Walking with broken crutches : exploring the effects of host-state fragility upon refugees : a research project presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of International Development, School of People, Environment and Planning, Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand

This research report explores the relationship between state fragility and the hosting of refugees in the context of the protracted Afghan refugee crisis, where fragile state Pakistan hosts Afghan refugees. The reality for the majority of the world’s refugees is that their hosts are neighbouring countries which are in varying conditions of state fragility. Some states are bearing the brunt of the global refugee burden despite their general struggle to provide basic services and livelihood opportunities for their own citizens. For these ‘fragile hosts’, providing for an influx of refugees would be untenable without significant international assistance. Following a comprehensive literature review looking at the complex interplay between conflict, state fragility, underdevelopment and forced migration, the report case study is prefaced by background chapters surveying the factors which triggered Afghan forced migration, and Pakistan’s fragile status as host respectively. This report then offers an analysis of two region-specific UNHCR documents which explores the relationship between Afghan refugees and Pakistan as ‘fragile host’. Various host-state incapacities were found to entrench endemic poverty and insecurity in the Afghan refugee population in Balochistan due to a lack of livelihood opportunities, and availability and access to quality services. These issues have also created barriers to local refugee integration, and the fluctuating interest of international donors has historically served to exacerbate these challenges. This report argues that a much-improved understanding of the multi-layered and complex regional, national and local relationships between protracted conflict, state fragility and refugee-host dynamics is needed in order to approach a sustainable solution

Organic Telluride Formation from Paint Solvents Under Gamma Irradiation

The interactions between tellurium and organic material during a nuclear reactor accident are critical to source term estimations because of the possible formation of volatile species. Reactions taking place in the containment sump are of interest since these can lead to re-volatilization and increase the fission product source term. This paper presents results from experiments investigating the interaction of tellurium dioxide with three paint solvents-texanol ester, methyl isobutyl ketone, and toluene-under containment sump conditions. The experiments were performed by irradiating a mixed solution of tellurium dioxide and paint solvents at a dose rate of 4 kGy/h up to 300 kGy. The resulting samples were analyzed for tellurium concentration and speciation. Tellurium(IV) was found to reduce to metallic tellurium under irradiation when paint solvents were present. More importantly, several volatile organic tellurides were identified in the irradiated samples, which suggests that tellurium can form volatile species in sump conditions when in contact with dissolved paint solvents. This paper provides novel evidence of organic telluride formation in the sump and raises further interest in tellurium chemistry during a severe nuclear reactor accident

Reactor accident chemistry an update

A review and discussion of some of the literature on the subject of serious nuclear reactor accidents. This review addresses some biological issues such as the influence of dose rate on the ability of radiation to cause harm, the chemistry of a selection of serious accidents and the behaviour of a series of important fission products and the actinides. This review is intended for scientists with a professional interest in nuclear reactors, chemists in general and I expect that it will be of use to historians with an interest in the nuclear industry and its relationship with wider society

Radiolytic degradation of dimethyl telluride in aqueous solutions

The formation of volatile radioactive species is a major concern in severe nuclear reactor accident scenarios. Release of radioactive material to the environment is highly governed by the volatility of the species and therefore it its crucial to understand the behavior of any such species during the accident and the days and weeks following. One of the volatile, yet highly understudied fission products is tellurium. Although tellurium has been released in significant amounts during the major nuclear accidents that have occurred, the knowledge of the behavior is still lacking. Here we present results on the radiolysis of dimethyl telluride, a highly volatile species shown to form in accident conditions. The behavior of dimethyl telluride was investigated under gamma irradiation in various aqueous solutions and conditions representative to severe nuclear reactor accident conditions. The results suggest that dimethyl telluride is relatively stable towards gamma irradiation and its degradation is highly affected by the amount of dissolved oxygen and competing species. It was found that dimethyl telluride degrades via oxidative processes by reacting with oxidizing radiolysis products e.g. •OH, O.-. In the absence of oxygen, several volatile telluride dimers were observed. The results presented here increase the interest in organic tellurides in severe accident conditions and highlight the need for further investigation of the re-volatilization and mitigation of volatile tellurium species

Living Through the Tension: Religion and Public Policy in the Thought of Gilbert Meilaender

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine and evaluate the position of Gilbert Meilaender on the appropriateness of appealing to religious reasons as support for one\u27s position on issues of public policy. The dissertation establishes that, while Meilaender often discusses public policy issues directly or indirectly from a distinctively Christian perspective, he argues that such discussions are unavoidable, appropriate and consistent with toleration for other views in a pluralistic democracy. While this may create a certain amount of tension within pluralistic democracy, it poses no serious threat to social stability and can be both civically virtuous and respectful of other views. The dissertation first surveys the ongoing debate on the place of religious reasons in supporting or opposing public policies, delineating three basic positions on the question and exploring the views of representatives of each position. It then moves to an analysis of Meilaender\u27s conception of Christian ethics which informs his position on the question of religion and public policy. Two salient themes emerge in this analysis: tension and limits. These two themes play an important role in the third part of the dissertation which explicates Meilaender\u27s specific position on the place of religious reasons in supporting or opposing public policies. Meilaender\u27s position is further illuminated through considering some of his publications and his work with government-sponsored bioethics commissions. The last part of the dissertation evaluates Meilaender\u27s position by placing him in conversation with others from a variety of perspectives on this question and closes with some final comments on Meilaender\u27s view. I conclude that his position is both consistent with his conception of Christian ethics and that it is respectful and tolerant of the views of others

Open Studios Cornwall 2016

Invitation to submit work for selection in the annual 'open studios, Cornwall' exhibition. Artists' Studios are open to the public to view the working process as well as recent artworks and current projects. Some work is for sale

Metal extraction from a deep eutectic solvent, an insight into activities

The solvent extraction of gold, palladium, technetium, indium and rhenium from both mixtures of a deep eutectic solvent with aqueous salt solutions and of two different aqueous salt solutions has been performed. Initially using gold and then the other metals the solvent extraction results were interpreted using an activity coefficient/function equation (specific ion interaction theory). The most important presented result is the addition of a new term to the specific ion interaction theory equation. Using the new model it will be possible to make predictions of the behaviour of a solvent extraction system where one of the liquid phases is a mixture of aqueous salts and the deep eutectic solvent

Novel approach to recycling of steel swarf using hydrometallurgy

Steel swarf is a hazardous waste which is challenging to recycle due to its high content of heavy metals and cutting fluids and is today commonly landfilled. The swarf can contain up to 80% iron and represents a potential secondary raw material for production of reagents like ferric chloride, which can be utilized in wastewater treatment. This work presents a novel hydrometallurgical approach for recycling steel swarf and production of ferric chloride by selective separation of iron from heavy metals. Swarf containing 69% iron was leached with hydrochloric acid. A leachate containing 24.600 mg/L Fe with 150 mg/L Mn, 12 mg/L Ni and <1 mg/L Cr and Mo was obtained. The oil-based cutting fluids largely remained in the solid residue with only 1% dissolution in the aqueous phase. These findings showed that ferric chloride solutions of 99% purity can be produced from steel swarf in a single leaching step

Tellurium Behavior in the Containment Sump: Dissolution, Redox, and Radiolysis Effects

In the event of a severe nuclear accident, one major concern is the release of radioactive material into the environment causing potential exposure of the general public to radiation. Among the volatile radionuclides are a range of tellurium isotopes. Due to the radioactivity and the volatility of tellurium, it has to be taken into account when assessing the overall effects of an accident. The interest in tellurium is not limited only to its release but also to the fact that some tellurium isotopes decay to iodine, and thus affect the iodine release behavior. The release and transport behavior of tellurium has been investigated over the past decades, however, the aqueous chemistry of tellurium in the complex containment sump system is still unclear. This study presents the behavior of tellurium dioxide in simplified containment sump conditions in relation to dissolution, redox reactions, and interactions with water radiolysis products. The results indicate that radiolysis products have a significant effect on tellurium chemistry in both a reducing and oxidizing manner depending on the solution composition. The redox reactions also affect the solubility of tellurium. The results show that the current information used to assess tellurium source term needs to be reevaluated for both severe accident management and for code validation purposes

Characterization and Leaching of Neodymium Magnet Waste and Solvent Extraction of the Rare-Earth Elements Using TODGA

The rare-earth elements (REEs) are considered as some of the most critical elements in the EU and the USA today. E-scrap, such as end-of-life neodymium magnets, could be a viable secondary source for the recovery of these elements. Neodymium magnets (NdFeB) consist of considerable amounts of Nd, Dy, Pr, and some other REEs, depending on the specific application. Apart from REEs, neodymium magnets are made up of around 60% iron, which can pose a challenge in their recycling. For example, iron can be dissolved along with other elements during leaching or co-extracted during solvent extraction. In this work, extraction of REEs with TODGA (tetraoctyl-diglycolamide) from a real leachate, obtained by neodymium magnet powder dissolution in nitric acid, was studied. The goal was to selectively extract the REEs from other elements in the solution. TODGA was used as the extracting agent due to its selective extraction properties for REEs and other f-block elements. The influence of the diluent on the overall extraction and the selectivity of the extraction was studied in order to determine application feasibility of future processes. To this end, experiments using Solvent 70 (hydrocarbons C11-C14, ae 0.5 wt% aromatics), hexane, toluene, cyclohexanone and 1-octanol as the diluents were performed. TODGA has shown good selectivity between REEs and other elements in solution under almost all conditions, reaching the highest distribution ratios of REEs in the aliphatic diluents, while the distribution ratios of other non-REEs reach a mere value of 0.1. An exception was cyclohexanone, which has the ability to extract small amounts of ions itself. The highest separation factors between Dy and the light REEs (Nd and Pr) were observed with a 0.01 M solution of TODGA in Solvent 70. REEs, as group, were extracted with 0.1 M solutions of TODGA in all diluents except for cyclohexanone, which led to extraction of Al and B at amounts greater than 10%. Stripping with over 98% efficiency was achieved using MQ water in one step