Title: VARIATION IN MITOCHONDRIAL DNA CONTROL REGION HAPLOTYPES IN POPULATIONS OF THE BANK VOLE, CLETHRIONOMYS GLAREOLUS, LIVING IN THE CHERNOBYL ENVIRONMENT, UKRAINE
Author: Wickliffe, Jeffrey K.; Dunina-Barkovskaya, Yelena V.; Gaschak, Sergey P.; Rodgers, Brenda E.; Chesser, Ronald K.; Bondarkov, Mikhail; Baker, Robert J.
Reference: Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry. Feb2006, Vol. 25 Issue 2, p23-23. 1p.
doi: 10.1897/05-327R.1
Keywords: Chernobyl; Vole; Mitochondrial; DNA diversity; Radiation
Abstract: Bank vole, Clethrionomys glareolus, specimens have been annually sampled from the radioactive Chernobyl, Ukraine, environment and nonradioactive reference sites since 1997. Exposed voles continually exhibit increased mitochondrial DNA hap-lotype (h) and nucleotide diversity (ND), observed in the hypervariable control region (1997–1999). Increased maternal mutation rates, source–sink relationships, or both are proposed as hypotheses for these differences. Samples from additional years (2000 and 2001) have been incorporated into this temporal study. To evaluate the hypothesis that an increased mutation rate is associated with increased h, DNA sequences were examined in a phylogenetic context for novel substitutions not observed in haplotypes from bank voles from outside Ukraine or in other species of Clethrionomys. Such novel substitutions might result from in situ mutation events and, if largely restricted to samples from radioactive environments, support an increased maternal mutation rate in these areas. The only unique substitution meeting this criterion was found in an uncontaminated reference site. All other substitutions are found in other haplotypes of the bank vole or in other species. Increased maternal mutation rates do not appear to explain trends in h and ND observed in northern Ukraine. Studies examining ecological dynamics will clarify the reasons behind, and significance of, increased levels of h in contaminated areas.
URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1897/05-327R.1/abstract
Title: Radioactivity in the environment (including the Arctic and Antarctic). The International Conference in Nice, France, 2-6 October 2005
Author: Strand, P.; Brown, J.
Reference: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, July-Sept. 2007, vol.96, no.1-3, pp. 1-5
doi: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2007.01.014
Keywords: radiation monitoring; radioactive pollution; radioactivity measurement; risk management; Arctic region; Antarctic region; radioecology; environmental radioactivity; ecosystems; empirical data; modelling tools; Chernobyl Accident; technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials; TENORM; environment protection; radioactivity measurement; radioactivity monitoring; risk assessment; risk management
Abstract: Understanding the behaviour of radionuclides in ecosystems and studying the subsequent consequences of exposure to radiation on man and the environment, through analyses of empirical data and use of modelling tools, has traditionally been a mainstay of radioecological sciences. Following a period of intense atmospheric nuclear weapons tests in the late 1950s and early 1960s, scientists were provided with the first insights into the consequences of global contamination by radioactivity and the transfer and fate of radionuclides in the environment. It became clear during these early studies that some radionuclides, notably 137Cs and 90Sr, could be relatively easily transferred through terrestrial and aquatic food-chains resulting in potential exposure of radioactivity to human populations via ingestion.
URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0265931X0700063X
Title: Model testing using data on 137Cs from Chernobyl fallout in the Iput River catchment area of Russia
Author: Thiessen, K.M.; Sazykina, T.G.; Apostoaei, A.I.; Balonov, M.I.; Crawford, J.; Domel, R.; Fesenko, S.V.; Filistovic, V.; Galeriu, D.; Homma, T.; Kanyar, B.; Krajewski, P.; Kryshev, A.I.; Kryshev, I.I.; Nedveckaite, T.; Ould-Dada, Z.; Sanzharova, N.I.; Robinson, C.; Sjoblom, K.-L.
Reference: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 2005, vol.84, no.2, pp. 225-44
doi: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2004.10.016
Keywords: Cesium-137; Model testing; Dose reconstruction; Chernobyl
Abstract: Data collected for 10 years following the Chernobyl accident in 1986 have provided a unique opportunity to test the reliability of computer models for contamination of terrestrial and aquatic environments. The Iput River scenario was used by the Dose Reconstruction Working Group of the BIOMASS (Biosphere Modelling and Assessment Methods) programme. The test area was one of the most highly contaminated areas in Russia following the accident, with an average contamination density of 137Cs of 800,000 Bq m−2 and localized contamination up to 1,500,000 Bq m−2, and a variety of countermeasures that were implemented in the test area had to be considered in the modelling exercise. Difficulties encountered during the exercise included averaging of data to account for uneven contamination of the test area, simulating the downward migration and changes in bioavailability of 137Cs in soil, and modelling the effectiveness of countermeasures. The accuracy of model predictions is dependent at least in part on the experience and judgment of the participant in interpretation of input information, selection of parameter values, and treatment of uncertainties.
URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0265931X05001499
Title: Application of in-situ measurement to determine 137Cs in the Swiss Alps
Author: Schaub, M.; Konz, N.; Meusburger, K.; Alewell, C.
Reference: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, May 2010, vol.101, no.5, pp. 369-76.
doi: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2010.02.005
Keywords: NaI detector; GeLi detector; Alps; In-situ measurements; Field application
Abstract: Establishment of 137Cs inventories is often used to gain information on soil stability. The latter is crucial in mountain systems, where ecosystem stability is tightly connected to soil stability. In-situ measurements of 137Cs in steep alpine environments are scarce. Most studies have been carried out in arable lands and with Germanium (Ge) detectors. Sodium Iodide (NaI) detector system is an inexpensive and easy to handle field instrument, but its validity on steep alpine environments has not been tested yet. In this study, a comparison of laboratory measurements with GeLi detector and in-situ measurements with NaI detector of 137Cs gamma soil radiation has been done in an alpine catchment with high 137Cs concentration
URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0265931X10000354
Title: Regional-scale application of the decision support system MOIRA-PLUS: an example of assessment of the radiological impact of the Chernobyl accident on the fresh water ecosystem in Italy.
Author: Luigi Monte
Reference: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity. Feb2011, Vol. 102 Issue 2, p73-83. 11p.
doi: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2010.10.002
Keywords: Decision support systems; Fresh water environment; Radionuclide migration models; Lakes; Rivers; MOIRA-PLUS
Abstract: ► MOIRA-PLUS is a computerised decision support system aimed at evaluating the behaviour of radiocaesium and radiostrontium in fresh water ecosystems and at assessing the appropriateness of suitable strategies for the management of the contaminated aquatic environment by the application of advanced multi-attribute analysis techniques. ► MOIRA-PLUS (release 4.1.2) allows the user to customise the migration model for the assessment of the behaviour of radionuclides in complex networks of water systems including, for instance, a main watercourse and several tributaries of different order. ► The test and the calibration of MOIRA-PLUS migration models applied to 18 rivers and 10 lakes in Italy gave the opportunity of customising MOIRA for practical applications to the fresh water environment in the Italian territory. ► The calibrations of the MOIRA-PLUS environmental models offered the opportunity of assessing site-specific values of several migration parameters of importance for predicting the dynamics of radiocaesium in the selected water bodies (radionuclide sedimentation velocity, radionuclide transfer coefficient from catchments, radionuclide burial rate to deep sediment). ► Conclusions: MOIRA-PLUS can be easily customised to complex freshwater systems at regional scale. Information and data obtained from independent empirical studies can be promptly exploited for testing and calibrating the models. MOIRA-PLUS can be used for quick evaluations of radionuclide fluxes through the aquatic compartments and of the doses released to humans.
URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0265931X10002250
Title: Integrating environment protection, a new challenge: strategy of the International Union of Radioecology
Author: Brechignac, F.; Alexakhin, R.; Godoy, J.M.; Oughton, D.; Sheppard, S.; Strand, P.
Reference: Radioprotection, July-Sept. 2008, vol.43, no.3, pp. 339-56
doi: dx.doi.org/10.1051/radiopro:2008026
Keywords: Radioecology; radiation protection; radioactivity; environment
Abstract: Born in the fifties together with the emergence of the nuclear technologies, radioecology is a scientific discipline that primarily addresses environmental issues relevant to radioprotection. With a current membership of nearly 600 worldwide, the International Union of Radioecology was founded in the seventies as a non-governmental knowing society dedicated to the development and the promotion of this discipline. The scientific directions taken in Radioecology have been drastically influenced in the past by the Chernobyl accident, which forced a focus on environmental transfers through the environment to feed human radioprotection needs. Currently, a profound evolution is underway towards more ecological effects research and studies, under the driving pressure of the raise of society’s concern on environmental issues and the concomitant re-boost of nuclear industry to face global warming and the future energetic demands. The IUR plays a central role within this evolution which is described here in more details along a description of its four major tools of action: dedicated task groups; workshops, seminars and conferences; training courses; web site tool for information and communication. Finally, together with the recent election of a new Board of Council to manage the Union, the main lines of the new strategic plan for the coming years are given.
URL:http://www.radioprotection.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8804622&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S0033845108000264
Title: 240Pu/239Pu mass ratio in environmental samples in Finland
Author: Salminen-Paatero, S.; Nygren, U.; Paatero, J.
Reference: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity. Nov2012, Vol. 113, p163-170. 8p.
doi: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2012.06.005
Keywords: Plutonium; Chernobyl; ICP-MS; Extraction chromatography; Finland
Abstract: ► We determined 240Pu/239Pu mass ratio from environmental samples in Finland. ► The samples were peats, lichens, air filters, grass and hot particles. ► Samples were analyzed with extraction chromatography followed by ICP-MS. ► 240Pu/239Pu ratio agreed with previously determined 238Pu/239+240Pu activity ratio. ► The samples were contaminated by global fallout and/or the Chernobyl accident.
URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0265931X12001580
Title: Radionuclide migration in the experimental polygon of the Red Forest waste site in the Chernobyl zone – Part 1: Characterization of the waste trench, fuel particle transformation processes in soils, biogenic fluxes and effects on biota
Author: Kashparov, V.; Yoschenko, V.; Levchuk, S.; Bugai, D.; Van Meir, N.; Simonucci, C.; Martin-Garin, A.
Reference: Applied Geochemistry. Jul2012, Vol. 27 Issue 7, p1348-1358. 11p.
doi: 10.1016/j.apgeochem.2011.11.004
Keywords: RADIOISOTOPES; TRENCHES; RADIOACTIVE waste disposal; NUCLEAR power plants; ENVIRONMENTAL impact analysis; LEACHING; RADIOACTIVE wastes; CHORNOBYL (Ukraine); UKRAINE; Nuclear Electric Power Generation; Hazardous Waste Treatment and Disposal
Abstract: ► We describe radionuclide distribution and inventories in the shallow waste dump. ► Radionuclides in the waste dump are associated with fuel particles of three types. ► For each fuel particle type the dissolution parameters have been obtained. ► Biogenic migration fluxes of radionuclides from the waste dump have been determined. ► The effects of radiation on Scots pine in the waste dump territory have been characterized.
URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883292711004495
Title: On protecting the inexperienced reader from Chernobyl myths
Author: Balonov, M.I.
Reference: Journal of Radiological Protection, June 2012, vol.32, no.2, pp. 181-9
doi: 10.1088/0952-4746/32/2/181
Keywords: dosimetry; health and safety; nuclear power stations; radiation monitoring; radiation protection; panic reaction; radiation-induced health effects; Belarusian scientists; Russian scientists; dosimetry; radiation level analysis; Japan; Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant; decision makers; Chernobyl accident myths; inexperienced reader; radiation protection
Abstract: The health and environmental consequences of the Chernobyl accident continue to attract the attention of experts, decision-makers and the general public, and now these consequences have been given added relevance by the similar accident in 2011 at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant (NPP) in Japan. Expert analysis of radiation levels and effects has been conducted by international bodies—UNSCEAR in 2008 and the Chernobyl Forum during 2003–5.
URL: http://iopscience.iop.org/0952-4746/32/2/181
Title: New developments to support decision-making in contaminated inhabited areas following incidents involving a release of radioactivity to the environment
Author: Andersson, K.G.; Brown, J.; Mortimer, K.; Jones, J.A.; Charnock, T.; Thykier-Nielsen, S.; Kaiser, J.C.; Proehl, G.; Nielsen, S.P.
Reference: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity. Mar2008, Vol. 99 Issue 3, p439-454. 16p.
doi: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2007.08.013
Keywords: Inhabited area; Contamination; Decision support; Dose model; Dispersion; Countermeasure; Nuclear accident; Optimisation; Decision-maker; Recovery
Abstract: The Chernobyl accident demonstrated that releases from nuclear installations can lead to significant contamination of large inhabited areas. A new generic European decision support handbook has been produced on the basis of lessons learned on the management of contaminated inhabited areas. The handbook comprises detailed descriptions of 59 countermeasures in a standardised datasheet format, which facilitates a comparison of features. It also contains guidance in the form of decision flowcharts, tables, check lists and text to support identification of optimised solutions for managing the recovery of inhabited areas within a framework consistent with ICRP recommendations. A new comprehensive inhabited-area dose model is also being developed for implementation in the ARGOS and RODOS decision support systems. Shortcomings of previous models are demonstrated. Decision support modelling in relation to malicious dispersion of radioactive matter in inhabited areas is also discussed. Here, the implications of, e.g., particle sizes and dispersion altitude are highlighted.
URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883292712001151#
