Dumping Of Radioactive Wastes Research Articles

Исследование факторов риска развития катаракты нерадиационной природы у лиц, подвергшихся хроническому радиационному воздействию

Relevance. Epidemiological data have revealed a significant association between exposure to ionizing radiation, loss of lens optical function, and cataract formation. Cataract is a multifactorial disease that is traditionally associated with age, exposure to ultraviolet radiation, diabetes, smoking, alcohol abuse, obesity, steroid hormones, hypertension, etc. The chronic nature of the effects of radiation on the body, including both cell damage and regenerative processes, complicates the issue of assessment of the nature and magnitude of the dose-dependence of effects. Purpose. To investigate the potential risk factors of cataract development in different morphological layers, depending on social conditions and several diseases (non-radiation factors) in the population affected by two radiation accidents (dumping of radioactive waste into the Techa River and the East Ural Radioactive Trace) in the Southern Urals. Material and methods. The data from an in-depth examination of patients by an ophthalmologist in the Clinical Department of the URCRM were analyzed. The study involved 1377 patients. The «case» and «control» groups, comparable in sex and age, were selected from the general population. The impact of each factor was assessed on the basis of the Odds Ratio (OR) indicator. Risk factors associated with the development of cataracts in different layers of the lens included arterial hypertension, body mass index, age at the onset of exposure, level of education, alcohol consumption, smoking, ethnicity. Results. An increased risk of developing cataracts in the lens nucleus (1st sample: OR=0.54 (1st sample: 95% CI: 0.34–0.86; 2nd sample: OR=0.51 (95% CI: 0.32–0.82) (p<0.05)) and the intensity of its color (1st sample: OR=0.48 (95% CI: 0.29–0.80); 2nd sample: OR=0.56 (95% CI: 0.34–0.94) (p<0.05)) was established in persons who were at the age over 6 at the onset of exposure. Conclusion. The analysis did not reveal a statistically significant relationship of changes in the cortical layers, the nucleus and the posterior capsule of the lens with other studied risk factors in persons exposed to chronic radiation at a low to medium dose range. There was an increased risk of cataract development in the lens nucleus and the intensity of its color in persons who began to be exposed at the age of over 6 years. Key words: risk factors, cortical cataract, nuclear cataract, posterior subcapsular cataract, chronic exposure

Study on International Law Regulation of Marine Radioactive Waste Dumping

The problem of discharging Fukushima nuclear waste water into the sea challenges the existing international law regulations on marine radioactive waste dumping. This behavior does not fall within the scope of dumping regulated by London Convention. Provisions of land-based pollution regulation in UNCLOS cannot directly determine the illegality of Fukushima nuclear waste water disposal into the sea; The application of precautionary principle has a high standard for judging “potential hazards”, its application also has limitations. The existing international regulatory framework of marine radioactive waste dumping lacks compliance assessment mechanism. The application of international law regulation on the dumping of marine radioactive waste should be strengthened, which means expanding the application scope of London Convention Prohibited List, strengthening the application of the obligation in UNCLOS to monitor the risk or impact of marine environmental pollution. At the same time, it is necessary to re-examine the criteria of precautionary principle and to strengthen the compliance procedures for marine radioactive waste dumping.

Natural Radioactivity in Soil and Radiological Risk Assessment in Lișava Uranium Mining Sector, Banat Mountains, Romania

The specific activity and spatial distribution of 238U, 232Th and 40K were determined in the surface soil from the Lișava uranium mining sector. This sector belongs to the Banat district, an historically important uranium mining area in Romania (an area with closed uranium mines and a radioactive waste dump). Gamma-ray spectrometry using a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector was used to measure the activity of naturally occurring radionuclides in the soil. The average specific activities of 238U, 232Th and 40K in the soil were 197.21 Bq/kg for 238U, 16.21 Bq/kg for 232Th and 543.21 Bq/kg for 40K. The mineral contents of selected waste rock samples (sandstones) were examined using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), which revealed that brannerite, pitchblende and coffinite were the most important uranium-bearing minerals. The means of the radiological hazard parameters were calculated to be 262.22 Bq/kg radium equivalent activity (Raeq), 123.72 nGy/h absorbed gamma dose rates (DR), 0.7 external hazard index (Hex) and 1.8 representative level index (RLI). The spatial distribution of the risk assessment indices associated with the investigated soils exceeded the median values provided by UNSCEAR and reflected the geological settings and influences of anthropic activities such as uranium mining practices and the tipping of radioactive mining waste.

Comparative Assessment of Heavy Metals Pollution in Surface Water in Ikoli River and Epie Creek in Yenagoa Metropolis Using Geographical Information System

The article is the investigation of heavy metals pollution on surface water in Ikoli River and Epie creek in Yenagoa, metropolis, Bayelsa State. Pb, Cd, Ni, Cr, Fe, Zn was determined and evaluated using Geographical Information System. Zinc concentration was below the permissible limit of 3 mg/L in all the locations sampled. Iron is 77.78% below the limit of WHO 2011 of 0.3 mg/L while other heavy metals examined in Ikoli River and Epie creek are highly polluted. The pollution index for contamination index shows 11.11% sample are high and 88.89% are low while the evaluation of heavy metal index and the pollution index load of the heavy metals contain 22.11% of the sample are low and 77.78% are high which imply the Ikoli River and Epie creek is polluted. Multivariate treatment of the result revealed a good correlation between the PCA and HCA, which showed activities of natural processes and man influenced environmental sources of the heavy metals which were mainly products of automobiles exhaust, water tank leakages as well as dumping of radioactive wastes and burning. The study investigated successfully the potential use of GIS with the help of multiple criteria decision analysis to predict and characterize areas of high pollution, medium, and low pollution in the study area.

Modeling on 137Cs Radioactive Dispersion in Gosong Coast as The Candidate Location for Nuclear Power Plant

The study of radioactive dispersion in the ocean should be conducted to prepare the construction of nuclear power plant (NPP) in Gosong Coast, West Kalimantan. This study estimated the distribution of 137Cs radioactive from various scenarios of radioactive waste dumping if nuclear emergency is occurred during NPP’s operation. These scenarios were distinguished based on their volume discharges of radioactive waste into the ocean, included 10 m3 (Scenario I), 50 m3 (Scenario II), and 100 m3 (Scenario III). Model dispersions were constructed for 15 days by Delft3D-Flow module. The simulation showed that ocean current directions were not significantly different among spring and neap tide, instead the ocean current during the spring period dominantly increased rather than neap period. Ocean currents at Gosong Coast flowed parallel to the shoreline towards Singkawang Coastal Area during ebb tide. Meanwhile, during flood tide, ocean currents at Gosong Coast flowed offshore through Burung Archipelagic. The dispersed model showed the distribution of 137Cs radioactive for 15 days reaching to coastal areas of Burung Archipelagic, Singkawang, and Southern Sambas Coast. Each scenario of the disposal system did not influence the marine pollution of the West Kalimantan Sea.

Influence of thermal gradient and canister corrosion on the hydration of compacted Barmer bentonite

Compacted bentonite is being used as a buffer material for the safe dumping of high-level radioactive wastes (HLW) in the deep geological repository (DGR) due to its favorable physicochemical properties. However, the temperature variation, probably because of continuous heat emitting canister (initially −150 °C to 250 °C) and geothermal gradient, affect its performance. There would be bentonite iron interface reactions due to the corrosion of steel canister, which might cause reactive transport through the compacted bentonite buffer. Therefore, it is essential to know the influence of a combination of thermal as well as a chemical gradient on the reactive transport through the compacted bentonite buffer in terms of its physicochemical, thermomechanical, mineralogical stability. The purpose of this particular study is to establish the field conditions in the lab by fabricating a small scale set up which would create a thermal gradient on the compacted Barmer bentonite (B1 and B2) samples (compacted at 1.5 Mg/m3, 1.75 Mg/m3 and 2 Mg/m3 densities) by heating its one side at 60 °C, 110 °C, 150 °C and 200 °C temperatures for 28 days each and the system was hydrated by distilled water from the other side and was kept in touch with the metallic iron powder. It was observed that the degree of saturation of both bentonites decreased with an increase in temperature as well as density. However, the cation exchange capacity at lower density reduced more than that of higher density. The microstructural observation revealed the presence of impurities between the lamella of bentonite after 28 days that might be hematite.

Отдаленные психические расстройства у аварийно-облученного населения Южного Урала

Purpose: To study late mental and behavioral disorders (ICD-10) in individuals who were accidentally exposed in the Southern Urals.
 Material and methods: The research subjects are the persons who were exposed to radiation as a result of dumping of radioactive waste into the Techa River (1949–1956), who were born before 1953 and lived in the Techa River basin between 1950 and 1960. The study group consists of 425 people, women predominate (72.5 %), people with secondary special education make up 44.5 %, and pensioners amount to 89.4 %. Mean age at examination was 67.3 ± 5.3 years. Information on radiation doses included data on the absorbed dose to the stomach, which was considered as an analog of brain exposure (50 ± 3 mGy). The paper uses clinical-anamnestic, clinical-psychopathological, clinical and instrumental methods.
 Results: It has been demonstrated that in the long-term period, accidentally exposed individuals have organic nonpsychotic mental disorders (72.2 %), with the predominance of organic asthenic (29.6 %) and organic cognitive (36.5 %) disorders. Among the studied individuals, only 20.9 % showed no signs of mental illness. Higher absorbed doses to the stomach (70 ± 8 mGy, p = 0.01) was determined in patients with organic cognitive disorder. Concomitant somatic pathology is present in patients with organic cognitive disorder — hypertension (90.3 %, p = 0.005), ischemic heart disease (56.7, p = 0.004), chronic brain ischemia (43.2 %, p = 0.04). Patients with organic asthenic disorder may have hypertension (94.4 %, p = 0.0002), ischemic heart disease (51.6 %, p = 0.04), chronic brain ischemia (35.7 %, p = 0.02). In the group of patients without mental pathology, the most common were hypertension (76.4 %), diseases of the musculoskeletal system (61.7 %, p = 0.03), and ischemic heart disease (37.1 %). Multiple correlation analysis showed a weak statistically significant association of organic mental disorders with chronic brain ischemia, hypertension, ischemic heart disease and the age of patients.
 Conclusion: The performed study complements the current understanding of long-term mental disorders in exposed individuals, and requires further research to study the pathogenesis of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases in individuals exposed to radiation.

Адміністративна відповідальність за забруднення морського середовища: проблемні аспекти

The article is devoted to problems of administrative responsibility for pollution of Marine Environment and ensuring environmental safety. The purpose of the study is a comprehensive review of the nature and forms of legal protection of the environment and natural resources. The Marine Environment is of exceptional importance in the life-sustaining of the Earth. The ocean is the “light” of the Earth, a source of food for the world's population and the concentration of enormous wealth of minerals. But scientific and technological progress has negatively affected the viability of the ocean - intensive shipping, the intensification of oil and gas production in the waters of the continental shelf, the dumping of oil and radioactive wastes into the sea has led to serious consequences: to pollution of marine space, to the violation of the ecological balance in the oceans. The effectiveness of Marine Environment protection the depends largely on the perfection of the law. Now there is a tendency to expand the range of natural objects under protection, differentiation of responsibility and punishment. As the general most important directions in updating the current environmental protection legislation regarding of Marine Environment protection the from pollution, it should be emphasized strengthening its preventive role, further humanization taking into account new dangerous forms of environmental offenses and the methods of their implementation, and increasing their social danger. Perfection of current legislation in the sphere of Marine Environment protection the high-priority problem of modern activity, legal science and practice. Efficiency of Marine Environment protection the in a great deal depends on perfection of law. Pollution of Marine Environment in Ukraine, as in most countries of the world, on the present day is considered one of the most important economic and social problems. According to scientists, increased attention to issues of ecology is explained by the fact that irresponsible to the sea leads to the country to the brink of environmental catastrophe. The Marine Environment is in such a critical state that its disadvantages are already reflected in the living conditions and, consequently, on the health of people.

Organized Environmental Crime in Russia and Abroad: Criminological Characteristics and Countermeasures

Environmental crime is a constantly evolving form of criminal activity and its danger to the public is often underestimated. Environmental crime around the world is characterized by the emergence of new forms of criminal behavior, improvement of methods of committing crimes, a steady increase in the involvement of organized criminal groups and communities in their commission. The structure and nature of environmental crime have a distinct regional character, defined by parameters such as the environment, the presence on the territory of natural resources, proximity to state borders, as well as the effectiveness of conservation and law enforcement. Organized environmental crime, along with environmental terrorism, today, poses a significant threat to national security. Its distinctive features include: the durability and stability of a criminal organization, which, from an organizational and economic point of view, in most cases effectively manages complex criminal activities and has the ability to minimize the arising risks; long-term planning activities; the involvement of physical persons and commercial structures; the creation of criminal networks. Another characteristic is its focus on the market (including illegal). The main objective of criminal groups is to make profit. Often organized crime groups engage in criminal activities in various areas, committing environmental, economic and other types of crime, while corruption is a vital feature. Transnational organized environmental criminal activity is carried out in such key areas as illegal trade in rare and endangered species of wild fauna and flora and their derivatives; illegal felling of forest plantations and the trade of illegal timber; illegal trafficking of waste and illegal transportation, storage, discharge and disposal, including the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes; illegal fishing; illegal trade in ozone-depleting substances; illicit trade in radioactive substances and the illicit dumping of radioactive waste. An important role in the fight against organized environmental crime is given to the joint efforts of the law enforcement authorities of different States to prevent environmentally criminal behavior and to neutralize all stages of the crime: planning, illegal resource extraction, transportation, distribution, laundering of proceeds of crime. The elimination of the economic basis of criminal groups, reducing its profitability is the key to success in combating it. Improvement of international legislation will make it possible to create a comprehensive system of measures against organized environmental crime at the level of individual States and to ensure harmonization of national legislative systems from the point of view of terminology, formulations, and sanctions imposed for environmental offences by organized groups

Heterotopia and Actor-Network Theory: Visualizing the Normalization of Remediated Landscapes

This article analyzes the heterotopic space of Weldon Spring, Missouri, a site that juxtaposes cultural heritage and recreational activities with a publicly available radioactive and toxic waste dump. The article argues for the value of actor-network theory as a supplement to heterotopia, an addition especially productive given the highly complex networks and configurations that order many contemporary spaces. Specifically, actor-network theory can make visible the range of actors and associations that work to establish specific social orders and practices that attempt to normalize reclaimed landscapes.

The Birth of an Island: Rachel Carson's The Sea Around Us

The Birth of an Island:Rachel Carson's The Sea Around Us Judith Madera (bio) At the end of this summer I drove up the Massachusetts coast to Marble-head, eventually reaching Rockport at the northernmost tip of the Cape Ann headland. It would only be a matter of time before the scaffold of obligations would heave, but there was something about this familiar coastline that was drawing me out. The whole area is a massive granite bedrock, contoured in the last ice age. It is shaped in glacial ridges and depressions where the rock is cut through with natural reservoirs and swamps. At the time, I was thinking about how a mountain reveals a mountain, a desert reveals a desert—every environment reveals itself. Or, at least it can. And Cape Ann feels close to its elements: rocks, air, cold salt water. And so in Rockport, I cut a path around a blue quarry, through catbriar and shadbush, to the Atlantic's flashing edge. But when I closed my eyes against the glare I could have been anywhere—like still at the quarry. In fact, there was nothing remarkable about the day, save its extreme clarity. Depending on where you stood, you could see Ipswich Bay or what I think was the Isle of Shoals in New Hampshire. If you were in a boat you would come upon the Dry Salvages due east—white-capped rocks, notorious in shipwreck, memorialized in American literature. My small discovery wasn't to be about a vista as much as it was another city, cramped and glistening in the rocks, and tightly packed in little tidal ponds and channels. Mussel beds covered in seaweed and oozing red algae were somehow breathing. These little pods bubbled up like another context for thinking about community at a different scale. It had nothing to do with taxonomic parceling into some larger biological unit to reveal a story of geological nesting. If the ocean was a story, as Rachel Carson purported [End Page 292] it to be, it was a story of cohabitation. All life was this: permeability and pull—rhythms that originate outside and draw us in. And it is this sense of a slow, layered immersion into another world, where our stock frameworks of time and progress fall away, that makes Rachel Carson's 1951 classic The Sea Around Us most luminous. Carson, not surprisingly, knew Cape Ann. She also knew the waterfront at Duxbury, just a short distance south of Rockport, where her friend and fellow scientist Olga Owen Huckins once kept a bird sanctuary. In January 1958, Huckins sat at the typewriter and wrote Carson, whom she had not seen in a long time, to report the unusual bird behavior and deaths immediately after aerial DDT spraying. "Olga Owens Huckins told me of her own bitter experience of a small world made lifeless," Carson wrote in her acknowledgments for Silent Spring (1962, ix). These small worlds of interlocking pieces were the building materials that held together all of Carson's scientific writing and that were most charged and vibrant in her writing about the sea. The Sea Around Us is effectively the centerpiece of Carson's ocean trilogy. Her first book, Under the Sea-Wind (1941), is a succession of narratives about birds, fish, and eels, arranged to unfold ecological lifecycles in story form. Animals, she shows, are the transports—and subjects in their own rights—that get us closest to the seabed, life on the shore, and migrations in the air. In her final book in the series, The Edge of the Sea (1955), illustrated by the national wildlife artist Bob Hines, Carson was closest to writing what she thought of as home: the Atlantic rock, sand, and coral reef shores, from Maine to the back sounds of North Carolina's Outer Banks (now the site of Rachel Carson Reserve). In each book Carson shows us how the ocean is interactive with all life. In fact, in the preface to the 1961 edition of The Sea Around Us, she convincingly censured the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (now the Nuclear Regulatory Commission) for licensing radioactive waste dumping in coastal seas. Carson ended...

2. Marine Pollution

The annual meetings of the two major global treaties concerned with ocean dumping took place on 19–23 September at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) headquarters in London in order to review progress on the implementation of the treaties as well as to discuss the major issues and challenges in relation to dumping at sea. The meetings were open to the parties to both the 1972 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (London Convention) and its 1996 Protocol to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (London Protocol). In line with past practice, the thirty-eighth consultative meeting of contracting parties to the London Convention and the eleventh meeting of contracting parties to the London Protocol took place simultaneously, and many of the discussions and decisions pertained to both instruments. This year marked twenty years since the adoption of the London Protocol and ten years since its entry into force. However, there was not necessarily a celebratory mood at the meeting, perhaps in part because of the acknowledgement of the serious challenges that lie ahead for the dumping regime. While the treaties look impressive on paper, there are serious gaps in implementation. The 2016 meetings were therefore focused on identifying what further action can be taken to consolidate the international dumping regime. In this regard, the 2016 meetings received updates on the status of the two treaties and related compliance issues; adopted the London Convention–London Protocol Strategic Plan; carried out discussions of marine geo-engineering and carbon dioxide sequestration; reviewed practices relating to dumping of radioactive wastes, vessels, and mine tailings; and discussed the contribution of the dumping regime to reducing marine litter.

DARNAUS VYSTYMOSI PRINCIPO ĮTAKA BRANDUOLINEI TEISEI: APLINKOS DARNINIMAS MAŽINANT RADIOAKTYVIŲJŲ ATLIEKŲ EKSTERNALIJĄ

In nuclear law the principle of sustainable development is applied either as an ecocentrically-oriented principle, through which it is sought to preserve a sustainable and harmonious environment (e.g., through the requirement that radioactive waste must be handled with particular caution), or as an anthropocentrically-oriented principle, through which it is sought to protect the interests of a human being in implementing the policy of the cautious use of nuclear fuel resources rather than to protect the environment per se. Starting from this point, this article analyses whether the implementation of the ecocentrically-oriented sustainable development principle as well as the application of the environmental legal provisions stemming from this principle to the management of radioactive waste externality is effective in the specific area of nuclear law. The analysis enables to specify the main problems of the relevant legal regulation at the global level, which need to be dealt with in order that nuclear energy could, in an effective way, contribute to sustainable development of natural environment as well as to achieving the aims of environmental protection, with the effects of the ensuing radioactive waste externality being reduced to the minimum. In this respect, the analysis points up the necessity to create international repositories and prepare the legal criteria for their selection and operation, to improve the regulation governing the dumping of radioactive waste at sea, to include radioactive waste from military nuclear reactors within the area of the application of certain appropriate legal acts, to implement the principle of sustainable development at the front-end of the nuclear fuel cycle, i.e., to establish the obligation to submit the information about the waste from uranium mining and milling, which have been regarded as the radioactive waste information. The article concludes with the observation that all the problems related to the implementation of the principle of sustainable development in the area of nuclear law, i.e., the problems of radioactive waste management and fuel conservation, could be overcome, and nuclear energy could be completely sustainable, once an international consensus is reached on adopting the closed fuel cycle, which practically leaves no radioactive waste.

Geochemical influence of waste trench no. 22T at Chernobyl Pilot Site at the aquifer: Long-term trends, governing processes, and implications for radionuclide migration

This article discusses and analyzes data for geochemical monitoring of groundwater, collected in 1998–2008 at the international experimental radioecological study site (Chernobyl Pilot Site) located in the Red Forest radioactive waste dump site in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Groundwater in the zone of influence of the studied waste trench no. 22T was characterized by a specific geochemistry. Along with a high content of 90Sr (of an order of n × 1000–n × 10,000 Bq/L) groundwater showed elevated concentrations of Ca, K, NO3-, SO42- and of some trace elements (in particular stable Sr), and had more acidic pH values compared to “background” aquifer conditions. The observed water quality changes are apparently related to degradation of organic matter (pine forest remnants, litter, humus containing topsoil layer) buried inside trench no. 22T, which have lead to acidification of groundwater and leaching of cations adsorbed on the exchange complex of soils buried inside the trench. Regime monitoring data for the project period of 1998–2008 shows a progressive decrease of concentrations of the leached ions accompanied by an increase of pH in the chemical plume emerging from the trench. This can be explained by a combined effect of a gradual decrease of the inventory, humification of the original organic matter inside the trench, and of nutrient element uptake by roots of the newly planted pine forest on top of the trench. The identified trends of evolution of geochemical regime favor attenuation of subsurface migration of 90Sr from Red Forest waste dumps due to an increase of the 90Sr distribution coefficients, and stabilization of plumes of contaminated groundwater.

放射性物質の林内投棄に万全の警戒を（寄稿）（緊急特集 3.11後の森林・林業・林産業(2)）

放射性物質の林内投棄に万全の警戒を（寄稿）（緊急特集 3.11後の森林・林業・林産業(2)）

THE INFILTRATION RECHARGE REGIME TO GROUNDWATER AT THE CHERNOBYL «RED FOREST» SITE

The methodology and results are presented of the infiltration recharge regime analyses for the unconfined aquifer at experimental site, situated in the Chernobyl exclusion zone in the «Red Forest» radioactive waste dump site at 2 km distance from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The Darcian flux calculations method is applied, which uses data of automated observations of soil moisture content and suction pressure in the 2,5–3 m deep unsaturated zone which composed of sandy soil. The infiltration recharge rate determined for the period 2001–2004 years is on average 311 mm/year (or 49% of annual precipitations). The amount of recharge and its distribution throughout the year was specific for each particular year, depending on weather conditions. The obtained results are in a good agreement with alternative methods of recharge rate estimation (such as water table fluctuation method, and isotope dating of groundwater age).

Human Activities on the Deep Seafloor in the North East Atlantic: An Assessment of Spatial Extent

BackgroundEnvironmental impacts of human activities on the deep seafloor are of increasing concern. While activities within waters shallower than 200 m have been the focus of previous assessments of anthropogenic impacts, no study has quantified the extent of individual activities or determined the relative severity of each type of impact in the deep sea.MethodologyThe OSPAR maritime area of the North East Atlantic was chosen for the study because it is considered to be one of the most heavily impacted by human activities. In addition, it was assumed data would be accessible and comprehensive. Using the available data we map and estimate the spatial extent of five major human activities in the North East Atlantic that impact the deep seafloor: submarine communication cables, marine scientific research, oil and gas industry, bottom trawling and the historical dumping of radioactive waste, munitions and chemical weapons. It was not possible to map military activities. The extent of each activity has been quantified for a single year, 2005.Principal FindingsHuman activities on the deep seafloor of the OSPAR area of the North Atlantic are significant but their footprints vary. Some activities have an immediate impact after which seafloor communities could re-establish, while others can continue to make an impact for many years and the impact could extend far beyond the physical disturbance. The spatial extent of waste disposal, telecommunication cables, the hydrocarbon industry and marine research activities is relatively small. The extent of bottom trawling is very significant and, even on the lowest possible estimates, is an order of magnitude greater than the total extent of all the other activities.Conclusions/SignificanceTo meet future ecosystem-based management and governance objectives for the deep sea significant improvements are required in data collection and availability as well as a greater awareness of the relative impact of each human activity.

Gods and Devils in the Details: Marine Pollution, Radioactive Waste, and an Environmental Regime circa 1972

Contentious environmental issues confronting us today, such as the ratification of a global agreement on greenhouse gas emissions, have a policy lineage through the United Nations back to the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm, Sweden. There are deeper roots of environmental consciousness in intellectual thought, political activism, and international treaties to protect natural resources,1 but for many historians and policymakers, global environmental governance began at Stockholm. The United Nations Environment Programme, with its mantra of sustainable development, the Earth Summit of 1992, and the Framework Convention on Climate Change can be considered further stages in this history. In fitful bursts along the way, legal “regimes” were established by treaty to act as custodians of the environment on a regional or global scale.2 One of the Stockholm meeting's tangible outcomes, the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (also called the London Dumping Convention), stands prominently among these regimes. The convention for the first time placed radioactive waste dumping under international law: it banned dumping high-level waste at sea, ostensibly enjoining countries such as the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, France, and many others.3

A Tundra of Sickness: The Uneasy Relationship between Toxic Waste, TEK, and Cultural Survival

In 1992 an abandoned federal radioactive waste dump was discovered in Arctic Alaska. The discovery of this site, a byproduct of the Atomic Energy Commission program known as Project Chariot, sent shockwaves throughout Iñupiaq communities and ignited a heated controversy over the health effects of subsisting on a "tundra of sickness." Drawing on thirty months of ethnographic research in Arctic Alaska, this paper explores a host of environmental, social, and moral uncertainties sparked by toxic waste. Anthropological claims regarding the extent to which "traditional ecological knowledge" will empower local communities and foster self-determination are challenged. Ultimately the paper argues that TEK has been conceived in such restrictive terms that it misrepresents the dynamic, emerging, and at times contradictory responses to toxic waste in the Arctic today. Moreover, there is dire need for a more materialist, as opposed to discourse-based, approach that acknowledges the very real threat of toxic waste to physical, and therefore, cultural reproduction.

Radiogeochemical studies of the features of radionuclide distribution at the sites of dumping of radioactive wastes of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago

This paper presents the results of the studies performed from aboard the R/V Akademik Boris Petrov of the Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, in 2002–2004 aimed at surveying the sites of dumping of potentially dangerous objects in Stepovoy, Abrosimov, and Tsivol’ka bays of the Kara Sea. These studies coupled the instrumental facilities of acoustic survey with the visual examination of the objects recovered and also included sampling of the bottom sediments and near-bottom water in the vicinity of the objects and away from them. Subsequently, the samples collected were analyzed using direct gamma spectrometry and radiochemical concentrating selected radionuclides. This allowed us to obtain a statistically reliable database on the specific concentrations of radionuclides (cesium, strontium, cobalt, and plutonium) in the water column and in the bottom sediments. In selected parts of Stepovoy and Abrosimov bays, at the sites where containers were located, local areas with contaminated bottom sediments were registered in the immediate vicinity of the objects, in which significant concentrations of Cs-137 were detected. We also carried out experiments with the samples of the collected bottom sediments on the determination of the kinetic parameters of sorption in the sediment-solution system using the method of radioactive indicators. Taking into account the hydrological conditions, the results obtained allow one to explain particular features of radioactivity distribution in selected aquatic areas. Based on a comparison between the results of the studies performed in 1992–1994 and 2002–2004, we estimated the dynamics of the changes in the mean level of specific concentrations of radionuclides in the regions of the location of sunken objects in shallow-water bays of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago. The registration of elevated concentrations of corrosive elements in the surface layers of the bottom sediments in these zones suggests a necessity of a multidisciplinary study consisting of regular repeated measurements at reference points in different areas aimed at before-the-fact prevention of possible leakages of radioactive substances from the sunken objects, which might result in a significant contamination of the environment.