Radioactive particles have been released to the environment from a number of sources, including nuclear weapon tests, nuclear accidents and discharges from nuclear installations. Particle characteristics influence the mobility, biological uptake and effects of radionuclides, hence information on these characteristics is essential for assessing environmental impact and risks. This publication presents a series of papers covering sources and source term characterisation, methodologies for characterizing particles, and the impact of particles on the behaviour of radioactive particles in the environment. Sources covered include the Chernobyl accident, nuclear weapons accidents at Thule and Palomares accident, the discharges from Dounreay and Krashnoyarsk, and depleted uranium in Kosovo and Kuwait. The overall aim is that an increased understanding of particle characteristics and behavior will help to reduce some of the uncertainties in environmental impact and risk assessment for particle contaminated areas.

Radioactive particles have been released to the environment from a number of sources, including nuclear weapon tests, nuclear accidents and discharges from nuclear installations. Particle characteristics influence the mobility, biological uptake and effects of radionuclides, hence information on these characteristics is essential for assessing environmental impact and risks. This publication presents a series of papers covering sources and source term characterisation, methodologies for characterizing particles, and the impact of particles on the behaviour of radioactive particles in the environment. Sources covered include the Chernobyl accident, nuclear weapons accidents at Thule and Palomares accident, the discharges from Dounreay and Krashnoyarsk, and depleted uranium in Kosovo and Kuwait. The overall aim is that an increased understanding of particle characteristics and behavior will help to reduce some of the uncertainties in environmental impact and risk assessment for particle contaminated areas.

Whenever radioactivity is released to the atmosphere, for example by the detonation of nuclear weapons or the testing of nuclear weapons or from nuclear reactor accidents that fraction of it which remains airborne for more than a few hours is liable to be attached to aerosol particles. The resulting radioactive aerosols are carried by atmospheric mixing processes until they settle out or are scavenged by precipitation. The radiation exposure pathway of maximum concern to humans is by inhalation of aerosols and their deposition in the respiratory tract. In this context, it is important to note that radioactive aerosols are commonly of natural origin alos. In particular, the associated radionuclides can be of natural terrestrial origin, such as the decay products of radon gas, or they can e cosmogenic, such as beryllium-7. The exposure of miners of uranium and other ores and minerals to radon and its aerosol-borne decay products is of major significance. The book describes the formation of aerosols, their aerodynamic size distribution, their atmospheric residence time, their sampling and measurement, the range of radioactive aerosols found and studied thus far, including man-made nuclides and radon decay products and their interaction with man, including deposition in the lung and subsequent health effects. - Advanced level science handbook for researchers, scientists and academics - Covers all aspects of radiation exposure in humans, including subsequent health implications - Presents the latest findings and analysis in this highly topical area

Reports on the outcome of an IAEA coordinated research project in the area of measurement and characterization of radioactive particles in the environment. This publication summarizes the achievements and findings of the project participants and gives guidance for application of the techniques for evaluation of contaminated areas.

- Thema des Bandes ist die Radioaktivität in der Umwelt (Herkunft, Transport, Messung) - einziges Buch auf dem Markt, das sich derart ausführlich nur mit diesem Thema beschäftigt - wendet sich an breitgefächertes Leserspektrum (Studenten, Dozenten, Forscher, Unternehmen, Berater) - Interesse am Einfluß menschlicher Tätigkeit auf die Umwelt nimmt ständig zu

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.

The 3-volume set highlights the behavior of radionuclides in the environment and focusing on the development of related fields of study, including microbiology and nanoscience. In this context, it discusses the behavior of radionuclides released in areas of Lake Karachai in Ural, and those released as a result of Chernobyl accident (1986), and in Fukushima (2011). Volume I presents the experiences gained in South Urals (“Mayak” plant, Lake Karachai), providing a scientific basis for more precise understanding of the behavior of radionuclides in complex subsurface environments. On the basis of monitoring data, it examines the pathways of radionuclide migration and the influence of the geological environment and groundwater on the migration, with a particular focus on particles from the nanoscale to microscale. It also discusses the function of microbes and microscale particles, from their direct interaction with radionuclides to their ecological role in changing the physic-chemical condition of a given environment. Lastly, the protective properties of geological media are also characterized, and mathematical modeling of contaminant migration in the area of Lake Karachai is used to provide information regarding the migration of radionuclides.

The goal of this book is to examine the complex state of radioactivity in the environment, and to understand the interplay of its two principal sources: man-made and natural. The text examines human contributions to release of radionuclides, with an eye to future reductions, and assesses natural occurrences in an evaluation of baseline radioactivity.