Understanding radionuclide behaviour in the natural environment is essential to the sustainable development of the nuclear industry and key to assessing potential environmental risks reliably. Minimising those risks is essential to enhancing public confidence in nuclear technology. Scientific knowledge in this field has developed greatly over the last decade.Radionuclide behaviour in the natural environment provides a comprehensive overview of the key processes and parameters affecting radionuclide mobility and migration. After an introductory chapter, part one explores radionuclide chemistry in the natural environment, including aquatic chemistry and the impact of natural organic matter and microorganisms. Part two discusses the migration and radioecological behavior of radionuclides. Topics include hydrogeology, sorption and colloidal reactions as well as in-situ investigations. Principles of modelling coupled geochemical, transport and radioecological properties are also discussed. Part three covers application issues: assessment of radionuclide behaviour in contaminated sites, taking Chernobyl as an example, estimation of radiological exposure to the population, performance assessment considerations related to deep geological repositories, and remediation concepts for contaminated sites. With its distinguished editors and international team of expert contributors, Radionuclide behaviour in the natural environment is an essential tool for all those interested or involved in nuclear energy, from researchers, designers and industrial operators to environmental scientists. It also provides a comprehensive guide for academics of all levels in this field. Provides a comprehensive overview of the key processes and parameters affecting radionuclide mobility and migration Explores radionuclide chemistry in the natural environment Discusses the migration and radioecological behaviour of radionuclides

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.

This book, the third in the series Behavior of Radionuclides in the Environment, is dedicated to Fukushima. Major findings from research since 2011 are reviewed concerning the behavior of radionuclides released into the environment due to the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, including atmospheric transport and fallout of radionuclides, their fate, and transport in the soil-water environment, behavior in freshwater, coastal and marine environment, transfer in the terrestrial and agricultural environment. Volume III discusses not only radionuclides dynamics in the environment in the short- and mid-term, but also modeling and prediction of long-term time changes. Along with reviews, the book contains original data and results not published previously. It was spearheaded by the authors from the Institute of Environmental Radioactivity at Fukushima University, established two years after the Fukushima accident, with their collaborators from Japan, Russia, and Ukraine. The knowledge emerging from the studies of the environmental behavior of Fukushima-derived radionuclides enables us to move forward in understanding mechanisms of environmental contamination and leads to better modeling and prediction of long-term pollution effects in general.

This is Volume II in a three-volume set on the Behavior of Radionuclides in the Environment, focusing on Chernobyl. Now, so many years after the Chernobyl accident, new data is emerging and important new findings are being made. The book reviews major research achievements concerning the behavior of Chernobyl-derived radionuclides, including their air transport and resuspension, mobility and bioavailability in the soil-water environment, vertical and lateral migration in soils and sediments, soil-to-plant and soil-to-animal transfer, and water-to-aqueous biota transfer. The long-term dynamics of radionuclides in aquatic ecosystems are also discussed, in particular, the heavily contaminated cooling pond of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which is in the process of being decommissioned. Lessons learned from long-term research on the environmental behavior of radionuclides can help us understand the pathways of environmental contamination, which, in turn, will allow us to improve methods for modeling and predicting the long-term effects of pollution. This book features a wealth of original data and findings, many of which have never been published before, or were not available internationally. The contributing authors are experts from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus with more than 30 years of experience investigating Chernobyl-derived radionuclides in the environment. The content presented here can help to predict the evolution of environmental contamination following a nuclear accident, and specifically the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident.

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.

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.

Our world has been radioactive ever since! Humans are primarily exposed to natural radiation from the Sun, cosmic rays, and naturally-occurring radionuclides found in the Earth's crust. Besides the natural radioactivity, industries, which produce radioactive wastes during their normal operations or during their dismantling and decommissioning processes, do contaminate the environment through the release of radionuclides into the air, soil and water. Among them, nuclear power plants, NORM (Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials) related industries, hospitals, radionuclide production facilities, uranium mining and other nuclear facilities, along with radioactive/nuclear disposal sites are a potential source of environmental contamination by emission/discharging of natural/artificial radionuclides through water, air and soil to the other environmental compartments like plants, animals and foods. In a word, everything that makes our existence! The book ''Radionuclides: Properties, Behavior and Potential Health Effects" is a comprehensive overview of some information on radiation in the environment and human exposure to radioactivity. This book highlights the sources, properties, behaviors, and biological and ecological effects of radioactivity from both natural and anthropogenic sources. The emphasis is on the environmental aspects of radionuclides and their eventual effects on biota, particularly humans.