hazard of NORM from phosphorite of Pakistan

by Muhammad Tufail

2010, Journal of Hazardous Materials

In order to investigate the radiological hazard of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) in phosphorite deposits of Pakistan, 26 samples of phosphorite were collected from the phosphorite mines near Abbottabad, and 20 samples of... more

Fig. 1. Location of phosphorite sampling sites in the area under study.

Fig. 2. External dose rate variations at sampling sites.

Fig. 3. Annual mean effective dose for phosphate mines. warehouses contain radon within the acceptable range causing no much harm to the workers.

The concentration of NORM in phosphorite from some mines in the vicinity of Abbottabad in NWFP, Pakistan. Table 2 Table 1

Activity concentration and external dose rate levels of #°K, ??°Ra and 27?Th from soil of various countries of the world (UNSCEAR [20]).

Specific activity of 4°K, 2?°Ra and ?3?Th in PR from various locations of the world.

Correlation coefficients of various radionuclide relations. Table 4

Activity concentration of 4°K, 276Ra and 23?Th in SSP fertilizer from various countries of the world. Table 6

Activity concentration of °K, 27°Ra and 73Th in SSP fertilizer produced in Pakistan. Table 5

Indoor and outdoor radon concentration from two mining places of phosphorite of Pakistan. Table 8 Table 7 Radon concentration level and annual mean effective dose in the warehouses fot fertilizer.

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Fukushima fallout at Milano, Italy

by Flavia Groppi

2012, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

I, 137 Cs and 134 Cs were observed in environmental samples in Milano (40°N), Italy and Thessaloniki (45°N), Greece, soon after the nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan. The radionuclide concentrations were determined and studied as a... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Long-term field and laboratory leaching tests of cemented radioactive wastes

by Michael Ojovan

2011, Journal of Hazardous Materials

Experiments with real and simulated radioactive cementitious wasteforms were set up to compare the leaching behaviour of cementitious wasteforms containing nuclear power plant operational waste in field and laboratory test conditions.... more

Fig. 5. Cumulative leached fractions of Na* and NO3~ measured in the laboratory leach test of non-radioactive cementitious wasteform samples subjected (L) and not subjected (M) to ©°Co gamma irradiation. The cumulative dose was 10° Gy.

Chemical composition (in g/L) of radioactive waste. Table 1

Burial site host rock compositions (wt.%).

Radionuclide composition (in MBq/L) of radioactive waste. Table 2

Climatic characteristics of testing site.

Characterization of wasteform samples used for long-term field tests. Table 3

Composition of atmospheric precipitates (mg/L). Table 8

Radioactive contamination of groundwater contacted with the K-28 cementitiou: wasteform.

Leaching properties of the cementitious wasteform K-28 in field conditions. Table 10 cement block after 12-year field test was the same as the ini- tial radioactivity of the compound within the measurement error [18,26]. In addition to that, three complex leaching media have also been used to assess the impact of Ca(OH)2, NaHCO3 and sodium silicates on the OPC-based wasteform leaching behaviour. The leachate solutions used in addition to deionised water for the second set of experiments with radioactive cementitious wasteform samples are characterized in Table 12.

Chemical composition of groundwater used in leaching experiments (mg/L). Table 11

Average annual normalised leach rates (NR) of radioactive and ionic species from field and standard laboratory (radioactive samples) tests Table 13 41.4% and 45.2%. The porosity P (%) was found using the expres- sion P=(1— ~q/pr)100%, where the real density of wasteform ,; (g/cm?) was measured using the water-displacement method with a picnometer and the average density pa (g/cm?) using the hydro- static weighing [19,20]. Note that the average compression strength of samples both before and after the leaching tests was above the acceptable level which in Russian Federation is 5 MPa [33]. Non-standard leaching tests (Fig. 4) have shown that the groundwater from the repository site is the least active medium of the five in regard to !37Cs leaching. The next in leaching activity is the water glass medium. Hydrocarbonate and calcium hydroxide solutions have proved to be much less effective in suppressing !37Cs leaching. As expected, deionised water has the most pronounced effect on !37Cs leach rate. It is known that deionised water may enhance the cement matrix dissolution rate as compared with the groundwater of moderate hardness [1,48]. The estimated value of the leach solution-related factor affecting the leach rate decrease in the repository test is ~4. -~ 7 oe we oa een -

2.3. Field test conditions Fig. 1. Cementitious wasteforms after 12 years dwell in a near-surface testing repos- itory.

Chemical composition of leaching media used in addition to deionised water. Fig. 2. Time-dependent variations in cumulative leached fractions of ion species f (%) for the laboratory leach tests of non-radioactive (A) and radioactive (B) cementitious wasteform samples containing simulated NaNO3-rich waste.

Fig. 3. Average normalised leach rates (in this figure R=NR) of !37Cs*, Na*, Ca” and NO3~ from cementitious wasteform samples containing simulated operationa radioactive waste rich in NaNO3 as a function of time.

Fig. 4. Time-dependent variations in !77Cs cumulative leached fractions f (%)= 100% for the laboratory leach tests of cementitious wasteform samples containing simulated NaNO3-rich radioactive waste performed in various leach solution media.

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Chalcogen-Based Aerogels As Sorbents for Radionuclide Remediation

by Josef Matyas and

2013, Environmental Science & Technology

The efficient capture of radionuclides with long half-lives such as technetium-99 ( 99 Tc), uranium-238 ( 238 U), and iodine-129 ( 129 I) is pivotal to prevent their transport into groundwater and/or release into the atmosphere. While... more

Figure 1. A schematic of the experimental setup for iodine gas uptake test in flowing air containing 1,(g) at 4.2 ppm (a) and a photograph of ; CoNiMoS chalcogel (black) in the bottom of the pipet prior to an experiment (b).

Figure 2. SEM and TEM micrographs of the chalcogels. Insets are SAD patterns showing diffuse scattering consistent with the non- periodic nature of the chalcogels. 3.1. Chalcogel Characterization. The basic micro- structure of the SnS chalcogel as observed with SEM is shown in Figure 2. The structure as observed with TEM is

Figure 3. Pictures of vials containing the various chalcogels in 10 mL of DIW (colors representative of the ***U experiments). “This is data from a different, but identically made and processed, PtGeS sample, presented in our earlier work.’*

Figure 4. Iodine uptake results for (a) three of the aerogels and (b) a SnS xerogel. Data for PtGeS was extracted from Riley et al.’.

Figure 5. Comparison of capture efficiency (%) for “*U and Tc versus available surface area for all chalcogels.

materials,*? and partially sintered silica aerogels.** Additionally, work has been done with a porous metal sulfide, K,MnSn,S, (KMS-1) looking to capture U from seawater where the capture mechanism is believed to be an ion exchange process where UO,” ions substitute into the crystal structure for the K* ions. iodine was reported.’ This study evaluates the capture efficiency of chalcogels for technetium (Tc), uranium (*°U) and iodine. The target iodine is '”°I evolved as a gaseous species (!1L,(g)), although nonradioactive iodine was used in these studies. All three of these radionuclides are associated with legacy wastes (ie. weapons production) as well as nuclear power production and nuclear fuel reprocessing. All of these have very long half-lives (t,/.) of 2.1 X 10° y (Tc), 4.5 X 10° y (78U), and 1.6 x 10’ y ('”1) so their releases must fall below regulatory limits'®!” because they pose serious concerns toward public health in the event that they are leached into the groundwater and/or are released into the atmosphere.'*”? This has triggered significant research interest for the development of sorbents that can effectively and selectively capture these species out from the other species within their proximity, some of which might be nonhazardous. Table 1. Summary of Chalcogel Recipes

Table 2. Summary of Specific Surface Area (SSA, m”/g) Measurements, The Calculated Silica Equivalent Surface Area (SSA.q, in Parentheses), and Pore Volume (cm3/g) for the Various Chalcogels Collected at Different Degassing Temperatures (T,)

Table 3. Summary of Tc and *8U Uptake with Various Chalcogels

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Plutonium release from Fukushima Daiichi fosters the need for more detailed investigations

by Marcus Christl

2013

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

High natural radiation exposure in radon spa areas: a detailed field investigation in Niška Banja (Balkan region)

by Miroslaw Janik and

2006, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

The measurement campaigns have been done in the rural community of Niška Banja, a spa town located in southern Serbia, to evaluate population exposure to natural radioactivity. After a screening survey in 200 houses, annual radon and... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Postdeposition transport of radionuclides in fruit

by Franca Carini

2001, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

This paper considers two main pathways for contamination of fruit by radionuclides: (i) absorption after deposition directly to exposed fruit surfaces, and (ii) absorption after deposition to other exposed plant surfaces followed by... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Potential of Chromolaena odorata for phytoremediation of 137Cs from solution and low level nuclear waste

by Susan Eapen

2009, Journal of Hazardous Materials

Potential of Chromolaena odorata plants for remediation of 137 Cs from solutions and low level nuclear waste was evaluated. When plants were exposed to solutions spiked with three different levels of 137 Cs, namely 1 × 10 3 kBq L −1 , 5 ×... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Radon, helium and uranium survey in some thermal springs located in NW Himalayas, India: mobilization by tectonic features or by geochemical barriers?

by Fedora Quattrocchi

2005, Journal of Environmental Monitoring

Radon, helium and uranium measurements have been carried out in hot water springs in the Parbati and Beas valleys of Himachal Himalaya. Most of these hot springs are known as famous pilgrimage centers. The activity of dissolved radon in... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Cytogenetic biomonitoring of inhabitants of a large uranium mineralization area: the municipalities of Monte Alegre, Prainha, and Alenquer, in the State of Pará, Brazil

by Rommel Burbano

2010, Cell Biology and Toxicology

Uranium is a natural radioactive metallic element; its effect on the organism is cumulative, and chronic exposure to this element can induce carcinogenesis. Three cities of the Amazon region-Monte Alegre, Prainha, and Alenquer-in North... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Radioactive contamination in the Arctic—sources, dose assessment and potential risks

by Brenda Howard

2002, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

Arctic residents, whose diets comprise a large proportion of traditional terrestrial and freshwater foodstuffs, have received the highest radiation exposures to artificial radionuclides in the Arctic. Doses to members of both the average... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Non-medical exposure to radioiodines and thyroid cancer

by Pascale Grosclaude

2002, European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging

The Chernobyl accident, which occurred 32 years after the accidental exposure of Marshall islanders, resulted in the exposure of neighbouring populations to a mixture of iodine isotopes and in an increased incidence of thyroid cancer. The... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Release, deposition and elimination of radiocesium ((137)Cs) in the terrestrial environment

by Khaled Balkhair

2014, Environmental geochemistry and health

Radionuclide contamination in terrestrial ecosystems has reached a dangerous level. The major artificial radionuclide present in the environment is (137)Cs, which is released as a result of weapon production related to atomic projects,... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Assessment of public exposure to naturally occurring radioactive materials from mining and mineral processing activities of Tarkwa Goldmine in Ghana

by Augustine Faanu and

2011, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment

Studies have been carried out in a Goldmine in Ghana to determine the exposure of the public to naturally occurring radioactive materials from processing of gold ore. Direct gamma spectrometry and neutron activation analysis techniques... more

Fig. 5 Comparison of the activity concentration in different types of samples in the study area tivity concentrations of the soil, rock, waste rack, ore and tailings in the study area are also com- pared and the results shown in Fig. 5. The activity concentrations in the different types of samples are quite uniform and do not show any significant variations. Figure 6 shows the comparison of the activity concentrations of the radionuclides in the different types of water sources investigated. It shows clearly that the activity concentrations of °38UJ in the different types of water samples are higher than that of ?°Th which is in line with literature values. However, in the water taken asa control in a river, the 7**Th activity concentration is higher than 7°8U. This could be attributed to deposition of particulate matter into the water

Fig. 4 Comparison of annual effective doses due to ex- posure in soil, water and dust samples as well as airborne radon

Fig. 6 Comparison of activity concentrations of different water sources body or transportation by sediments containing °32Th since it is a surface water.

Fig. 2, Geological map of the study area

Table 2 Characteristics of soils in the study area taken from literature (Kuma and Younger 2001) The climate of Tarkwa is the tropical type characterised by two wet seasons; March—July and September—November. Data obtained from the mines Environmental Department shows that the total annual rainfall figures measured for the year 2008 was 1,744 mm with an average of 145 mm. The rainfall figures for August 2008 during which the first sampling was carried out was 85 mm when

The results of the absorbed dose rate measured in air at 1 m above the ground at the soil and water sampling points in the mine site and the various communities investigated are presented in Table 3. As can be observed, measured absorbed dose rates at the soil sampling points varied in

Table 4 Average activity concentrations, absorbed dose rates and annual effective doses due to 7°°U, 7°?Th and *°K in soi in the study area

Table 5 Statistical summary of activity concentrations and estimated annual effective doses from water consumed from th study area he mine tailings dam which is a mixture of both underground and processed water discharged to he tailings dam (not for domestic use). The lowest values of 0.11 and 0.21 Bq 17! were recorded from River Bonsa at Bonsaso which is about 30 km at a remote location from the discharge points from the Mine. This sample was taken as con- rol to compare with the results from the study area. In this study, the results of the 7??Th ac- ivity concentrations are quite high even though in most cases, they are lower than the activi concentrations of 7*°Ra. The reasons for the hig >32Th concentrations in the water samples cou be because they are underground water and th slightly acidic conditions with pH values in a rang of 4.48-8.24 with an average value of 6.10 cou also facilitate the dissolution of the radionuclide The Ghana Standards Board (GSB) and Wor Health Organisation (WHO) required pH range suitable for drinking water to be 6.5-8.5 (GSB 2005; WHO 2004). The concentration of radionu- clides in groundwater depends on the kind of min- erals derive from the rock aquifers, the chemical composition of the water and the soil ion retention time (Andreo and Carrasco 1999). As shown in amf“<X Oo o ava The mean activity concentrations of *7°Ra, °32Th and “°K in the water samples are shown in Table 5. The mean values of 7°Ra, 73?Th and “°K are 0.54 + 0.23 in a range of 0.11-1.03 Bq I"'" 0.41 + 0.10 in a range of 0.21-0.56 Bq I"! and 7.76 + 2.70 Bq 1“! in a range of 1.65-11.99 Bq I, respectively. The mean annual effective dose from the water concentrations is calculated to be 0.21 mSv in a range of 0.10-0.34 mSv. It is impor- tant to note that all the water sources investigated are underground water taken from boreholes and mine pits except the water from the streams and rivers. The main source of water supply of the mines is underground for both domestic uses as well as in the plant. The highest activity con- centration of 1.03 and 0.52 Bq I”! of 7°Ra and 232Th respectively, were recorded in a water from

Table 6 Comparison of absorbed dose rates estimated from activity concentrations in soil/rocks and direct out- door measurements with published data (UNSCEAR 2000*; Darko et al. 2010)

Table 8 Concentration of U and Th in dust samples using NAA

Table 9 Rn-222 concentration in air and soil and the corresponding estimated airborne annual effective doses

areas around the world with values in a range of 2-30 Bq m~? in air (UNSCEAR 2000). The results are also below the action level of radon concentration in air of 1,000 Bq m~* for which intervention is required. The corresponding an- nual effective dose is 6 mSv year! using an as- sumed outdoor occupancy of 1,760 h/year (ICRP 1991; UNSCEAR 2000). This means that the area studied does not have significant levels of 7??Rn gas. The environmental conditions under which the measurements of Rn activity concentrations were carried out are also shown in Table 9. These include the temperatures, atmospheric pressure, and relative humidity with mean values of 33.6°C, 0.0104 kPa and 89.9%, Tespectively. rr re I99d.R, . Pe 4 of the mines and the different geological forma- tions of the mines.

imian and the Tarkwaian systems is commonly marked by zones of intense shearing and is host to a number of significant shear hosted deposits including Prestea, Bogoso and Obuasi. The local geology is dominated by the Banket Series which consists of a well sorted conglomerates and peb- bly quartzites with clasts generally considered to be Birimian in origin and containing significant

Table 1 Communities and the population distribution in the study area (GFGL 2007)

Fig. 3. Comparison of absorbed dose rate from direct air measurement at 1 m above the ground at soil, water and dust sampling points Figure 3 shows the comparison of the results of the absorbed dose rate measured at the soil, water and dust sampling locations. The figure shows that absorbed dose rates at the sampling locations varied in a range of 38-60 nGy h~!. These results compared well with published re- sults (UNSCEAR 2000). A comparison of the annual effective doses calculated from the soil, water, dust and airborne radon gas is shown in Fig. 4. It shows that the airborne radon and water contributes most significantly whilst the contribu- tion from dust is the least to the exposure in the population of the study area. In general, however, the annual effective doses calculated from the var- ious samples are considered insignificant. The ac-

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Translocation of 125I, 75Se and 36Cl to Wheat edible parts following wet foliar contamination under field conditions

by Elisabeth LECLERC and

2013, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

and sharing with colleagues.

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Environmental radioactivity analyses in Italy following the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident

by Mattia Barsanti and

2012, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

Following the Fukushima power plants accident on the 11th March 2011, the radioactivity monitoring programme at the Italian ENEA research centres was activated in order to detect the possible new input of radionuclides through atmospheric... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Natural radionuclide concentrations in processed materials from thai mineral industries

by Supitcha Chanyotha and

2012, Radiation Protection Dosimetry

The naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs) distributed in products, by-products and waste produced from Thai mineral industries were investigated. Samples were analysed for radioactivity concentrations of two principal NORM... more

Figure 1. Sampling locations of industrial samples.

The values in parentheses were taken from refs (13) and (16) for comparisor “Reported as 7*°U series and 7*’Th series (ref. (16). Reported as 7?°Ra and 775Ra (ref. (17)). Table 1. Natural radionuclide content in product, by-product, waste and soil found in this study.

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

REVIEW: Natural radioactivity measurements in Pakistan---an overview

by Said Rahman

2008, Journal of Radiological Protection

Humans have always been exposed throughout their period of existence to naturally occurring ionising radiation. Specifically, naturally occurring radionuclides are present in variable amounts in our environment. To assess radiological... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Determination of plutonium in environmental samples by AMS and alpha spectrometry

by A. Aarkrog

2005, Applied Radiation and Isotopes

Environmental samples from nuclear weapons test sites at the atolls of Mururoa and Fangataufa (French Polynesia, south Pacific) have been analyzed for their content of plutonium isotopes by applying the independent techniques of decay... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload

Influence of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident on Spanish environmental radioactivity levels

by Rafael Garcia-tenorio and

2012, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

This paper presents measurements of the effect of the atmospheric radioactive release from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station at three sites belonging to the Spanish environmental monitoring system. Measured values varied... more

descriptionView Paper arrow_downwardDownload