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This text contains the proceedings of the Workshop on The Transfer of Radionuclides in Natural and Semi-Natural Environments, held at the Villa Manin, Passariano (Udine), Italy, 11-15 September 1989.
This book provides extensive and comprehensive information to researchers and academicians who are interested in radionuclide contamination, its sources and environmental impact. It is also useful for graduate and undergraduate students specializing in radioactive-waste disposal and its impact on natural as well as manmade environments. A number of sites are affected by large legacies of waste from the mining and processing of radioactive minerals. Over recent decades, several hundred radioactive isotopes (radioisotopes) of natural elements have been produced artificially, including 90Sr, 137Cs and 131I. Several other anthropogenic radioactive elements have also been produced in large quantities, for example technetium, neptunium, plutonium and americium, although plutonium does occur naturally in trace amounts in uranium ores. The deposition of radionuclides on vegetation and soil, as well as the uptake from polluted aquifers (root uptake or irrigation) are the initial point for their transfer into the terrestrial environment and into food chains. There are two principal deposition processes for the removal of pollutants from the atmosphere: dry deposition is the direct transfer through absorption of gases and particles by natural surfaces, such as vegetation, whereas showery or wet deposition is the transport of a substance from the atmosphere to the ground by snow, hail or rain. Once deposited on any vegetation, radionuclides are removed from plants by the airstre am and rain, either through percolation or by cuticular scratch. The increase in biomass during plant growth does not cause a loss of activity, but it does lead to a decrease in activity concentration due to effective dilution. There is also systemic transport (translocation) of radionuclides within the plant subsequent to foliar uptake, leading the transfer of chemical components to other parts of the plant that have not been contaminated directly.
This book focuses on the mechanistic (microscopic) understanding of radionuclide uptake by plants in contaminated soils and potential use of phytoremediation. The key features concern radionuclide toxicity in plants, how the radioactive materials are absorbed by plants, and how the plants cope with the toxic responses. The respective chapters examine soil classification, natural plant selection, speciation of actinides, kinetic modeling, and case studies on cesium uptake after radiation accidents. Radionuclide contaminants pose serious problems for biological systems, due to their chemical toxicity and radiological effects. The processes by which radionuclides can be incorporated into vegetation can either originate from activity interception by external plant surfaces (either directly from the atmosphere or from resuspended material), or through uptake of radionuclides via the root system. Subsequent transfer of toxic elements to the human food chain is a concrete danger. Therefore, the molecular mechanisms and genetic basis of transport into and within plants needs to be understood for two reasons: The effectiveness of radionuclide uptake into crop plants – so-called transfer coefficient – is a prerequisite for the calculation of dose due to the food path. On the other hand, efficient radionuclide transfer into plants can be made use of for decontamination of land – so-called phytoremediation, the direct use of living, green plants for in situ removal of pollutants from the environment or to reduce their concentrations to harmless levels.
Just as an environmental model typically will be composed of a number of linked sub-models, representing physical, chemical or biological processes understood to varying degrees, this volume includes a series of linked chapters exemplifying the fundamental nature of environmental radioactivity models in all compartments of the environment. Why is a book on modelling environmental radioactivity necessary? There are many reasons why such a boook is necessary, perhaps the most important that: - modelling is an often misunderstood and maligned activity and this book can provide, to a broad audience, a greater understanding of modelling power but also some of the limitations. - modellers and experimentalists often do not understand and mistrust each other's work yet they are mutually dependent, in the sense that good experimental science can direct good modelling work and vice-versa; we hope that this book can dispel mistrust and engender improved understanding. - there is an increasing reliance on model results in environmental management, yet there is also often misuse and misrepresentation of these results. This book can help to bridge the gap between unrealistic expectations of model power and the realisation of what is possible, practicable and feasible in modelling of environmental radioactivity; and finally, - modelling tools, capacity and power have increased many-fold in a relatively short period of time. Much of this is due to the much-heralded computer revolution, but much is also due to better science. It is useful to consider what gap if any still remains between what is possible and what is necessary.
The Radioactivity in the Environment Series addresses the key aspects of this socially important and complex interdisciplinary subject. Presented objectively and with the ultimate authority gained from the many contributions by the world's leading experts, the negative and positive consequences of having a radioactive world around us is documented and given perspective. In a world in which nuclear science is not only less popular than in the past, but also less extensively taught in universities and colleges, this book series will fill a significant educational gap. Radioactivity in the Terrestrial Environment presents an updated and critical review of designing, siting, constructing and demonstrating the safety and environmental impact of deep repositories for radioactive wastes. It is structured to provide a broad perspective of this multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary topic providing enough detail for a non-specialist to understand the fundamental principles involved. Contains extensive references to sources of more detailed information Provides a detailed summary of radioactivity in terrestrial ecosystems, providing a substantial and essential reference on the subject Discusses lesser-known sources of radiation exposure that provide useful information for those seeking to place environmental radioactivity into perspective
How do plants react to elements in the soil? A vital question, particulary in today's world of increasing environmental contamination... The answer can be found in this book. It has an extraordinarily broad basis, compiling up-to-date information from numerous specialist disciplines. Key articles are devoted to - Soil Chemistry and Bioavailability - Metal-tolerant Plants - Metalloenzymes - Toxic Effects of Metals - Radionuclides Moreover emphasis is placed on environmental aspects, with detailed considerations of plants that hyperaccumulate heavy metals and plants that are indicators for pollution. A discussion of experimental techniques rounds off the book. They include sampling, sample preparation, analytical methods and aspects of quality assurance. All in all a valuable forum for the exchange of current thinking across a broad spectrum of disciplines.
Most of the nuclear facilities built since the Second World War have ceased active operation and have been decommissioned. Some of the sites are heavily contaminated with radioactive substances. Correct and efficient action to mitigate the radiological consequences of such contamination will only be possible when the behaviour of radionuclides in the terrestrial environment is sufficiently well known. Yet radioecologists often find it difficult to study the transfer of radioactivity in agricultural land and semi-natural ecosystems, because of the complexity and diversity of such environments. The present book presents an analysis of all the factors that affect the behaviour of radionuclides as they move from their point of release through the environment and then enter the tissues of biota living in the ecosystems, in particular plants and animals consumed by humans. The course on which the book is based was held in a region that is heavily contaminated by radioactive discharges into the environment during nuclear weapons fabrication in the 1950s and '60s, and due to a severe accidental release following the explosion of a rad-waste tank in 1957. This allowed in situ training of the students. The book's main emphasis is on specific radioecological problems in severely contaminated areas in the former Soviet Union: the Southern Urals Trail, the rivers Techa-Isert-Tobol-Irtis-Ob, and the 30 km zone around Chernobyl. Systems examined include soils, arable and pasture land, forests, lakes and rivers. Special attention is paid to the effects of radiation on natural ecosystems: trees, soil-dwelling organisms, and aquatic organisms. Synergistic effects are also considered. Short, medium and long term countermeasures are discussed.
This up-to-the-minute account examines how radionuclides affect human health. It explores how radionuclides travel through various food chains and how they are transported throughout the terrestrial and aquatic environments.
This book, the third in the series Behavior of Radionuclides in the Environment, is dedicated to Fukushima. Major findings from research since 2011 are reviewed concerning the behavior of radionuclides released into the environment due to the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, including atmospheric transport and fallout of radionuclides, their fate, and transport in the soil-water environment, behavior in freshwater, coastal and marine environment, transfer in the terrestrial and agricultural environment. Volume III discusses not only radionuclides dynamics in the environment in the short- and mid-term, but also modeling and prediction of long-term time changes. Along with reviews, the book contains original data and results not published previously. It was spearheaded by the authors from the Institute of Environmental Radioactivity at Fukushima University, established two years after the Fukushima accident, with their collaborators from Japan, Russia, and Ukraine. The knowledge emerging from the studies of the environmental behavior of Fukushima-derived radionuclides enables us to move forward in understanding mechanisms of environmental contamination and leads to better modeling and prediction of long-term pollution effects in general.