Academic literature on the topic 'Nuclear weapons plants – health aspects – colorado'

Prerequisite. Since the advent of nuclear energy, industry and weapons, a possibility of radiation events i.e. incidents and accidents had emerged. Given the presence of radioactive iodine as part of environmental contamination, the response of authorities and medical services consists, in particular, in carrying out the emergency iodine prophylaxis among specialists and general population. And along with the fact that emergency iodine prophylaxis is a generally accepted measure in radiation events accompanied by the release of radioactive iodine, some methods of its implementation were and remain in certain sources and instructions/recommendations contradictory and even false. Such inconsistency increases the potential risks of health effects of radioactive iodine and exacerbates the sense of fear and uncertainty among the population involved in the incident. Objective: to consider and review the essence of emergency iodine prophylaxis during radiation events, physiological aspects of iodine metabolism in the body, properties of individual iodine prophylaxis agents that are recommended, and to justify the rationality of using some of them along with absurdity/inadmissibility of others; substantiate the creation of a unified preventive information strategy regarding the event in order to reduce anxiety and other negative psychological consequences among the affected population. Materials and methods. The review was performed by searching the abstract and scientometric databases and printed publications. Results. In the event of serious radiation events at nuclear power plants and industry facilities, radioactive iodine is highly likely to enter the environment. With the threat of radioactive iodine incorporation or with its incorporation that has already begun, it is absolutely necessary to carry out the emergency iodine prophylaxis. Such prevention should be carried out with stable iodine preparations such as potassium iodide or potassium iodate in special pharmaceutical formulas. Dosing of drugs in age and population groups should be carried out by specialists in radiation medicine and radiation safety in accordance with internationally recognized guidelines. The use of iodinecontaining food additives, iodine solution for external use and Lugol’s solution is categorically unacceptable due to complete ineffectiveness, impracticality of implementation, and sometimes due to the threat of serious harm to health. Conclusions. Clear preparedness plans for possible radiation accidents and incidents, as well as successfully implemented appropriate preventive measures, including emergency iodine prophylaxis, are crucial for the effective and successful response to such events. Emergency iodine prophylaxis during radiation events should be carried out exclusively under the guidance of specialists in radiation medicine and radiation safety using special pharmaceutical formulas of potassium iodide or potassium iodate in doses recognized by the international scientific community. Other means of emergency iodine prophylaxis, including «handicraft»/home preparations, are absolutely unacceptable. Implementation of this protective measure should be accompanied by a coordinated information campaign in order to minimize purely radiation risks and to preserve the psychological well-being of the population. Key words: radiation events, radiation accident, radiation incident, nuclear industry, nuclear power, radioactive iodine, exposure, emergency iodine prophylaxis, stable iodine, potassium iodide, potassium iodate, psychological well-being of population.

Ongoing experimental work has been underway at selected nuclear sites in the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (ROSATOM) during the past two years to determine the effectiveness, reliability, application and acceptability of high technology polymers for liquid radioactive waste solidification. The long term project is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention (IPP) program. IPP was established in 1994 as a non-proliferation program of DOE / National Nuclear Security Administration and receives its funding each year through Congressional appropriation. The objectives of IPP are: • To engage former Soviet nuclear weapons scientists, engineers and technicians, currently or formerly involved with weapons of mass destruction, in peaceful and sustainable commercial activities. • To identify non-military, commercial applications for former Soviet institute technologies through cooperative projects among former Soviet weapons scientists, U.S. national laboratories and U.S. industry. • To create new technology sources and to provide business opportunities for U.S. companies, while offering commercial opportunities and meaningful employment for former weapons scientists. Argonne National Laboratory provides management oversight for this project. More than 60 former weapons scientists are engaged in this project. With the project moving toward its conclusion in 2012, the emphasis is now on expanding the experimental work to include the sub-sites of Seversk (SCC), Zheleznogorsk (MCC) located in Siberia and Gatchyna (KRI) and applying the polymer technology to actual problematic waste streams as well as to evaluate the prospects for new applications, beyond their current use in the nuclear waste treatment field. Work to date includes over the solidification of over 80 waste streams for the purpose of evaluating all aspects of the polymer’s effectiveness with LLW and ILW complex waste. Waste stream compositions include oil, aqueous, acidic and basic solutions with heavy metals, oil sludge, spent extractants, decontamination solutions, salt sludge, TBP and other complex waste streams. Extensive irradiation evaluation (up to 270 million rad), stability and leach studies, evaporation and absorption capacity tests and gas generation experimentation on tri-butyl phosphate (TBP) waste have been examined. The extensive evaluation of the polymer technology by the lead group, V.G. Khlopin Radium Institute, has resulted in significant discussion about its possible use within the ROSATOM network. At present the focus of work is with its application to legacy LLW and ILW waste streams that exist in a variety of sectors that include power plants, research institutes, weapons sites, submarine decommissioning and many others. As is the case in most countries, new waste treatment technologies first must be verified by the waste generator, and secondly, approved for use by the government regulators responsible for final storage. The polymer technology is the first foreign sorbent product to enter Russia for radioactive waste treatment so it must receive ROSATOM certification by undergoing irradiation, fire / safety and health / safety testing. Experimental work to date has validated the effectiveness of the polymer technology and today the project team is evaluating criteria for final acceptance of the waste form by ROSATOM. The paper will illustrate results of the various experiments that include irradiation of actual solidified samples, gas generation of irradiated samples, chemical stability (cesium leach rate) and thermal stability, oil and aqueous waste stream solidification examples, and volume reduction test data that will determine cost benefits to the waste generator. Throughout the course of this work, it is apparent that the polymer technology is selective in nature; however, it can have broad applicability to problematic waste streams. One such application is the separation and selective recovery of trans-plutonium elements and rare earth elements from standard solutions. Another application is the use of polymers at sites where radioactive liquids are accidently emitted from operations, thus causing the risk of environmental contamination.