Toward a repository for high-level radioactive waste: perspectives and approaches

The future is unpredictable. Under these circumstances, how can we plan and construct a nuclear waste repository that is supposed to safely store the waste for up to a million years - an endeavor that may in itself take more than a hundred years? In this introduction to the special topic on the future of nuclear waste disposal, we take a first look at this question by searching the literature for answers and by giving a short overview of the current status of site selection in different countries, including possible challenges.Die Zukunft ist unvorhersehbar. Wie können wir unter diesen Umständen ein Endlager für nukleare Abfälle planen und errichten, das die Abfälle für bis zu eine Million Jahre sicher aufbewahren soll - ein Unterfangen, das an sich schon mehr als hundert Jahre dauern kann? In dieser Einleitung zum Schwerpunktheft über die Zukunft der Atommüllentsorgung werfen wir einen ersten Blick auf diese Frage, indem wir in der Literatur nach Antworten suchen und einen kurzen Überblick über den aktuellen Stand der Standortwahl in verschiedenen Ländern geben, einschließlich möglicher Herausforderungen

Selective solubilization of chlorosome proteins in Chloroflexus aurantiacus

AbstractProteins were solubilized selectively from chlorosomes of Chloroflexus aurantiacus by electrophoretic gel filtration according to Griebenow et al. Whereas the 11 kDa and 18 kDa proteins were extracted almost completely, the remaining modified chlorosomes contained high amounts of pigment and c-protein. It was concluded that the c-protein in contradiction to the publication by Griebenow et al. is indeed localized in the interior of Chloroflexus chlorosomes

Die Zukunft der Endlagerung: Was sind die Entwicklungen und Herausforderungen nach einer Standortentscheidung

The future is unpredictable. Under these circumstances, how can we plan and construct a nuclear waste repository that is supposed to safely store the waste for up to a million years – an endeavor that may in itself take more than a hundred years? In this introduction to the special topic on the future of nuclear waste disposal, we take a first look at this question by searching the literature for answers and by giving a short overview of the current status of site selection in different countries, including possible challenges

Compliance of smokeless tobacco supply chain actors and products with tobacco control laws in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan: Protocol for a multicentre sequential mixed-methods study

Introduction: South Asia is home to more than 300 million smokeless tobacco (ST) users. Bangladesh, India and Pakistan as signatories to the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC) have developed policies aimed at curbing the use of tobacco. The objective of this study is to assess the compliance of ST point-of-sale (POS) vendors and the supply chain with the articles of the FCTC and specifically with national tobacco control laws. We also aim to assess disparities in compliance with tobacco control laws between ST and smoked tobacco products.Methods and analysis: The study will be carried out at two sites each in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. We will conduct a sequential mixed-methods study with five components: (1) mapping of ST POS, (2) analyses of ST samples packaging, (3) observation, (4) survey interviews of POS and (5) in-depth interviews with wholesale dealers/suppliers/manufacturers of ST. We aim to conduct at least 300 POS survey interviews and observations, and 6-10 in-depth interviews in each of the three countries. Data collection will be done by trained data collectors. The main statistical analysis will report the frequencies and proportions of shops that comply with the FCTC and local tobacco control policies, and provide a 95% CI of these estimates. The qualitative in-depth interview data will be analysed using the framework approach. The findings will be connected, each component informing the focus and/or design of the next component.Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approvals for the study have been received from the Health Sciences Research Governance Committee at the University of York, UK. In-country approvals were taken from the National Bioethics Committee in Pakistan, the Bangladesh Medical Research Council and the Indian Medical Research Council. Our results will be disseminated via scientific conferences, peer-reviewed research publications and press releases