Review of Past Nuclear Accidents: Source Terms and Recorded Gamma-Ray Spectra

Airborne gamma ray spectrometry using high volume scintillation detectors, optionally in conjunction with Ge detectors, has potential for making rapid environmental measurements in response to nuclear accidents. A literature search on past nuclear accidents has been conducted to define the source terms which have been experienced so far. Selected gamma ray spectra recorded after past accidents have also been collated to examine the complexity of observed behaviour

Where Land Meets Water: Understanding Wetlands of the Great Lakes

This publication summarizes the current state of knowledge about Great Lakes coastal wetlands based on the information presented at the Millennium Wetland Event symposium. Information on wetland development and classification, summaries of wetland vegetation communities, and details of the fish and wildlife species that use Great Lakes coastal wetlands as habitat are all found within the following pages. Wetland conservation initiatives and some of the challenges of performing wetland science in such a large and diverse environment are also highlighted

The implications of climate change for the water environment in England

This paper reviews the implications of climate change for the water environment and its management in England. There is a large literature, but most studies have looked at flow volumes or nutrients and none have considered explicitly the implications of climate change for the delivery of water management objectives. Studies have been undertaken in a small number of locations. Studies have used observations from the past to infer future changes, and have used numerical simulation models with climate change scenarios. The literature indicates that climate change poses risks to the delivery of water management objectives, but that these risks depend on local catchment and water body conditions. Climate change affects the status of water bodies, and it affects the effectiveness of measures to manage the water environment and meet policy objectives. The future impact of climate change on the water environment and its management is uncertain. Impacts are dependent on changes in the duration of dry spells and frequency of ‘flushing’ events, which are highly uncertain and not included in current climate scenarios. There is a good qualitative understanding of ways in which systems may change, but interactions between components of the water environment are poorly understood. Predictive models are only available for some components, and model parametric and structural uncertainty has not been evaluated. The impacts of climate change depend on other pressures on the water environment in a catchment, and also on the management interventions that are undertaken to achieve water management objectives. The paper has also developed a series of consistent conceptual models describing the implications of climate change for pressures on the water environment, based around the source-pathway-receptor concept. They provide a framework for a systematic assessment across catchments and pressures of the implications of climate change for the water environment and its management

Going to waste? The potential impacts on nature conservation and cultural heritage from resource recovery on former mineral extraction sites in England and Wales

Scarcity of mineral supplies globally means that there is an international effort to examine the potential to extract resources from mine wastes. Such sites are often perceived as degraded and of little value. However, many sites are protected for their ecological, geological or historical significance. This paper examines the scale of the association between these designations and former mineral extraction sites in England and Wales. Around 69,000 mines (44%) are co-located with some form of designation; ranging from 27% of sand and gravel quarries in Wales to 84% of metal mines in England. Some designations are coincidental to mining and may benefit from resource recovery combined with remediation activities, others exist due to previous mining activities and may be adversely affected. This creates a tension in the long-term management of former mineral extraction, which should be considered when assessing the potential for, and desirability of, resource recovery

Experimental Measurements and Computer Simulation of Fission Product Gamma-Ray Spectra

Airborne gamma ray spectrometry using high volume scintillation detectors, optionally in conjunction with Ge detectors, has potential for making rapid environmental measurements in response to nuclear accidents. An experimental investigation and computer simulation have been used to characterise the response of such detectors to short lived fission products. Small samples of 235U were irradiated in a research reactor for short periods, to generate fission product sources. Gamma ray spectra were recorded over a period of one year using both high volume scintillation detectors and semiconductor detectors. The main gamma emitting nuclides have been identified, and their associated signals in each detector defined. Simulation work has been used to calculate the corresponding spectra which would have been observed at airborne survey heights, or from fission product sources irradiated for a prolonged period. While Ge detectors can record a fuller range of isotopes, of interest in characterising release terms, the NaI spectra also have potential for providing data on a range of radiologically important isotopes at all stages

No. 18, The Algood SR-42 Project, Report on Phase II Excavations in Putnam County, Tennessee

https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/govpubs-tn-dept-environment-conservation-archaeology-investigations/1017/thumbnail.jp

Macroalgae Decrease Growth and Alter Microbial Community Structure of the Reef-Building Coral, Porites astreoides

This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by the Public Library of Science and can be found at: http://www.plosone.org/home.action.With the continued and unprecedented decline of coral reefs worldwide, evaluating the factors that contribute to coral demise is of critical importance. As coral cover declines, macroalgae are becoming more common on tropical reefs. Interactions between these macroalgae and corals may alter the coral microbiome, which is thought to play an important role in colony health and survival. Together, such changes in benthic macroalgae and in the coral microbiome may result in a feedback mechanism that contributes to additional coral cover loss. To determine if macroalgae alter the coral microbiome, we conducted a field-based experiment in which the coral Porites astreoides was placed in competition with five species of macroalgae. Macroalgal contact increased variance in the coral-associated microbial community, and two algal species significantly altered microbial community composition. All macroalgae caused the disappearance of a γ-proteobacterium previously hypothesized to be an important mutualist of P. astreoides. Macroalgal contact also triggered: 1) increases or 2) decreases in microbial taxa already present in corals, 3) establishment of new taxa to the coral microbiome, and 4) vectoring and growth of microbial taxa from the macroalgae to the coral. Furthermore, macroalgal competition decreased coral growth rates by an average of 36.8%. Overall, this study found that competition between corals and certain species of macroalgae leads to an altered coral microbiome, providing a potential mechanism by which macroalgae-coral interactions reduce coral health and lead to coral loss on impacted reefs

Determinants of environmental management in the red sea hotels: Personal and organizational values and contextual variables

What motivates firms to adopt environmental management practices is one of the most significant aspects in the contemporary academic debate in which the review of the existing literature yields, with an obvious contextual bias toward developed world, contested theories and inconclusive findings. Providing a unique model that brings together the individual and organizational levels of analysis on firms' adoption of environmental management practices, this study aims to provide a new insight from the context of developing world. Data from 158 Red Sea hotels reveal two identifiable dimensions of environmental management-planning and organization, and operations-that can be explained as originating from different values. Whereas organizational altruism is a powerful predictor of both dimensions, managers' personal values and organizational competitive orientation are only relevant to environmental operations. The evidence also indicates that contextual variables such as chain affiliation, hotel star rating, and size are important to explain hotels' environmental management behaviors. © 2012 ICHRIE