The Hanau Land Remediation and Soil Segregation Project

Author(s):  
Gerold G. Simon ◽  
Marina Sokcic-Kostic ◽  
Bernhard G. Christ

Radioactively contaminated land and its remediation is a growing sector of the Nuclear Business. The contamination is often associated with both naturally occurring and man-made radionuclides. A significant proportion of the waste contains only small amounts or low concentrations of radionuclides, and therefore much of the remediated material can be considered to be for “free release”. It has often not been possible to get adequate specific information on these materials, so a monitoring system is needed for their classification and characterisation. At the former Fuel Fabrication Facility NUKEM-Old in Hanau, Germany, all process equipment and installations were dismantled, building structure surfaces have been decontaminated. After final measurements of building contamination, mainly applying in-situ gamma-spectrometry, and approval for “free release”, or for dumping the material, all buildings were demolished. Since then, an Automated Soil Segregation System is being successfully used for the segregation and measuring of the remaining 20.000 tonnes of radioactively contaminated, or at least suspicious soil material, building foundations and sewerage system components.

2021 ◽  
pp. 089331892199807
Author(s):  
Jonathan Clifton ◽  
Fernando Fachin ◽  
François Cooren

To date there has been little work that uses fine-grained interactional analyses of the in situ doing of leadership to make visible the role of non-human as well as human actants in this process. Using transcripts of naturally-occurring interaction as data, this study seeks to show how leadership is co-achieved by artefacts as an in-situ accomplishment. To do this we situate this study within recent work on distributed leadership and argue that it is not only distributed across human actors, but also across networks that include both human and non-human actors. Taking a discursive approach to leadership, we draw on Actor Network Theory and adopt a ventriloquial approach to sociomateriality as inspired by the Montreal School of organizational communication. Findings indicate that artefacts “do” leadership when a hybrid presence is made relevant to the interaction and when this presence provides authoritative grounds for influencing others to achieve the group’s goals.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 64
Author(s):  
Maija Nuppunen-Puputti ◽  
Riikka Kietäväinen ◽  
Lotta Purkamo ◽  
Pauliina Rajala ◽  
Merja Itävaara ◽  
...  

Fungi have an important role in nutrient cycling in most ecosystems on Earth, yet their ecology and functionality in deep continental subsurface remain unknown. Here, we report the first observations of active fungal colonization of mica schist in the deep continental biosphere and the ability of deep subsurface fungi to attach to rock surfaces under in situ conditions in groundwater at 500 and 967 m depth in Precambrian bedrock. We present an in situ subsurface biofilm trap, designed to reveal sessile microbial communities on rock surface in deep continental groundwater, using Outokumpu Deep Drill Hole, in eastern Finland, as a test site. The observed fungal phyla in Outokumpu subsurface were Basidiomycota, Ascomycota, and Mortierellomycota. In addition, significant proportion of the community represented unclassified Fungi. Sessile fungal communities on mica schist surfaces differed from the planktic fungal communities. The main bacterial phyla were Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteriota. Biofilm formation on rock surfaces is a slow process and our results indicate that fungal and bacterial communities dominate the early surface attachment process, when pristine mineral surfaces are exposed to deep subsurface ecosystems. Various fungi showed statistically significant cross-kingdom correlation with both thiosulfate and sulfate reducing bacteria, e.g., SRB2 with fungi Debaryomyces hansenii.


1996 ◽  
Vol 42 (8) ◽  
pp. 1345-1349 ◽  
Author(s):  
J B Silkworth ◽  
J F Brown

Abstract Humans are exposed daily to low concentrations of many different chemical substances, natural and some man-made. Although many of these substances can be toxic at high levels, typical exposures are far below the effect levels. The responses produced by man-made aromatic hydrocarbon receptor agonists, such as dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans, coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, are also produced, often to greater extents [corrected], by naturally occurring constituents of fried meat, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, cocoa, and curry. Our society seems to be concerned about the health risks associated only with the synthetic chemicals, regardless of their proportional contribution to the total agonist activity, and regulates on the basis of such concerns. It would be more protective of the public health to determine acceptable concentrations for each type of response, regardless of the origin of the inducing agent, and issue advisories or regulations accordingly.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 3147
Author(s):  
Ilaria Frau ◽  
Stephen Wylie ◽  
Patrick Byrne ◽  
Patrizia Onnis ◽  
Jeff Cullen ◽  
...  

Thousands of pollutants are threatening our water supply, putting at risk human and environmental health. Between them, trace metals are of significant concern, due to their high toxicity at low concentrations. Abandoned mining areas are globally one of the major sources of toxic metals. Nowadays, no method can guarantee an immediate response for quantifying these pollutants. In this work, a novel technique based on microwave spectroscopy and planar sensors for in situ real-time monitoring of water quality is described. The sensors were developed to directly probe water samples, and in situ trial measurements were performed in freshwater in four polluted mining areas in the UK. Planar microwave sensors were able detect the water pollution level with an immediate response specifically depicted at three resonant peaks in the GHz range. To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first time that planar microwave sensors were tested in situ, demonstrating the ability to use this method for classifying more and less polluted water using a multiple-peak approach.


1989 ◽  
Vol 157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young-Jin Jeon ◽  
M.F. Becker ◽  
R.M. Walser

ABSTRACTThis work was concerned with comparing the relative effects of boron and phosphorus impurities on the solid phase epitaxial (SPE) regrowth rate of self-ion amorphized layers in silicon wafers with (100) orientation. We used previously reported data measured by in situ, high precision, cw laser interferometry during isothermal annealing for temperatures from 450°C to 590°C, and concentrations in the range from 7.8×1018 cm-3 to 5×l020 cm-3 for boron (NB), and from 5×l017 cm-3 to 3×1020 cm-3 for phosphorus (Np) impurities. The basis for the comparison was a recently developed model that extends the Spaepen-Turnbull model for silicon recrystallization to include ionization enhanced processes.The experimental data for bom boron and phosphorus exhibited the linear variation in regrowth rate expected for low concentrations of implanted hydrogenic impurities having a concentration-independent fractional ionization in amorphous silicon. In the linear range the relative enhanced regrowth rate produced by these impurities can be expressed as a product of their, relative fractional ionizations, and the relative amount the rate constant for reconstruction is altered by localizing an electron, or a hole, at the reconstruction site. Assuming that a localized hole and electron equally softened the potential barrier for reconstruction, the experimental results indicated that boron had an ?40 meV lower barrier to ionization in amorphous silicon than phosphorus.The variations in the SPE regrowth rates with higher concentrations of both implanted boron and phosphorus were well fit by quadratic equations, but with different curvatures (+ and - for B and P respectively). This result was interpreted to indicate that SPE regrowth was further enhanced by localized hole pairs, but retarded by localized electron pairs.


1990 ◽  
Vol 259 (3) ◽  
pp. G443-G452 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. C. Read ◽  
A. P. Lord ◽  
V. Brantl ◽  
G. Koch

beta-Casomorphins (beta-CMs) derived from milk beta-casein may exert various opiate activities in milk-fed infants. To assess the physiological significance of beta-CMs as a source of circulating opioids in infants, we measured absorption rates of several beta-CMs under near-physiological conditions using in situ autoperfused lamb intestine. The naturally occurring beta-CMs, beta-CM-7 and beta-CM-4-amide, were absorbed readily into blood with no transfer into lymph. Uptake peaked within several minutes of the luminal infusion of peptide but then declined sharply and stopped within a further 10-15 min. The recovery in blood, intestinal contents, and tissue at the end of the 30-min experiment was less than 1% of the infused dose. The low recovery was due to rapid proteolysis based on in vitro studies that demonstrated half-lives of less than 5 min in lamb blood, luminal contents, and lymph. The synthetic dipeptidyl peptidase IV-resistant analogue beta-[D-Ala2]CM- 4-amide was stable during incubation in blood, lymph, or luminal contents and was absorbed into blood at rates that were maximal within several minutes and remained steady for the 30-min period. We conclude that although natural beta-CMs are transferred across the lamb small intestine, rapid degradation within the intestinal lumen, gut epithelium, and blood would prevent entry into the circulation under normal conditions. Val-beta-CM-7, a putative stable precursor, had similar stability and kinetics of absorption to beta-CM-7, results that exclude Val-beta-CM-7 as a stable precursor for delivery of beta-CMs to the circulation. Essentially identical results to those in lambs were obtained in 7-day-old piglets.


Author(s):  
Jiři Křepel ◽  
Valentyn Bykov ◽  
Konstantin Mikityuk ◽  
Boris Hombourger ◽  
Carlo Fiorina ◽  
...  

The Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) represents an old concept, but its properties are qualifying it for the advanced utilization: inherent safety, excellent neutron economy, possibility of continuous or batch reprocessing without fuel fabrication. The aim of this paper is to characterize the MSR unique fuel cycle advantages in different neutron spectra using the results of ERANOS-based EQL3D and ECCO-MATLAB based EQL0D procedures. It also focuses on the low production of higher actinides in the Th-U cycle and based on the results, it proposes a simplified in situ recycling of the fuel and the delayed ex situ carrier salt cleaning or direct disposal by vitrification.


1999 ◽  
Vol 160 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
RS Robinson ◽  
GE Mann ◽  
GE Lamming ◽  
DC Wathes

The expression of oxytocin receptor (OTR) in the uterine endometrium plays an important role in the initiation of luteolysis. During early pregnancy, the conceptus secretes interferon tau (IFN|gt) which inhibits OTR up-regulation and luteolysis. In this study, uterine horn cross sections were collected on day 16 from 15 pregnant cows (PREG), 9 uninseminated controls and 5 inseminated cows with no embryo present. The latter two groups had similar results and were combined to form a single non-pregnant (NP) group. The animals were given an oxytocin challenge shortly before tissue collection to assess prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF2alpha) release through the measurement of the metabolite 13,14-dihydro-15-keto PGF2alpha (PGFM). The mRNAs for OTR, oestrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) were localised by in situ hybridisation. The results were quantified by optical density (OD) measurements from autoradiographs using image analysis. OTR protein was measured by autoradiography with iodinated oxytocin antagonist and ER and PR protein was detected by immunocytochemistry. The release of PGFM after the oxytocin challenge was significantly higher in the 14 NP cows (187%+/-15%) compared with the PREG group (131%+/-11%) (P<0.01). Low concentrations of OTR mRNA were localised to the luminal epithelium (LE) in 6 out of the 14 NP cows, of which 2 also expressed OTR protein, while OTR mRNA and protein were undetectable in all the pregnant animals. These results indicated that the sampling time coincided with the onset of the luteolytic mechanism in the NP cows. On day 16 ER mRNA was detectable in both the LE and glands of both PREG and NP animals. There were no differences in either ER mRNA or protein between NP and PREG samples. PR mRNA was moderately expressed in the caruncular stroma, with lower levels in the dense caruncular-like stroma and glands. There were no differences between PREG and NP animals. The expression of PR mRNA and protein in the deep glands was variable between animals. These results suggested that, in cows, the presence of an embryo suppressed the expression of OTR, but had no effect on the expression of the transcriptionally regulated ER on day 16.


2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Reinhard ◽  
Michael Drakopoulos ◽  
Sharif I. Ahmed ◽  
Hans Deyhle ◽  
Andrew James ◽  
...  

The Dual Imaging and Diffraction (DIAD) beamline at Diamond Light Source is a new dual-beam instrument for full-field imaging/tomography and powder diffraction. This instrument provides the user community with the capability to dynamically image 2D and 3D complex structures and perform phase identification and/or strain mapping using micro-diffraction. The aim is to enable in situ and in operando experiments that require spatially correlated results from both techniques, by providing measurements from the same specimen location quasi-simultaneously. Using an unusual optical layout, DIAD has two independent beams originating from one source that operate in the medium energy range (7–38 keV) and are combined at one sample position. Here, either radiography or tomography can be performed using monochromatic or pink beam, with a 1.4 mm × 1.2 mm field of view and a feature resolution of 1.2 µm. Micro-diffraction is possible with a variable beam size between 13 µm × 4 µm and 50 µm × 50 µm. One key functionality of the beamline is image-guided diffraction, a setup in which the micro-diffraction beam can be scanned over the complete area of the imaging field-of-view. This moving beam setup enables the collection of location-specific information about the phase composition and/or strains at any given position within the image/tomography field of view. The dual beam design allows fast switching between imaging and diffraction mode without the need of complicated and time-consuming mode switches. Real-time selection of areas of interest for diffraction measurements as well as the simultaneous collection of both imaging and diffraction data of (irreversible) in situ and in operando experiments are possible.


Author(s):  
Zinoviy Pankiv ◽  
Olena Iliasevych ◽  
Stepan Malyk

It is established that ferum concretions can be observed in 60 % area of Lviv’s oblast’s and represented by brown spots, pseudophybras, ortsteins, ortzanders, nodules, layers of marsh ore. In acidic unsaturated soils of Male Polissya, Nadsanya, Precarpathians ferum concretions is the basis for diagnosing soil-forming processes and their genesis. The main factor of ferum concretions formation is the dynamics of oxidation-reducing potential. Fe-Mn pedofetures (ortsteins) dominated in the sodpodzolic gleyed soils of Malogo Pollisya, Nadsanya and in the sod-podzolic pseudogleyed soils of the Precarpathians. Their profile distribution and morphological features. Were established nodules (solid concretions of a dark brown color with a gray tint, irregular shape and with diffuse outlines) were diagnosed within the EI horizon of the brown-podzolic soil of the Precarpathians. Found features of nodules testify about the genesis of in situ. Sod glesish soils of Male Polissya, Precarpathians, valleys Pasmovogo Pobyzzya are characterized by ferum concretions of a dense consistency, a dark brown color with diffuse outlines, which are formed in horizons with long saturation of water due to cementation with soil material of oxides Fe, Al, Mn, Si. Ferum concretions are characterized by maximum accumulation of iron compound (Кх=7,21). Ortzanders and pseudophybras - glandular hydrogenated cemented neoplasms formed are within the profi les of sod pinewood soils of Male Polissya, Nadsanya which were formed on the water-glacial deposits and sod soils in the Davudiv range, formed on Neogene sands on the conditions of high level ironization of ground water and pulsating regime. Little attention is paid to the study of ferum concretions in the soils, which is a significant disadvantage in the study of the genesis of hydromorphic soils. In order to establish the genetic nature, of ferum concretions it is advisable to use modern methods of scanning electronic microscopy, mineralogical and micromorphological studies. Key words: ferum concretions, Fe-Mn pedofetures, ortsteins, nodules, soils.


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