Solid wastes from nuclear power production.
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Radioactivity in nuclear power effluents is negligible compared to that in retained wastes to be disposed of as solids. Two basic waste categories are those for which shallow disposal is accepted and those for which more extreme isolation is desired. The latter includes "high level" wastes and others contaminated with radionuclides with the unusual combined properties of long radioactive half-life and high specific radiotoxicity. The favored method for extreme isolation is emplacement in a deep stable geologic formation. Necessary technologies for waste treatment and disposal are considered available. The present program to implement these technologies is discussed, including the waste management significance of current policy on spent nuclear fuel reprocessing. Recent difficulties with shallow disposal of waste are summarized. (+info)
Microbial activity of trench leachates from shallow-land, low-level radioactive waste disposal sites.
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Trench leachate samples collected anoxically from shallow-land, low-level radioactive waste disposal sites were analyzed for total aerobic and anaerobic populations, sulfate reducers, denitrifiers, and methanogens. Among the several aerobic and anaerobic bacteria isolated, only Bacillus sp., Pseudomonas sp., Citrobacter sp., and Clostridium sp. were identified. Mixed bacterial cultures isolated from the trench leachates were able to grow anaerobically in trench leachates, which indicates that the radionuclides and organic chemicals present were not toxic to these bacteria. Changes in concentrations of several of the organic constituents of the waste leachate samples were observed due to anaerobic microbial activity. Growth of a mixed culture of trench-water bacteria in media containing a mixture of radionuclides, 60Co, 85Sr, and 134,137Cs, was not affected at total activity concentrations of 2.6 X 10(2) and 2.7 X 10(3) pCi/ml. (+info)
Inconsistencies and open questions regarding low-dose health effects of ionizing radiation.
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The effects on human health of exposures to ionizing radiation at low doses have long been the subject of dispute. In this paper we focus on open questions regarding the health effects of low-dose exposures that require further investigations. Seemingly contradictory findings of radiation health effects have been reported for the same exposed populations, or inconsistent estimates of radiation risks were found when different populations and exposure conditions were compared. Such discrepancies may be indicative of differences in sensitivities among the applied methods of epidemiological analysis or indicative of significant discrepancies in health consequences after comparable total exposures of different populations under varying conditions. We focus first on inconsistencies and contradictions in presentations of the state of knowledge by different authoritative experts. We then review studies that found positive associations between exposure and risks in dose ranges where traditional notions (generalized primarily from high-dose studies of A-bomb survivors or exposed animals) would have predicted negligible effects. One persistent notion in many reviews of low-dose effects is the hypothesis of reduced biological effectiveness of fractionated low-dose exposures, compared to that of the same acute dose. This assumption is not supported by data on human populations. From studies of populations that live in contaminated areas, more and more evidence is accumulating on unusual rates of various diseases other than radiation-induced malignancies, health effects that are suspected to be associated with relatively low levels of internal exposures originating from radioactive fallout. Such effects include congenital defects, neonatal mortality, stillbirths, and possibly genetically transmitted disease. A range of open questions challenges scientists to test imaginative hypotheses about induction of disease by radiation with novel research strategies. (+info)
Socioeconomic studies of high-level nuclear waste disposal.
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The socioeconomic investigations of possible impacts of the proposed repository for high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, have been unprecedented in several respects. They bear on the public decision that sooner or later will be made as to where and how to dispose permanently of the waste presently at military weapons installations and that continues to accumulate at nuclear power stations. No final decision has yet been made. There is no clear precedent from other countries. The organization of state and federal studies is unique. The state studies involve more disciplines than any previous efforts. They have been carried out in parallel to federal studies and have pioneered in defining some problems and appropriate research methods. A recent annotated bibliography provides interested scientists with a compact guide to the 178 published reports, as well as to relevant journal articles and related documents. (+info)
Carbon transformations by attached bacterial populations in granitic groundwater from deep crystalline bed-rock of the Stripa research mine.
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This paper presents and compares the assimilation rates of CO2 and lactate, and the lactate respiration rates, of attached bacterial populations growing in slowly flowing groundwater (1-3 mm s-1) from deep crystalline bed-rock of the Stripa research mine, Sweden. The bacteria studied grew in anoxic, high-pH (9-10) and low-redox artesian groundwater flowing up through tubing from two levels of a borehole designated V2, 812-820 m and 970-1240 m below ground. Bacteria were allowed to attach to and grow on sterile glass microscope slides in laminar-flow reactors connected to the flowing groundwater. Total numbers of bacteria were counted by acridine orange direct counts. The bacteria grew slowly, with doubling times of 34 d at 10 degrees C for the 812-820 m population, 23 d for the 970-1240 m population at 10 degrees C and 16 d for this population at 20 degrees C. Numbers of attached bacteria reached between 10(6) and 10(7) bacteria cm-2. The populations at the two levels of the borehole were different in physiology as well as in phylogeny and reflected the heterogeneity between the sampling levels. The earlier proposed presence of sulphate-reducing bacteria could not be confirmed. This is discussed in relation to results from 16S rRNA gene sequencing studies. The CO2 assimilation rates (as mol CO2 cm-2 h-1, using liquid scintillation techniques) increased with depth and temperature.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) (+info)
Characterization of attached bacterial populations in deep granitic groundwater from the Stripa research mine by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and scanning electron microscopy.
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This paper presents the molecular characterization of attached bacterial populations growing in slowly flowing artesian groundwater from deep crystalline bed-rock of the Stripa mine, south central Sweden. Bacteria grew on glass slides in laminar flow reactors connected to the anoxic groundwater flowing up through tubing from two levels of a borehole, 812-820 m and 970-1240 m. The glass slides were collected, the bacterial DNA was extracted and the 16S rRNA genes were amplified by PCR using primers matching universally conserved positions 519-536 and 1392-1405. The resulting PCR fragments were subsequently cloned and sequenced. The sequences were compared with each other and with 16S rRNA gene sequences in the EMBL database. Three major groups of bacteria were found. Signature bases placed the clones in the appropriate systematic groups. All belonged to the proteobacterial groups beta and gamma. One group was found only at the 812-820 m level, where it constituted 63% of the sequenced clones, whereas the second group existed almost exclusively at the 970-1240 m level, where it constituted 83% of the sequenced clones. The third group was equally distributed between the levels. A few other bacteria were also found. None of the 16S rRNA genes from the dominant bacteria showed more than 88% similarity to any of the others, and none of them resembled anything in the database by more than 96%. Temperature did not seem to have any effect on species composition at the deeper level. SEM images showed rods appearing in microcolonies.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) (+info)
Case-control study of leukaemia among young people near La Hague nuclear reprocessing plant: the environmental hypothesis revisited.
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OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between childhood leukaemia and established risk factors or other factors related to La Hague nuclear waste reprocessing plant. DESIGN: Case-control study. SETTING: Area within a 35 km radius of La Hague, Normandy, France. SUBJECTS: Twenty seven cases of leukaemia diagnosed during the period 1978-93 in people aged under 25 years and 192 controls matched for sex, age, place of birth, and residence at time of diagnosis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Antenatal and postnatal exposure to x rays and viral infections, occupational exposure of parents (particularly ionising radiation), living conditions, lifestyle of parents and children. RESULTS: Increased trends were found for use of local beaches by mothers and children (P < or = 0.01); relative risks 2.87 (95% confidence intervals 1.05 to 8.72) and 4.49 (1.52 to 15.23) when categories were aggregated in two levels (more or less than once a month). Consumption of local fish and shellfish also showed an increased trend (P 0.01); relative risk 2.66 (0.91 to 9.51) when categories were grouped in two levels (more or less than once a week). A relative risk of 1.18 a year (1.03 to 1.42) was observed for length of residence in a granite-built house or in a granitic area. No association was shown with occupational radiation exposure in parents. CONCLUSIONS: There is some convincing evidence in childhood leukaemia of a causal role for environmental radiation exposure from recreational activities on beaches. New methods for identifying the environmental pathways, focusing on marine ecosystems, are warranted. (+info)
Medical effects of internal contamination with uranium.
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The purpose of this work is to present an outline of the metabolic pathways of uranium isotopes and compounds, medical consequences of uranium poisoning, and an evaluation of the therapeutic alternatives in uranium internal contamination. The chemical toxicity of uranium has been recognized for more than two centuries. Animal experiments and human studies are conclusive about metabolic adverse affects and nephro- toxicity of uranium compounds. Radiation toxicity of uranium isotopes has been recognized since the beginning of the nuclear era, with well documented evidence of reproductive and developmental toxicity, as well as mutagenic and carcinogenic consequences of uranium internal contamination. Natural uranium (238U), an alpha emitter with a half-life of 4.5x10(9) years, is one of the primordial substances of the universe. It is found in the earth's crust, combined with 235U and 234U, alpha, beta, and gamma emitters with respective half-lives of 7.1x10(8) and 2.5x10(5) years. A special emphasis of this paper concerns depleted uranium. The legacy of radioactive waste, environmental and health hazards in the nuclear industry, and, more recently, the military use of depleted uranium in the tactical battlefield necessitates further insight into the toxicology of depleted uranium. The present controversy over the radiological and chemical toxicity of depleted uranium used in the Gulf War warrants further experimental and clinical investigations of its effects on the biosphere and human organisms. (+info)