Radionuclides and heavy metals in environment : proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Monitoring and Man-Made Radionuclides and Heavy Metals Waste in Environment, Dubna, Russia, 3-6 October 2000

This volume entitled "Radionuclides and Heavy Metals in Environment" contains the Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) "Monitoring of Natural and Man-Made Radionuclides and Heavy Metal Waste in Environment" that was held at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JlNR), Dubna, Russia from 3 October to 6 October, 2000. Originally, it was planned to held the ARW in 1999, the year when NATO was celebrating its 50th anniversary. Few days before opening it had to be postponed because of problems in issuing visa for all the colleagues who intended to participate. The ARW was organized and conducted by the co-directors Prof. Vladimir P. Perelygin, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna, Russia and Dr. Peter Vater, Philipps­ Universitat, Marburg, Germany. The JlNR was chosen as the host institute of ARW because of the lack of contact and real co-operation between the former Soviet Union (FSU) countries specialists in ecology and their Western well experienced colleagues. The selection of this location and supplementary funds provided by Russian Foundation on Basic Research, Moscow, Russia, and the JINR, Dubna., Russia made it possible to attain a rather large number of participants and observers from FSU countries. The JlNR provided to all the participants of the workshop an effective car/minibus transportation Moscow-Dubna-Moscow and a rather good accommodation in Dubna. Front Matter....Pages i-xvi Tracking the Behaviour of Plutonium in Man....Pages 1-8 Accelerator Mass Spectrometry for Plutonrom Isotopes: Methods and Procedures....Pages 9-18 Man-Made Plutonium in Environment — Possible Hazard for Human Health....Pages 19-27 90 Sr And 137 Cs Activity in Surface Soil Samples from Some Areas Affected by the “mayak” Plutonium Production Association....Pages 29-36 Actinide Determination in Environment (Liquids, Soils, Aerosols)....Pages 37-42 Chernobyl “Hot Particles”: Radionuclide Composition and Contribution in the Total Soil Radioactivity....Pages 43-48 Dating of Radioactive Contamination of a Locality in the Southern Regions of the Western Kazakhstan....Pages 49-53 Destruction of Fuel Particles from the Chernobyl Fall-Out on the Territory of Belarus....Pages 55-60 Determination of Actinides in Biological Samples in Belarus....Pages 61-66 Determination of Diffusion Coefficients of In, Cd, Hf and Pu Hydrated Ions in Aqueous Solutions Using the Method of Horizontal Zone Electrophoresis in Free Electrolyte....Pages 67-70 High-Sensitive Determinations of Pu and Am Content in Human Tissues....Pages 71-76 Isotopic Composition of Uranium in the Products of Accidental Ejection from the Chernobyl NPP....Pages 77-84 Methods of High — Sensitive Analysis of Actinides in Liquid Radioactive Waste....Pages 85-85 Non-Destructive Method of Pu and U Isotope Determination in Specimens....Pages 87-91 Radioecological Analysis of Vietnam Soil Samples....Pages 93-100 Radioecological Researches in INP NNC RK (Almaty)....Pages 101-106 Radioisotopes in Life Sciences. The Production of High-Pure Radionuclide Sources at FLNR, JINR....Pages 107-112 Radionuclides in Bones of Wild, Herbivorous Animals from North-Eastern Poland....Pages 113-120 Some Man-Made and Natural Radionuclffle Profiles in the Bottom Sediments of the Black Sea....Pages 121-126 The Contamination of Belarus Territory by Transuranium Elements....Pages 127-134 Trace Element Analysis of Actinides in Natural Waters and Soils Using (γ, f) Reaction....Pages 135-141 Treatment of Radioactive Waste Solutions Using Local Clay Minerals....Pages 143-148 Use of Mosses to Monitor Trace Element Deposition from the Atmosphere: Why and How....Pages 149-156 Biomonitoring Trace Element Atmospheric Deposition: An Internationally Harmonised Approach....Pages 157-164 Study of Trace Elements in Annual Segments of Moss Biomonitors Using Epithermal Neutron Activation Analysis: Link with Atmospheric Aerosol....Pages 165-170 The Use of Lichens and Mosses to Monitor Trace Element Pollution in Slovenia....Pages 171-178 New Results from Air Pollution Studies in Romania....Pages 179-190 Neutron Activation Analysis of Surficial Sediments from the South-West Part of the Black Sea....Pages 191-194 Nuclear and Related Analytical Techniques Used to Study the Anthropogenic Impact on the Sister River in the Vicinity of the Town of Klin (Moscow Region, Russia)....Pages 195-200 Enzymatic Method for Heavy Metals Determination in Waters and Soils....Pages 201-208 Heavy Metals in Food Products and Biological Samples from the Gdańsk District....Pages 209-216 Human Hair Composition in Environment Monitoring and Mapping....Pages 217-225 Environmental Sampling and Analysis of Coal Fly Ash Intended for Use in Roads....Pages 227-236 The Pollution of the Environment Caused by Lead Dumping After the Chornobyl NPP Accident — Myth or Reality?....Pages 237-244 Development of the Method of Bacterial Leaching of Metals Out of Low-Grade Ores, Rocks, and Industrial Wastes Using Neutron Activation Analysis....Pages 245-257 About a Complex Method to Predict Earthquakes Based on Observations of Rn, H 2 , He, Ne, Organic Gases and Heavy Elements from Aerosols....Pages 259-262 Chemical Nature of Seismic Phenomena....Pages 263-272 Determination of Radionuclides, Toxic Heavy Metals and Trace Elements in Environmental Samples....Pages 273-282 Development of Simultaneous Radon and Gamma Measurements for the Environment: Applications for Monitoring Nuclear Waste Storage....Pages 283-290 Dynamics of Subsoil Radon within the Geodynamically Active Regions of Turkmenistan....Pages 291-296 Low Activity Beta-Alpha Radiometer (LABAR)....Pages 297-304 Monitoring and Management of Mountain Environment....Pages 305-312 Radionuclide and Heavy Metal Pollution in Romania....Pages 313-318 Radon Over Volcanic and Seismic Areas....Pages 319-330 Rapid Changes of Some Geophysical Parameters in the Nature....Pages 331-334 Some Global Environmental Issues of the 21 st Century....Pages 335-348 Track Methods of Measurements in the Environment Developed in the Khlopin Radium Institute....Pages 349-360 An Accelerator Based Nuclear Analytical Method for the Analysis of Environmental Samples....Pages 361-366 ADS (Accelerator-Driven Systems) — A New Technology to Destroy Completely Long-Lived Radwaste....Pages 367-378 Electronuclear Technology for the Incineration of Plutonium....Pages 379-384 Fission of Pb Nuclei Induced by 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 3.7 and 7.4 GeV Protons in the Volume of Massive U/Pb and Pb Targets....Pages 385-385 Back Matter....Pages 387-392 The environment contains an abundance of man-made and natural radionuclides, as well as polluting heavy metals. Their accumulation and the inevitable adverse impact on human health is a matter for serious international concern. Such modern environmental problems are reviewed in an integrated fashion here. The book's highlights are: The accumulation of actinide nuclei in the human body. New data on Pu and Am in some of the most seriously damaged regions of Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Fundamental and applied aspects of heavy metal waste deposits. Advances in analytical techniques (NAA, XRF, ICP-MS, AAS, PIXE, HPLC). The use of mosses and lichens to study heavy metal atmospheric deposition. Research on toxicology, food and nutrition, speciation and scalp hair as a biological indicator. New model of the Earth's crust allowing the reconstruction of the real origin of seismic catastrophes. A real possibility to predict earthquake or volcanic activity by studying radon gas, gamma and neutron activity in combination with hydrogen and helium isotope flow and complemented by satellite data on the state of the ionosphere. Recent data on accelerator driven transmutation experiments (protons accelerated as JINR Synchrophasotron and 660 MeV Phasotron) with Pb blocks and 3000 kg natural uranium targets. There is no medical or epidemiological evidence to show detriment from the tissue concentrations of plutonium present in the general population, which derive mostly from the testing of nuclear weapons, or from the rather higher levels which can result from permissible occupational exposure [1,2]; indeed, such evidence is lacking also in groups of workers historically contaminated at levels well in excess of current limits [2].