Accidental release of radiocaesium (Cs) from nuclear power plants may result in long-term contamination of environmental and food production systems. Assessment of food chain contamination with Cs relies on Cs soil-to-plant transfer data and models mainly available for regions affected by the Chornobyl and Fukushima accidents. Similar data and models are lacking for other regions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe evaluate the impact of the radiological contamination of the Grote Nete catchment in Belgium to people and non-human biota. This region has received effluents from the phosphate and nuclear industries via tributaries of the Grote Nete river in past decades, resulting in the presence of radionuclides such as Am, Co, Cs, K, Pb, Pu, Pu, Ra, Ra, Th, Th, U, U and U. During the period 2016-2021, we measured these radionuclides in the water column, the bed sediment and riverbanks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Environ Radioact
February 2024
We present a novel methodology to dynamically calculate dose rates to people and wildlife from hospital-released radionuclides reaching the environment through water treatment plants (WTPs), using the biokinetic model D-DAT for aquatic wildlife, applied to F, I, I, Sm, Tc and Tl. We have also developed a method to calculate doses to WTP workers and to farmers from agricultural practices. This proof-of-concept study simulates a generic source term of radionuclide levels in the Belgian Molse Nete River during the year 2018, chosen because the river flow was very low during that year, which constitutes a very conservative, bounding case.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurrent radiocesium (Cs) models to evaluate the risk of Cs transfer from soil to plants are based on the clay and exchangeable potassium (K) contents in soil. These models disregard the mineralogy of the clay fraction and are likely not capable of accurately predicting the Cs transfer factor (TF) in soils of contrasting parent rocks and weathering stages. The objectives of this study were to test that hypothesis and to identify whether quantitative information on mineralogy can improve the predictions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe ALLIANCE Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) for radioecology is a living document that defines a long-term vision (20 years) of the needs for, and implementation of, research in radioecology in Europe. The initial SRA, published in 2012, included consultation with a wide range of stakeholders (Hinton et al., 2013).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Environ Radioact
December 2020
In case of a nuclear accident, adequate protection of the public and the environment requires timely assessment of the short- and long-term radiological exposure. Measurements of the radiation dose and the radioactive contamination in the environment are essential for the optimization of radiation protection and the decision making process. In the early phase, however, such measurements are rarely available or sufficient.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAfter the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident, immediate soil and vegetation sampling were conducted according to the action plan of nuclear emergency monitoring; however, analysing the monitoring dataset was difficult because the sampling protocols were not standardised. In this study, the sampling protocols applied just after the FDNPP accident were reviewed, and the monitoring data were analysed. The detailed protocols and results can provide a sound basis for guidelines of soil and vegetation sampling for nuclear emergency monitoring.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFShortly after an atmospheric release, the interception of radionuclides by crop canopies represents the main uptake pathway leading to food chain contamination. The food chain models currently used in European emergency decision support systems require a large number of input parameters, which inevitably leads to high model complexity. In this study, we have established a new relationship for wet deposited radionuclides to simplify the current modelling approaches.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNumerous radioecological models have been developed to predict radionuclides transfer from contaminated soils to the food chain, which is an essential step in preparing and responding to nuclear emergencies. However, the lessons learned from applying these models to predict radiocaesium (RCs) soil-to-plant transfer following the Fukushima accident in 2011 renewed interest in RCs transfer modelling. To help guide and prioritise further research in relation to modelling RCs transfer in terrestrial environments, we reviewed existing models focussing on transfer to food crops and animal fodders.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe International Atomic Energy Agency has coordinated an international project addressing climate change and landscape development in post-closure safety assessments of solid radioactive waste disposal. The work has been supported by results of parallel on-going research that has been published in a variety of reports and peer reviewed journal articles. The project is due to be described in detail in a forthcoming IAEA report.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFlooded (paddy) rice (Oryza sativa) can take up ions from the irrigation water by foliar uptake via the exposed stem base. We hypothesised that the stem base uptake of radiocaesium (RCs) is a pathway for rice grown in RCs-contaminated environments. We developed a bi-compartmental device which discriminates the stem base from root RCs uptake from solutions, thereby using RCs isotopes ( Cs and Cs) with < 2% solution leak between the compartments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe potential radiological impact of releases from a low-level radioactive waste (Category A waste) repository in Dessel, Belgium on the local fauna and flora was assessed under a reference scenario for gradual leaching. The potential impact situations for terrestrial and aquatic fauna and flora considered in this study were soil contamination due to irrigation with contaminated groundwater from a well at 70 m from the repository, contamination of the local wetlands receiving the highest radionuclide flux after migration through the aquifer and contamination of the local river receiving the highest radionuclide flux after migration through the aquifer. In addition, an exploratory study was carried out for biota residing in the groundwater.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFood chain contamination with radiocaesium (RCs) in the aftermath of the Fukushima accident calls for an analysis of the specific factors that control the RCs transfer. Here, soil-to-plant transfer factors (TF) of RCs for grass were predicted from the potassium concentration in soil solution (mK) and the Radiocaesium Interception Potential (RIP) of the soil using existing mechanistic models. The mK and RIP were (a) either measured for 37 topsoils collected from the Fukushima accident affected area or (b) predicted from the soil clay content and the soil exchangeable potassium content using the models that had been calibrated for European soils.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRadionuclides released in water systems--as well as heavy metals and organic toxicants--sorb to both the suspended solid particles and the bed sediments. Sorption is usually represented mathematically by the distribution coefficient. This approach implies equilibrium between phases and instantaneous fixation (release) of the pollutant onto (from) the surface of the soil particle.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe high variability of the soil-to-plant transfer factor of radiocaesium (RCs) compels a detailed analysis of the radiocaesium interception potential (RIP) of soil, which is one of the specific factors ruling the RCs transfer. The range of the RIP values for agricultural soils in the Fukushima accident affected area has not yet been fully surveyed. Here, the RIP and other major soil chemical properties were characterised for 51 representative topsoils collected in the vicinity of the Fukushima contaminated area.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe activities of the phosphate industry may lead to enhanced levels of naturally occurring radioactivity in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. We performed a preliminary environmental risk assessment (ERA) of environmental contamination resulting from the activities of 5 phosphate fertiliser plants (located in Belgium, Spain, Syria, Egypt, Brazil), a phosphate-mine and a phosphate-export platform in a harbour (both located in Syria). These sites were selected because of the availability of information on concentrations of naturally occurring radionuclides in the surrounding environments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn environmental risk assessment (ERA) was performed to evaluate the impact on non-human biota from liquid and atmospheric radioactive discharges by the Belgian Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) of Doel and Tihange. For both sites, characterisation of the source term and wildlife population around the NPPs was provided, whereupon the selection of reference organisms and the general approach taken for the environmental risk assessment was established. A deterministic risk assessment for aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems was performed using the ERICA assessment tool and applying the ERICA screening value of 10 μGy h(-1).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Environ Radioact
January 2013
With intentions of integrating a portion of their respective research efforts into a trans-national programme that will enhance radioecology, eight European organisations recently formed the European Radioecology ALLIANCE (www.er-alliance.org).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe recent events at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan have raised questions about the accumulation of radionuclides in soils and the possible impacts on agriculture surrounding nuclear power plants. This article summarizes the knowledge gained after the nuclear power plant accident in Chernobyl, Ukraine, on how soil parameters influence soil vulnerability for radiocesium bioavailability, discusses some potential agrochemical countermeasures, and presents some predictions of radiocesium crop concentrations for areas affected by the Fukushima accident.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe area of the town of Mailuu Suu, Kyrgyzstan, is polluted by radionuclides and heavy metals from tailing dumps and heaps resulting from the historic exploitation of uranium mines. In the frame of a European Commission-TACIS funded project, radiological assessment was performed for critical group members living in the city of Mailuu Suu, located downstream the tailings, or in the village of Kara Agach, partially located on a uranium mine waste dump. The actual external exposure is around 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Total Environ
August 2006
This paper presents results from an international exercise undertaken to test model predictions against an independent data set for the transfer of radioactivity to fruit. Six models with various structures and complexity participated in this exercise. Predictions from these models were compared against independent experimental measurements on the transfer of 134Cs and 85Sr via leaf-to-fruit and soil-to-fruit in strawberry plants after an acute release.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFModeling is widely used to predict radionuclide distribution following accidental radionuclide releases. Modeling is crucial in emergency response planning and risk communication, and understanding model uncertainty is important not only in conducting analysis consistent with current regulatory guidance, but also in gaining stakeholder and decision-maker trust in the process and confidence in the results. However, while methods for dealing with parameter uncertainty are fairly well developed, an adequate representation of uncertainties associated with models remains rare.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Environ Radioact
March 2006
In this paper the radiological impact from the airborne routine discharges of a modern coal-fired power plant at Langerlo (Belgium) is evaluated. Therefore, the natural radioactivity contents of the coal and the fly-ash discharged were measured. With a bi-Gaussian plume model the maximum annual values of the 226Ra concentration in the air (4.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnvironmental assessment models are used as decision-aiding tools in the selection of remediation options for radioactively contaminated sites. In most cases, the effectiveness of the remedial actions in terms of dose savings cannot be demonstrated directly, but can be established with the help of environmental assessment models, through the assessment of future radiological impacts. It should be emphasized that, given the complexity of the processes involved and our current understanding of how they operate, these models are simplified descriptions of the behaviour of radionuclides in the environment and therefore imperfect.
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