scholarly journals Health Physics Calculation Framework for Environmental Impact Assessment of Radiological Contamination

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 403-420
Author(s):  
Francesco Teodori ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Safety Assessment ◽  
External Exposure ◽  
Radiation Doses ◽  
Computational Tool ◽  
Health Physics ◽  
Computational Framework ◽  
Animal Products ◽  
Environmental Impact Statements ◽  
Human Health Effects

<abstract><p>A fundamental step for safety assessment is the study and modeling of the radionuclide transfer through the environment up to reach and expose population to risk. In this vein we are working to provide a reliable and flexible computational framework which can be used for both retrospective and prospective calculations of radiation doses and human health effects, resulting from both routine and uncontrolled releases of radionuclides to the environment and from pre-existing environment contamination. The goal is to provide a multipurpose computational tool to be used for siting facilities, environmental impact statements, and safety analysis reports. The code can handle: external exposure from finite or infinite atmospheric plumes; external exposure from contaminated soil, sediments, and water; external exposure from special geometries; and internal exposures from inhalation, inadvertent intake of soil, consumption of terrestrial foods, aquatic foods, drinking water, and animal products.</p></abstract>

Educated Guesses: Health Risk Assessment in Environmental Impact Statements

1990 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 399-427
Author(s):  
Pamela D. Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
National Environmental Policy Act ◽  
The Public ◽  
Environmental Impact Statements ◽  
National Environmental ◽  
Scientific Tool ◽  
Predicted Risk

Environmental pollution threatens public health. The search for solutions has advanced the frontiers of science and law. Efforts to protect the environment and public health begin with describing potential adverse consequences of human activities and characterizing the predicted risk. The National Environmental Policy Act requires the preparation of environmental impact statements to describe the effects of proposed federal projects and provide information for agency decisionmakers and the public.Risks to public health are particularly difficult to quantify because of uncertainty about the relation between exposure to environmental contamination and disease. Risk assessment is the current scientific tool to present estimates of risk. The methodology has created controversy, however, when underlying assumptions and uncertainties are not clearly presented. Critics caution that the methodology is vulnerable to bias. This Note evaluates the use of risk assessment in the environmental impact statement process and offers recommendations to ensure informed decisions.

scholarly journals Manufacturing Pre-Decisions: A Comparative Analysis of Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Reviews in Brazil and Portugal

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 3235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Fan Rocha ◽  
Tomás B. Ramos ◽  
Alberto Fonseca
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Review Process ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Environmental Impact Statements ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Study Methodology ◽  
Environment Agency ◽  
Review Reports

The review of environmental impact statements (EIS), despite its relevance to impact assessment effectiveness, has received scarce scholarly attention. Few studies have gone beyond the realm of regulatory evaluations to understand the managerial meanders of the review process. This study evaluated the responsibilities, procedures, information inputs, and scope of EIS reviews within two environmental authorities: APA (Portuguese Environment Agency), in Portugal, and SEMAD (State Secretariat for Environment and Sustainable Development), in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Based on a qualitative multiple-case study methodology informed by participant observation, unstructured interviews, and content analysis of 12 EIS review reports, the study provided what is arguably one of the most detailed characterizations of EIS review to date. While following similar institutional arrangements and broad procedural steps, the EIS review has important differences in APA and SEMAD. Overall, the Portuguese agency was found to have a more structured, participative, interdisciplinary, detailed, and grounded review, thus meeting some of the good practices often cited in the literature. The EIS review reports prepared by APA reviewers were also found to provide a profoundly more complete and transparent account of the review process. The details of the review process revealed in the article can affect perceptions around the legitimacy and reliability of reviewers’ recommendations.

Environmental Impact Statements

Science ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 193 (4249) ◽  
pp. 248-251
Author(s):  
Horace Loftin
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Environmental Impact Statements

The Southwest Archaic

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxine McBrinn ◽  
Bradley Vierra
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Cultural Resource Management ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
Economic Aspects ◽  
Cultural Resource ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Bone Material ◽  
Environmental Impact Statements ◽  
Cultural Features

Our understanding of the Archaic period in the American Southwest is much greater than before the advent of cultural resource management and mandated environmental impact statements, but it is still understudied. Research on this period relies largely on analyses of stone and bone material remains and has focused on subsistence, technology, and landscape use. Regional patterns, north to south and east to west, differ throughout this period. Increasing numbers of cultural features are being found, now that archaeologists are looking for them. Additionally, broader classes of material culture are being used to examine questions of social identity, ritual practices, gender roles, and other non-economic aspects of life.

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