This study focused on the radioecology of rice and explored how the French specificities of rice cultivation can be taken into account in risk assessment. The objective of the study was to characterize the radioecological sensitivity of rice with respect to an accidental release of radioactivity. We want to know if a uniform and specific deposit would involve the same contamination on representative paddy fields of Camargue. To model the transfer of the radionuclides in the rice caryopsis following an accidental atmospheric pollution, we used the classical modelling for the cereals which considers first the interception by the foliage (modelled by an interception ratio) then the translocation to the grain (modelled by a translocation factor). The values of the parameters (interception ratio, translocation factor and yield) were regionalized with the agronomical software ORIZA2000, developed by the IRRI (International Rice Research Institute). We partly calibrated ORIZA2000 for a French rice variety: Ariete, thanks to physiological data provided for International Cooperation Centre in Agronomical Research for Development (CIRAD). ORIZA2000 proposes a daily follow-up of the leaf area index which can be correlated with the interception ratio. Five simulations with various climates, irrigation managements, and technical uses have been inputted on ORIZA2000. The data inputted were extracted from the database AGROSYST from the French Institute for Agronomical Research (INRA) and from the CIRAD. We established two scenarios of contamination. The first one consisted in a single contamination of water. In this case, there is almost no difference between simulations. However, in each simulation (except for organic farming) it is relevant to notice that the fourth depletion of water leads to a significant variation of contamination. The second contamination scenario consisted in a double contamination of water and of air. In that case, technical practices are responsible of the highest source of variability of the grain contamination. The variability of the contamination is mainly due to the variability of the yield which has in the radioecological modelling a dilution effect. The rice produced by organic farming is more sensitive than the rice produced by conventional farming because of low yields.

Several radioactive particles from the Palomares area have been analyzed with the nuclear microprobe of the National Accelerator Centre (CNA) in Seville exploring the advantages of combining µ-PIXE using a 5.5 MeV 4He beam with conventional µ-PIXE analysis using 3 MeV protons. The measurements performed with the α-particles are more sensitive to the sample surface, while the results collected with protons are indicative of the average composition of the hot particle. In this way, important information about the depth distribution of Pu and U in the particles has been obtained. In addition, the particles have been analyzed by SEM (EDX) and one of them has been sacrificed for the determination of its U and Pu isotopic composition by ICP-MS and α-spectrometry, being gained in this way important information about the composition of the weapons involved in the Palomares accident.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation (OSRTI) is responsible for implementing the long-term (non-emergency) portion of a key U.S. law regulating cleanup: the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, CERCLA, nicknamed “Superfund.” The purpose of the Superfund program is to protect human health and the environment over the long term from releases or potential releases of hazardous substances from abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. This paper provides a brief overview of the approach used by EPA to conduct Superfund cleanups at contaminated sites, including those that are contaminated with radionuclides, to ensure protection of human health and the environment. The paper addresses how EPA Superfund determines if a site poses a risk to human health and the framework used to determine cleanup levels. The theme emphasized throughout the paper is that within the Superfund remediation framework, radioactive contamination is dealt with in a consistent manner as with chemical contamination, except to account for the technical differences between radionuclides and chemicals. This consistency is important since at every radioactively contaminated site being addressed under Superfund's primary program for long-term cleanup, the National Priorities List (NPL), chemical contamination is also present.

An investigation was undertaken in relation to the contamination of a facility used for the servicing and refurbishment of gaseous tritium light devices. While it is generally accepted that there is minimal exposure hazard from a broken gaseous tritium light source after the tritium gas has dispersed, environmental tritium contamination displaying 'particulate' like characteristics was observed during the radiological assessment of the facility in 2003. The contamination is considered to be associated with zinc sulphide phosphor residues from damaged tritium light sources. A subsequent environmental tritium survey was conducted in 2007, in the vicinity of the affected building to determine the extent of contamination and impact on current and future occupancy and land use application. The survey was conducted by measuring both soil non-aqueous tritium and soil pore water tritium concentration. Zinc concentration, from the zinc sulphide phosphor, was also measured for the same samples to assess correlation between tritium contamination activity and the identified source material. Greater than 97% of the soil non-aqueous tritium results were observed to be less than the derived tritium residential screening level of 8.5 Bq ⋅ kg-1, and that soil pore water tritium concentrations had decreased from 8 MBq ⋅ L-1 to less than 2 kBq ⋅ L-1 over a period of 5 years. Elevated elemental zinc levels in the upper surface soils correlated with increased non-aqueous tritium concentration. Ground water tritium concentrations ranged from 3 Bq ⋅ L-1 to 20 Bq ⋅ L-1, indicating leakage of tritium contaminated water to local aquifer systems. Natural attenuation and dilution processes have reduced environmental tritium contamination levels over a period of 5 years since the introduction of new contamination control policies and operational changes at the facility.

Sand culture using radish (Raphanus sativus L.) and hydroponics using carrot (Daucus carota L.) were conducted to examine root-uptake of carbon and its assimilation in the form of 14C-acetic acid. 14C-acetic acid (1, 2-14C, radioactivity: 74 kBq) was added to each pot. Radishes were grown under the dark conditions or the light conditions for 24 h. Carrot were grown under the light conditions after 14C-acetic acid addition (radioactivity: 19 kBq). The 14C radioactivity in each plant part was determined. The distribution of 14C in the plants was visualized using autoradiography. For a comparison, autoradiography was also done using 22Na. The results indicated that the root vegetables absorbed 14C through the roots and assimilated it into the shoots and edible parts. However, the amount of 14C-acetic acid absorbed by plants through the roots was considered to be very small. Absorption and assimilation of 14C seemed to be carried out not because of uptake of 14C-acetic acid but because of uptake of 14C in inorganic forms with very low concentration. 14C dominantly transferred to the plant parts where were physiologically active. 14C movement in the plant did not have a close relation to water movement unlike 22Na movement.

The peculiarities of 90Sr, 137Cs, 239,240Pu accumulation by some species of herbaceous plants in radioactive contaminated areas of nuclear enterprises in Russia have been investigated. Gas and aerosol discharge from Beloyarskaya NPP (which operates for more than 30 years) did not make considerable contamination of soil-vegetational cover in the 30-km zone. In close proximity to the epicenter of nuclear accident of 1957 in the Urals the concentration of the main contaminant (90Sr) in the plants reached maximal value (tens and hundred of thousands of Bq kgdw-1 depending on species belonging of plant). The concentration of 90Sr in aboveground phytomass of plants growing within floodplain of the Techa river ecosystems is thousands of Bq kgdw-1; at the same time, the 137Cs concentration is units of Bq kgdw-1. The absence of direct dependence between the radionuclides content in the soils and their concentration in aboveground phytomass is noticeable. The values of the radionuclides transfer coefficients in the plants were estimated as well as the content in the soils of their water-soluble and firmly fixed physic-chemical forms. The radionuclides have been ranked into a row according to their mobility in observed soils and biogeocenotical soil-plant link.

On the frame of a broad project devoted to the evaluation of the occupational and environmental radiological impact of several NORM industries located at the South-West Spain, a study determining the U-series radionuclides levels in air particulate matter has been accomplished inside a phosphate rock processing plant dedicated to phosphoric acid production. U-series radionuclides concentrations in aerosols collected inside this plant have been determined and compared with those obtained in aerosols collected from a reference monitoring station not affected by NORM industries or other anthropogenic inputs. Additionally, based on the observed increments in the volumetric concentrations of the radionuclides from the U-series in the plant, the increase in the occupational doses due to inhalation for their workers has been estimated. Even under conservative assumptions, the dose enhancements are clearly below 1 mSv/year, the annual limit for the public.

The emergency response and radiation monitoring system in the Murmansk region established by request of the Murmansk region Government was developed by the Energy Safety Analysis Center of Nuclear Safety Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IBRAE RAS) in 2005–2007 under a special project. The system meets all actual international and domestic requirements and may be used as a prototype in similar projects.

Data from large scale field experiments are clearly highly relevant to the development of a new system for radiological protection of the environment. Therefore, an actuality and severity of population-level effects within radioactively contaminated areas are among key problems today. The results of long-term field studies in the Bryansk Region, Russia, affected by the Chernobyl accident, and at the Semipalatinsk Test Site, Kazakhstan are discussed. The results of these studies clearly indicate that plant populations growing in areas with relatively low levels of pollution are characterized by the increased level of both cytogenetic disturbances and genetic diversity. Genetic processes in exposed populations lead to increasing of phenotypic diversity and rapid selection of novel phenotypes favoured in changed environment. In particular, radioactive contamination of the plants' environment activates genetic mechanisms, changing a population's resistance to exposure. However, in different radioecological situations, genetic adaptation to extreme edaphic conditions in plant populations could be achieved with different rates. Such evolutionary effects are of special concern because they are able to negatively affect population dynamics and local extinction rates. A development of a system for protection of the environment from ionizing radiation should be based on a clear understanding of these effects and their contribution to biological response.

A complex approach for the environment health assessment integrating information on contaminants levels registered in environment compartments and bioindication-based estimates is developed and applied to two studies carried out at sites with different scenarios of long-term impact. The environment state is assessed at the territory of a nuclear waste storage facility, Obninsk, Russia, and in the post-mining areas of the Upper Silesia, Poland with enhanced levels of natural radioactivity. Concentrations of micro-, macroelements and appropriate radionuclides activities are measured in samples of water and sediment. With the Allium cepa plant system, phyto- and genotoxicity of the sampled water and soil is estimated to assess a hazardous potential of the complex contamination. As biological endpoints, frequency and spectrum of chromosome aberrations and mitotic abnormalities in ana-telophase cells as well as mitotic activity in Allium cepa root tips are used. An approach and techniques are developed to reveal factors and contamination components that play a governing role in an induction of the observed biological effect and estimate their relative contribution. Compatibility of findings observed and legislative standards adopted are discussed. From the studies carried out, the Allium-test proved to be a sensitive and simple bioassay efficient in genotoxic monitoring of environmental pollutants.

Information on options for managing contaminated food production systems and inhabited areas has been systematically recorded in a datasheet format and published as compendia of countermeasures. As only subsets of these management options are likely to be required in the event of a radiological incident, generic handbooks to aid decision makers in the selection and combining of options have been developed for use in Europe, in close collaboration with stakeholders. The handbooks contain relevant scientific and technical information, details of the factors influencing implementation of management options, compendia of datasheets and a decision aiding framework comprising for example, of look-up tables, flow charts, decision trees and colour-coded selection tables. Guidance is also provided on customisation of the handbooks and how to engage with stakeholders. Demonstration of the handbooks in emergency centres confirmed their value for both contingency planning and incident management. The demonstrations also provided valuable feedback on aspects which could be further improved. A Handbook Users Group (HUG) was established for managing feedback on the generic handbooks and to provide a forum for information exchange on customised versions in the future.

The European Model for Inhabited Areas (ERMIN) was developed to allow a user to explore different recovery options following the contamination of an urban environment with radioactive material and to refine an appropriate strategy for the whole region affected. The input data include a description of the environment, initial deposition of radionuclides on to a reference surface and a description of countermeasures. Output information includes the average doses to members of the public from external exposure to gamma and beta radiation from deposited radionuclides and inhalation of resuspended radioactivity, the contamination on urban surfaces, the activity concentration in air from resuspension, the doses to workers undertaking the recovery work, the quantity and activity of waste generated and the cost and work required to implement the countermeasure. ERMIN has been designed to be implemented as a tool that supports the approach of decision-makers and allows the area to be broken down into smaller regions where different conditions prevail and different countermeasure packages are enacted.

Zircon is the mostly widely occurring zirconium-containing mineral mined commercially. Thorium and uranium may substitute for zirconium in the zircon crystal lattice. The radioactivity levels in zircon lies typically within the ranges 500–1000 Bq kg-1 for 232Th and 1000–5000 Bq kg-1 for 238U [1]. One of the most important use of zircon is as opacifier for ceramic tiles. Body of ceramic tiles is a mixture of different raw materials, including: clays, quartz materials and feldspathic materials. The body may be glazed or left unglazed. Due to the presence of zircon in the glaze or in the body, ceramic tiles can show natural activity concentration significantly higher than the average values of Earth's crust. This study contains a summary of results obtained by a survey on Italian ceramic tiles collected over three years (2005–2007). About one hundred ceramic tiles were analysed. The survey consisted of measurement of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K activity concentrations and of the gamma-index [2] and radium-equivalent [3, 4] calculation. The activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K result in the order of 100, 50 and 500 Bq kg-1, respectively. Gamma index and radium equivalent activity have been found well below the acceptable limit in most of the samples.

An understanding of the dose-effect relationships of ionising radiation for nonhuman biota establishes important baselines for the radiological protection of ecosystems. We used standard laboratory tests to examine the dose-effect relationships of gamma radiation on the survival, growth and reproduction of the earthworm, Eisenia fetida (Oligochaeta). Adult E. fetida were acutely irradiated with increasing doses of gamma radiation, and the subsequent survival, growth in wet weight and number of offspring were examined. The 50% lethal dose (LD50) was 825 Gy, and the 10% and 50% effective doses (ED10 and ED50) for growth were 20.2 and 94.7 Gy, respectively. The ED10 and ED50 for reproduction were 3.3 and 11.1 Gy, respectively.

In this study, the effects of 99Tc discharges from Sellafield to the Irish Sea on activity concentrations in fish and shellfish landed at ports on the north-east coast of Ireland and the resultant committed effective doses to typical and heavy consumers of seafood since 1990 are presented. Technetium-99 activity concentrations in fish and shellfish from the Irish Sea increased in the mid-1990s in line with increased discharges from Sellafield. In 2003, 99Tc discharges were reduced and have now returned to the levels of the early 1990s. Although there has been a reduction in 99Tc activity concentrations in fish and shellfish landed at ports on the north-east coast of Ireland, the dose to Irish seafood consumers has not returned to the baseline levels of the early 1990s, being greater by a factor of two. In 2006, 99Tc accounted for approximately 15% of the total dose (0.16 and 0.75 µSv for typical and heavy consumers, respectively) to Irish seafood consumers from all artificial sources of radioactivity in the Irish Sea.

In summer of 2007, short sediment cores (<20 cm) were collected in a littoral area of the North Adriatic Sea, Italy. Downcore measurements for radioactive tracers (234Th, 7Be) and organic matter signatures (OC, TN, C : N ratio) have been used to elucidate potential temporal changes in fluxes and cycles of organic matter in the area. Tracer distributions suggest that surface deposits throughout this area are rapidly reworked and this is supported by the findings of burrowing bivalves. Excess 234Th was present at all stations, with surface activities (0–1 cm) ranging from 12 to 20 Bq/kg and inventories of 46 and 166 mBq cm-2 with penetration depths of about 10 cm. Steady-state particle mixing coefficients Db estimated using excess 234Th ranged from ∼60 to 150 cm2 yr-1. The cores collected throughout the littoral system show a decrease in OC and TN down-core, and organic carbon signatures (OC and C : N) measured in sediment layers are indicative of multiple sources of sedimentary organic matter, where marine and estuarine phytoplankton is likely an additional important source of the direct input of organic matter.

Non-governmental environmental organisations (environmental NGOs) may consider the issue of radiological protection of the environment differently to other interested parties such as regulators or industry. While environmental NGOs are broadly positive towards the current emphasis and engagement on radiological protection of the environment per se, there remain concerns about the precise meaning of the term, the scope of the system being developed and the ultimate objectives of the current initiatives. Ongoing work on developing a “reference organism” approach to radiological protection may contribute to a better understanding of the possible impacts of inputs of radioactivity into the environment. However this approach may lead to narrowly-defined regulatory compliance criteria that do not ensure effective environmental protection. A more comprehensive approach is needed in order to provide a sufficient basis for developing an effective system for protection of the environment. At the core of such a system would be an ecosystem-based and precautionary approach, drawing on developments and experience in environmental protection across a range of disciplines, industrial sectors and human activities. To be considered sustainable, any future nuclear developments would need to be undertaken fully within the framework of such an integrated, holistic system of environmental protection.

Naturally occurring radionuclides in building materials are sources of external and internal exposure in dwellings. External radiation exposure is caused by the gamma radiation originating from members of uranium and thorium decay chain and from 40K. Internal radiation exposure, mainly affecting the respiratory tract, is due to the short-lived daughter products of radon which are exhaled from building materials into room air. The objective of this study is to measure the radon exhalation rates from zircon materials, flours and sands, used as raw materials in the porous fired tiles body and from the final products (porcelain tiles usually commercialized in Italy). The radon exhalation rates for the zircon flours and sands ranged from 0.17 to 1.9 Bq kg-1 h-1, and from 0.090 to 0.20 Bq kg-1 h-1; 222Rn exhalation rates for most of the porcelain stoneware tiles are near or below the minimum detectable limit (LLD) of 0.0004 Bq kg-1 h-1.

Edible parts of the shellfish Mytella falcata collected in Mundaú Lagoon, a tropical estuary in the northeast coast of Brazil, were analyzed for 210Po contents. This lagoon serves as an estuary to the Mundaú River and a phosphate fertilizers factory is installed in its right margin. The bivalves were manually collected during the first two weeks of March 2007 and February 2008. The method for 210Po determination consisted of spontaneous deposition on copper disks followed by alpha counting. A decrease of the activity concentration of 210Po with soft tissue weighs was achieved, presenting a significant linear relationship (p < 0.05). The average value found for the activity concentration of 210Po in Mytella falcata was 88.4 Bq ⋅ kg-1 wet weight.

The uppermost 50 cm of the high resolution core GeoB9501-4 from the continental slope off NW Africa has been used for improving routine technique of 210Pb and 137Cs sediment chronology in the Radioactivity measurement laboratory of the Bremen University. The experimental requirements for 210Pb and 137Cs determination were non-destructive analysis of wet sediment samples in cylindrical containers with different heights, unknown elemental composition and density. The method used in this study to deal with self attenuation is applying efficiencies calculated using the LabSOCSTM, Genie 2000 software calibration tool, validated by self-absorption test measurements of different materials with known composition. A mean sedimentation rate of 0.49 cm ⋅ yr-1 was obtained from the investigated core using the CRS chronological model. This means a relatively increased recent sedimentation rate comparing to an average sedimentation rate at higher depths of an associated gravity core estimated to 0.15 cm ⋅ yr-1 by 14C chronology. A further increase of the sedimentation rate was observed in the uppermost part of the studied core (up to 0.90 cm ⋅ yr-1).