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PubMedDate not supplied

The glass bead game: nuclear tourism at the Australian weapon test sites.

In mid-summer 1997, just as the United States National Cancer Institute was acknowledging that the nuclear bomb tests at the Nevada Test Site may ultimately cause up to 75,000 cases of thyroid cancer in people who were living in the USA in the 1950s and 1960s, the Australian authorities were mooting the possibility that the Maralinga test sites in South Australia should become a tourist attraction. Some Aboriginal tribal leaders welcomed this proposed use when the 20 million Pounds 'clean-up' being paid for by the United Kingdom government as some compensation for using the area for its weapons tests in the 1950s and 1960s is completed. This paper surveys the attempts to clean up the site of UK nuclear weapons tests in the 1950s, not least by attempting to vitrify vast tracts of desert.

Australia↗
PubMed2001

Unusual leg malformations in screech owls from a South Carolina Superfund site.

In 1995, the discovery of leg malformations in several screech owl (Otis asio) nestlings and in their female parent at a Department of Energy (DOE) Superfund site in South Carolina prompted an investigation into the nature of the observed abnormalities. Surviving nestlings and the female parent were transferred to a captive screech owl breeding colony at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD. The malformed female parent and her offspring were each mated with normal owls from the colony for 3 yr. Matings of the malfored female produced five malformed and six normal owls; all owls produced by matings of normal offspring were normal. Malformed offspring were euthanized when it became apparent that their physical distress precluded survival under normal conditions of colony care. Euthanized owls were necropsied and examined for skeletal development. Detailed descriptions of eight malformed owls are presented. Results of the matings indicated that the leg mafformations were caused by a genetic trait in the female parent that was heterozygous dominant. The characteristic was lethal except in occasional mild manifestations and resembled an extreme form of a dominant abnormality previously described for domestic fowl called duplicate polydactyly. Other reports of skeletal abnormalities in wild birds and potential environmental causes of genetic mutations at the DOE Superfund site are presented. Other studies performed at the DOE Superfund site do not implicate elevated (above background) ionizing radiation from 137Cs, the dominant radionuclide where the owls were captured, as the cause of the mutation. The cause of this genetic abnormality remains unknown.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Comparison of the aerodynamic size distribution of chain-like aggregates measured with a cascade impactor and a spiral centrifuge.

Several authors have suggested that chain-like aggregates fragment in the jets of cascade impactors and that the impactor consequently underestimates the median aerodynamic diameter and overestimates the geometric standard deviation (GSD). The aerodynamic size distribution of (Pu0.14U0.86)02.2 aggregates were measured simultaneously with two Mercer cascade impactors and a LAPS spiral centrifuge to investigate this problem. Although the median aerodynamic diameters were generally in good agreement, the impactor consistently measured higher values for the GSD than did the spiral centrifuge. Based on experiments in which losses in the centrifuge inlet were measured, it was concluded that the centrifuge had measured the aerodynamic size distribution more accurately than the impactor. Interception of chain-like aggregates on the first few impactor stages may have been the primary reason for the disparity between the impactor and centrifuge measurements.

Aerosols↗
PubMed1998

Discharges of krypton from Sellafield, 1951-1997, and the resultant doses to members of the public.

The radionulide 85Kr, which has a half-life of 10.72 years, is produced, almost exclusively, by reprocessing operations during which the fission product is released from irradiated nuclear fuel by chemical dissolution. Reprocessing plants at Sellafield, in Cumbria, have released the noble gas to atmosphere since operations commenced in 1952. Historically, krypton discharges were classified for security reasons, although these have been monitored and published by BNFL for each year since 1977. This paper reviews discharges of 85Kr from Sellafield, and consequent radiation doses, since its earliest operations. Over the past three years, discharges of 85Kr have increased due to the operation of the Thermal Oxide Fuel Reprocessing Plant (Thorp). Nonetheless, the associated annual committed effective dose to individuals remains low, peaking around 1.5 microSv a-1 to the identified critical groups, which compares with typical annual committed effective doses from natural sources of radiation of 2200 microSv. Maximum collective doses predicted from any single year of operations are 0.6 man Sv, 2 man Sv and 42 man Sv to the UK, Europe and the world respectively. Comparison may be made to natural background committed effective doses, which are of the order of 130,000 man Sva-1, 750,000 man Sva-1 and 13,000,000 man Sva-1 to the UK, EU and world populations respectively.

England↗
PubMed1999

Management of radiological safety--lessons learnt and issues arising from the decommissioning of Berkeley power station.

Berkeley Power Station was a world leader when in June 1962 it became the UK's first commercial nuclear power station to produce electricity for the National Grid. Berkeley then stood at the leading edge of nuclear technology. After 27 years of successful operation and the supply of nearly 40 billion units of electricity, Berkeley ceased generation in March 1989. Just as it was at start-up, Berkeley is continuing to lead the way as the UK's first commercial nuclear power station to be decommissioned. A three-stage decommissioning process is under way to safely dismantle the plant and eventually return the site to its original 'green field' state. Stage 1 of this process is well advanced. To set the scene, and for general interest, this paper first provides some background to the development of the decommissioning strategy and a brief summary of the progress to date. Recognising the specific interest of the reader, the paper then focuses on the radiological aspects of the work carried out, specifically the hazards, the risk assessment process and the ALARP performance. Finally, and in some detail, the paper reports on the important lessons learnt and discusses one of the issues arising.

Decontamination↗
PubMed1999

Leukaemia in the vicinity of two tritium-releasing nuclear facilities: a comparison of the Kruemmel Site, Germany, and the Savannah River Site, South Carolina, USA.

In 1991, an increased rate of childhood leukaemia was reported from the small northern German community of Elbmarsch, which is located on the banks of the River Elbe opposite the Kruemmel nuclear power plant. Owing to the fact that the increase occurred six years after the start-up of the plant, radioactive discharges were suspected as being implicated in the development of the cases. Previous investigations have failed to identify any exposure which might be associated with the cluster. Nonetheless, concern regarding the increased tritium burden in the environment remains. To further assess the impact of tritium releases to the environment upon population cancer rates, the releases and leukaemia rates at the Savannah River site, USA, were compared with the Kruemmel site. Based on the data from 1991 to 1995, the incidence of childhood leukaemia in the vicinity of the Savannah River site was non-significantly less than expected compared with the significantly higher than expected rates close to the German plant. In contrast, tritium releases from the Savannah River site exceed those from the Kruemmel site by several orders of magnitude. The results of this observational study suggest that factors other than environmental tritium releases are associated with the increased number of leukaemia cases near the Kruemmel site.

Child↗
PubMed1999

The 1951-98 experience of the Paris Institut Curie Radiopathology Unit: a preliminary report.

From 1 January 1951 to 30 June 1998, 696 patients presented spontaneously or were referred to the French Institut Curie Radiopathology Unit following a more or less severe accidental irradiation. Of these, 568 patients came from France, while 128 were sent by various foreign countries. The very great majority of irradiation accidents occurred in the workplace, particularly in industry. Interestingly, 'non-nuclear' industry was responsible for three times more events than the nuclear industry. While incidental irradiation of the public by lost radioactive sources was exceedingly rare in France, it seemed to be more frequent in our cohort of foreign patients. Radiation phobia accounted for about 10% of cases in the French cohort, but the number of cases did not seem to increase with time. Overall, the accrual of patients over time appears to be stable, with 10 to 25 new cases consulting each year. Fortunately, a majority of cases corresponded to low-level irradiation (and even no irradiation at all). In the French cohort, only 21.6% of patients, showing deterministic effects, required some form of treatment, with 4.9% considered as 'severe' cases. Not unexpectedly, more patients required treatment in the foreign cohort (35.2%), with 24.2% of severe cases, including four deaths. The main features of this database are consistent with the data previously reported by the IAEA, UNSCEAR and REAC/TS. Although the number of severe cases is small, it should still be considered to be too high, especially as most of these accidents could have been easily avoided if a few basic radioprotection rules had been fully respected.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed1999

Monitoring for environmental mutagenesis in wild animals--lessons from human studies.

The increasing realisation that environmental monitoring practices need to demonstrate radiological protection of the whole ecosystem has led to suggestions that genotoxic techniques derived from human monitoring of radiation exposure could be applied to other animal species. Human studies have highlighted the need to establish the relationship between exposure, genetic effect and biological consequence so that different study objectives, e.g. hazard identification, dose estimation, risk evaluation, can be addressed by the application of the most appropriate and informative assay.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Experience with the loading and transport of fuel assembly transport casks, including CASTOR casks, and the radiation exposure of personnel.

In 1997 and 1998, six spent fuel assembly transports started from the nuclear power plant Gemeinschaftskernkraftwerk Neckar (GKN), using CASTOR-V19 casks. Professor Kuni of Marburg University challenged the statement made by the German Federal Office for Radiation Protection (Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz (BfS)) based on accepted scientific knowledge, according to which so-called CASTOR transports present no risk, either to the population or to the escorting police units. This paper shows that the collective dose during the loading of the CASTOR casks amounted to 4.5 mSv (gamma and neutrons) per cask at the most, and that the maximum individual dose amounted to 0.26 mSv. In addition to these doses, the collective dose during handling and transport must be considered: this amounted to 0.35 mSv (gamma and neutrons). The dose to the police escort was <0.1 mSv (gamma and neutrons). In the light of these circumstances, this report is presented on contamination determined during the transport of CASTOR casks and of other spent fuel casks. The controls of spent fuel transports carried out since 1978, mainly with NTL 11 spent fuel casks, revealed that about one fifth of the transport casks which left the GKN with a surface contamination of <4 Bq cm(-2) (limit for surface contamination), presented degrees of contamination >4 Bq cm(-2) upon reaching the Valognes/Cogema terminal. However, transport casks coming from French plants also revealed degrees of contamination >4 Bq cm(-2), as well as 'hot spots'. No such contamination was found on NTL 11 casks transported from the GKN to Sellafield. Neither was any increased contamination found upon the arrival of CASTOR-V19 casks transported from GKN to Gorleben or Ahaus. The partially sensationalist media reports were inversely proportional to the actual radiological relevance of the matter. The German Commission on Radiation Protection (SSK) confirmed that the radiological effect of such contaminated spent fuel transports is negligible.

France↗
PubMed2002

Over the border--the problems of uncontrolled radioactive materials crossing national borders.

Cross-border movement of radioactive materials and contaminated items, in particular metallurgical scrap, has become a problem of increasing importance. Radioactive sources out of regulatory control, now often called 'orphan sources', have frequently caused serious, even deadly, radiation exposures and widespread contamination. The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission reported over 2,300 incidents of radioactive materials found in recycled metal scrap and more than 50 accidental smeltings of radioactive sources. A further potentially serious problem is illicit trafficking in nuclear and other radioactive materials. In 1995 the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) started a programme to combat illicit trafficking in nuclear and other radioactive materials, which includes an international database on incidents of illicit trafficking, receiving reports from some 80 member states. For the period 1993-2000 the IAEA database includes 345 confirmed incidents. While from 1994-1996 the frequency declined significantly, this trend has been reversed since 1997, largely due to radioactive sources rather than nuclear material. This paper compares monitoring techniques for radioactive materials in scrap applied at steel plants and scrap yards with monitoring at borders, a completely different situation. It discusses the results of the 'Illicit Trafficking Radiation Detection Assessment Program', a large international pilot study, conducted in cooperation between the IAEA, the Austrian Government and the Austrian Research Centre Seibersdorf. The aim of this exercise was to derive realistic and internationally agreed requirements for border monitoring instrumentation. Finally the present extent of border monitoring installations is discussed.

Crime↗
PubMed2004

Discharge reductions--value for money?

Through the Nuclear Liabilities Management Authority White Paper, the UK Government and the Regulators have signalled a commitment to further improving the operation of the regulatory regime and to its operating within the principles of proportionality, transparency, consistency and accountability which underpin the Government's approach to regulation in general. Particular emphasis is placed upon ensuring that there is greater consistency in the treatment of risk and hazard; proportionate and cost effective delivery of public, worker and environmental protection; and an open and transparently applied regulatory system. The paper uses the historical record of radioactive discharges from BNFL's Sellafield reprocessing site in the UK and seeks to identify what have been the key drivers for change, particularly over the past 20 years of significant discharge reductions. The paper examines the current context for ongoing and future discharges from the site, and the incorporation of the use of the concepts of best practicable environmental option and best practicable means. Intergovernmental commitments such as the OSPAR Sintra and Bremen statements and the developing UK policy framework are also considered, together with BNFL's work with a wide range of 'green' stakeholders. The paper outlines the principal components of BNFL's decision-making processes for discharge control and abatement; and how these interact with the relevant external pressures. It then analyses whether the overall drivers and outcomes align with the declared desire of the UK Government to ensure that the taxpayer receives value for money in the new national arrangements for managing historic nuclear liabilities.

Environmental Exposure↗
PubMed2005

Disaggregation and valuation of collective dose and global circulation dose.

This study is an extension of earlier work (Jones et al 2004 J. Radiol. Prot. 24 13-27) using an adaptation of the PC-CREAM computer model (Mayall et al 1997 NRPB-SR296 (EUR 17791 EN) (Chilton: NRPB)) applied to future discharge scenarios for the nuclear fuel reprocessing plant at Sellafield, Cumbria, UK. This work showed that, of the total 3700 person-Sv collective dose delivered to the world population over 500 years integration from a particular scenario (SF3), 95% is at levels of individual dose below 0.015 microSv y(-1). The collective dose delivered at individual dose rates below 0.015 microSv y(-1) reflects the contribution from globally circulating radionuclides, namely (3)H, (14)C, (85)Kr and (129)I. The methodology used in the earlier work could not break down the dose from globally circulating radionuclides into bands of individual dose; the principal aim of this study is to achieve such a breakdown. The results confirm that the global circulation dose is received in the very lowest bands i.e. all below 0.015 microSv y(-1) for atmospheric discharges, and all below 0.0015 microSv y(-1) for discharges to the sea in the SF3 scenario. If account is taken of the argument that the monetary value of the detriment associated with collective dose should reduce with decreasing levels of individual dose or risk (Jackson et al 2004 J. Radiol. Prot. 24 41-59; NRPB 1993 Doc. NRPB 4 (2) 75-80) then it can be shown that the value of the detriment associated with discharges in the SF3 scenario would be substantially reduced compared with that derived from current conventional assumptions.

England↗