The risks of radiation

Summary The risks of radioactivity are a really complicated matter, yet they are much better known than are the risks relating to thousands of chemical poisons that occur in our environment. The greatest mistakes are probably made in the definition of safety margins. Except for the bombs dropped in Japan and one other case in the Marshall Islands, there has always—luckily—been a wide safety margin between fallout radiation and doses dangerous to health; the margin has actually been about 1000-fold. The Chernobyl dose of 0.5 mGy/year that we received is only 1/1000 of the acute dose of 0.5 Gy which would cause a slight and nonpermanent change in the blood picture.There is no such safety margin with respect to many air pollutants. The safety standards for sulfuric or nitric oxides, ozone and so on, have been set only just below the level that already causes a health hazard, and these standards are exceeded once in a while. Otherwise, traffic would have to be forbidden and many industrial plants, especially power stations using coal, would have to stop working whenever a low-temperature inversion occurred. Environmental radioactivity does not represent a likely health risk in Finland unless a nuclear war breaks out. Air pollutants, on the contrary, are a real and almost daily health risk that should be carefully considered when decisions about our energy production are being made.In spite of what happened at Chernobyl, global consumption of nuclear power will double by the year 2000, since there are about 140 nuclear power plants presently under construction. It is not likely that another catastrophe like Chernobyl will happen, yet nuclear plant accidents are of course possible, even if their likelihood is diminished by improving reactor safety and even if any eventual damage could be expected to be smaller. If a reactor is hooded by a containment structure, no significant release of radioactive materials should be possible even in case of an accident. However, we must be prepared to protect the population with carefully planned civil defense and radiation protection measures.I would like to sum up all of this as follows: The risks of radiation are a fact, but the fear they arouse is often disproportionate. There are risks related to all other methods of energy production as well; nuclear power is no exception in that respect. It is good that we aim at greater safety, but I hope that false presumptions will not lead us to mistaking a less safe alternative for a safer one.     

耕地重金属污染治理政策与利益相关者互馈机制实证研究——基于某试点区的调研

基于利益相关者和政策过程理论,以某地耕地重金属污染治理试点为案例,对农业主管部门、环境主管部门、粮食收储部门、科研单位、农资生产商、农资流通主体、农户以及新型农业经营主体等八类利益相关者的利益诉求、行为特征以及与政策的相互影响进行了深入分析。研究表明,不同相关者的利益诉求和行为特征构成了试点区错综复杂的治理格局。在政策过程中,农业主管部门的主导作用明显,存在着因有效互动不足造成的政策制定缺乏共识,政策执行成本较高、阻力较大,政策评估有待完善等问题。虽然现行政策在一定程度上调动了除部分农资流通主体外其余利益相关者的积极性,但尚未形成利益相关者共同治理且与政策良性互馈的局面,需从政策过程视角加以完善。     

The Hourglass: A Conceptual Framework for the Transport of Biologically Active Compounds from Agricultural Landscapes

Recent research has suggested that the fate of biologically active compounds (BACs) originating from point sources such as wastewater treatment plants is fundamentally different from that of similar compounds released from nonpoint sources through runoff from agricultural landscapes. Downstream from wastewater treatment plants, BACs will degrade via a variety of mechanisms; however, their concentration in the water adjacent to the point of discharge may not decrease over time, as the compounds are continually released. In contrast, in agricultural systems, BACs are episodically introduced to surface water during snowmelt and rainstorm events, and under these circumstances, may be found in water for only hours or days after a storm event. Recent research in our laboratories as well as others, has suggested that sediments play an important role in the persistence of herbicides and steroids in watersheds after nonpoint source loading events. Conceptually, the sediment serves as both a sink and a source, equilibrating with BACs during storm events then slowly releasing them back into the water over time, long after the initial pulse of chemicals has moved downstream.     

The environmental impact of Chernobyl in the soviet union

Summary The author describes events subsequent to the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident and something of their environmental impact as it affects the Soviet Union. He is somewhat adversely critical of the lack of information currently being released by the Soviet authorities.Dr Zhores Medvedev was born in Tbilisi, and trained firstly as a plant biochemist and subsequently as a molecular biologist in the USSR. He studied the ecological effects of the 1958 Kyshtym nuclear accident in the USSR and published his findings in a bookNuclear Disaster in the Urals in 1979. He is currently a research scientist at the National Institute of Medical Research in London. A comprehensive analysis ofSoviet Agriculture is about to appear in a book of that title under Dr. Medvedev's authorship.     

Nitrogen in the Baltic Sea--policy implications of stock effects

We develop an optimal control model for cost-effective management of pollution, including two state variables, pollution stock and ecosystem quality. We apply it to Baltic Sea pollution by nitrogen leachates from agriculture. We present a sophisticated, non-linear model of leaching abatement costs, and a simple model of nitrogen stocks. We find that significant abatement is achievable at reasonable cost, despite the countervailing effects of existing agricultural policies such as price supports. Successful abatement should lead to lower nitrogen stocks in the sea in 5 years or less. However, the rate of ecosystem recovery is less certain. The results are highly dependent on the rate of self-cleaning of the Baltic Sea, and less so on the discount rate. Choice of target has a radical effect on the abatement path chosen. Cost-effectiveness demands such a choice, and should therefore be used with care when stock effects are present.     

Does radioactive contamination affect the shell morphology of the pond snail <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lymnaea stagnalis</Emphasis> in the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl NPP (Ukraine)?

A distinct external shell abnormality, coarse seam, was found in a high percentage of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis (L.) collected near Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), Ukraine. The negative cytogenetical and hematological effects of long-term irradiation on pond snails in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone have been repeatedly reported; consequently, it has been assumed that radioactivity may also affect shell morphology. However, due to the absence of this shell abnormality in pond snails collected from two radioactive sites in Russia, it can be concluded that the appearance of abnormal shells in snail population near Chernobyl NPP cannot directly be explained by the radioactive contamination.     

Between science and local knowledge: improving the communication of climate change to rural agriculturists in the Bolgatanga Municipality,Ghana

ABSTRACT

There is an overwhelming scientific consensus that global climate is changing with associated devastating, yet differential impacts on different world regions. This, therefore, calls for efforts to improve our understanding of the phenomenon as a way of enhancing mitigation and adaptation measures. Although a lot has been done in this respect, the present study examines the extent to which misnomers associated with the calendar months and local climate events can be employed to convey the phenomenon of climate change to rural agriculturists in the Bolgatanga municipality. The study establishes that the names of the calendar months, which serve as goalposts for local agricultural practices no longer portray their true meaning due to climate change. The study, therefore, recommends the use of nuanced ways of communicating climate change to local agriculturists, using scientific research, lived experiences as well as socially and culturally embedded tools such as misnomers associated with local climate events.     

SOIL CONSERVATION PRACTICES AND WATER QUALITY: IS EROSION CONTROL THE ANSWER?1

ABSTRACT: This paper is a computer simulation analysis of an agricultural nonpoint pollution problem. Computer modeling is a universally applicable tool that can be used for establishing the linkages between and the quality of agricultural runoff in both surface and subsurface flow. The tradeoffs between the costs of soil conservation practices and water quality are reported, and the economic implications of such tradeoffs are discussed. Soil and nutrient losses resulting from crop production practices are analyzed using a field-scale computer simulation model (CREAMS). No-till planting, reduced tillage, and sod waterway systems are more cost effective than other practices for controlling soil and nutrient runoff losses. Nitrate leaching losses are increased slightly by most soil conservation practices. Terrace systems and permanent vegetative cover impose the greatest societal cost for water quality protection. Public cost sharing and tax incentives encourage farmers to adopt expensive structural practices, and policies are needed to get cost-effective practices implemented on critical acreage. Extensive treatment of land is necessary for agricultural best management practices (BMPs) to significantly improve water quality in areas that are intensively farmed.     

AN IMPLICIT APPROACH TO PRICING AGRICULTURAL WATER TRANSFERS TO URBAN USES1

ABSTRACT: The increased agricultural efficiency of the American farmer has been a substantial impetus to this nation's rapid urbanization. In many western regions where total water supplies are limited, urbanization has required the transfer of heretofore agricultural water rights to the urban use. A major problem in such transfers has been the value or price of the water. A management level model of a typical urban water system was developed to optimize water supply, distribution, and wastewater treatment alternatives. The values of agricultural transfers were determined as the cost advantages of increasing allowable reuse levels of urban effluents which imply the use of a downstream right. This procedure is justified by the economic theory of alternative cost. Results for a test application to the Denver, Colorado area indicate values on the order of $1,000 per acre-foot of transferable water depending on effluent water quality restrictions and operational policies.     

中国农业与工程机械尾气减排控制措施的费效分析

移动源尾气排放已成为我国空气污染的主要来源之一,相比于道路移动源来说,非道路移动源尾气排放的减排控制工作仍处于初级阶段。本研究就非道路移动源尾气减排控制的三种主要措施——整车淘汰、发动机更换以及发动机维修,对中国非道路工程和农业机械进行费效分析,探讨经济可行的控制途径。研究假设农业和工程机械的使用年限分别为15年和10年,同时假设采取减排措施后所有机械均达到国IV排放标准。研究表明,采取减排措施后,农业机械每年可减排NOx 40万～45万t,但PM污染物减排效益不明显;工程机械每年可减排NOx约52万t,且PM污染物每年可减排量约16万t,但费用可高达2000亿～25 000亿元,且不同措施的差别巨大,以整车淘汰费用最高。多数农业机械发动机维修所需费用高于发动机更换,相反,工程机械发动机更换所需费用高于发动机维修。因此,在采用减排措施和制定政策时,需要根据实际情况进行调整。对农业机械,采用发动机更换的减排方式更经济;对工程机械,采用发动机维修的减排措施更实惠。     

Cell hydration as a universal marker for detection of environmental pollution

At present, when the technological progress brings progressive increase in environmental pollutions by different chemical and physical (ionizing and non-ionizing radiations) factors, the detection of the safety of environmental medium from the point of public health is one of the fundamental problems of modern Life Sciences. This problem has especially disquieting character after the Chernobyl and Japan nuclear catastrophes, when the level of background ionizing radiation and chemical pollutions of environmental medium of the number of world’s regions are increased beyond safety doses. As the biological effect of weak environmental factors have nonlinear dose-dependent character, besides its thermodynamic characteristics it depends also on environmental composition and initial state of organism. Therefore, the current policy of World Health Organization and other international organizations whose mission is to establish safety standards for environmental pollutions by chemical and physical factors, based only on the their concentration or energy absorption rate by organism cannot be considered as adequate. It is suggested that the biological marker having universal sensitivity to different factors and determining the functional state of organisms could be used for estimation of the safety doses of environmental factors on organism. In present review are presented the data consisting of the hypothesis according to which the Na/K pump and Na/Ca-controlling cell hydration could serve as a universal and extra-sensitive cellular marker for detection of hazardous effect of environmental pollutions.     

SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS: A NECESSITY IN WATER PLANNING1

ABSTRACT In water planning activities, major emphasis has been placed on the development of procedures for devising “optimum plans.” These plans are defined as those which meet prespecified demands for water at “minimum cost.” However, all plans are developed subject to postulated conditions regarding the state of the physical system and of nature. Because planning takes place in a dynamic and uncertain environment in which postulated conditions are known to change, it is imperative that the planner be apprised in the planning phase of the effect of changes which can occur. Using “this information, a planner can temper his judgment with a knowledge of the effect of the uncertainty resulting from changes in the system state variables. This paper presents results of the use of a computer simulation and optimization model to quantify possible variations in system response which could occur as a result of uncertainty in the postulated physical and economic conditions under which the proposed water development system was to perform. The possible effects of these variable responses on planning decision-making is discussed.     

太阳能污泥干化在欧洲的应用

太阳能污泥干化指的是利用太阳能为主要能源对污水处理厂污泥进行干化和稳定化的污泥处理技术。该技术运用太阳能,借助传统温室干燥工艺,具有低温干化、运行费用低廉、操作简单、运行安全稳定、干化后的污泥仍保留原有的农用价值等特点。该文主要介绍了该工艺的工作原理及流程,工艺设计参数及其与传统热干化技术相比的优缺点,并简要介绍了该工艺在欧洲市场上的商业应用。     

Prediction of radionuclide aging in soils from the Chernobyl and Mediterranean areas

The aging of soil-pollutant interaction, which may lead to an increase in pollutant fixation, is the main driving force in the natural attenuation of contaminated soils. Here a test was evaluated to predict the aging of radiostrontium and radiocesium in soils from the Chernobyl and Mediterranean areas. After contamination, soils were maintained at various temperatures for up to 12 mo, with or without drying-wetting (DW) cycles. Changes in the quantity of radionuclide reversibly sorbed over time were monitored using an extraction test (1 mol L(-1) NH(4)Cl; 10 mL g(-1); 16 h). The fixed fraction could not be predicted from soil properties controlling the sorption step. Aging was not as relevant for Sr as for Cs. The time elapsed since contamination was the main factor responsible for the slight (up to 1.3-fold) decreases in Sr extraction yields. The additional effect of DW cycles was negligible. Instead, all factors accelerated Cs aging due to the enhancement of Cs trapping by clay interlayer collapse, with up to 20-fold increases in Cs fixation. The DW cycles also caused secondary effects on the Cs-specific sorption pool, which were beneficial or detrimental depending on the soil type. Extraction yields from laboratory aged samples agreed with those from field samples taken a few years after the Chernobyl accident. These results confirm the prediction capacity of the laboratory test and its usefulness in risk assessment exercises and in the design of intervention actions, particularly because neither fixation nor aging were related to the soil properties, such as clay content.     

The promising spread of sustainable agriculture in Asia

Despite great successes in increasing food production, Asia still faces enormous food security challenges. Most commentators agree that there will have to be increases in food production from existing agricultural land, but many are pessimistic about the future, judging likelihood of success on the basis of past performance of 'modern' agricultural development. Sustainable agriculture, though, offers entirely new opportunities, by emphasising the productive values of natural, social and human capital, all assets that Asian countries either have in abundance or that can be regenerated at relatively low financial cost.
This paper sets out an assets-based model of agricultural systems, together with a typology of eight approaches for sustainable agriculture improvements. In the 16 projects/initiatives spread across eight countries that are analysed, some 2.86 million households have substantially improved total food production on 4.93 million hectares, resulting in greatly improved household food security. Proportional yield increases are greatest in rainfed systems, but irrigated systems have seen small cereal yield increases combined with added production from additional productive system components (such as fish in rice, vegetables on dykes). The additional positive impacts on natural, social and human capital are also helping to build the assets base so as to sustain these improvements in the future.
This analysis indicates that sustainable agriculture can deliver large increases in food production in Asia. But spreading these to much larger numbers of farm households will not be easy. It will require fundamental policy reform.     

Wellhead treatment costs for groundwater contaminated with pesticides: A preliminary analysis for pineapple in Hawaii

In Hawaii, trace concentrations of pesticides used in the production of pineapple were found in the groundwater supplies of Mililani Town in the Pearl Harbor Basin on the island of Oahu. Groundwater serves as the major source of drinking water and residents pay for wellhead treatment of the contaminated water, via their monthly water bill. The agricultural chemical users within the Pearl Harbor Basin do not include these wellhead treatment costs in their production costs. The agricultural industry benefits from using pesticides but does not pay the entire societal cost of using these chemicals. In this study we evaluate the specific financial cost of wellhead treatment, and not the economic value of groundwater. While wellhead treatment costs could conceivably be shared by several parties, this study focuses on the financial impact of the pineapple industry alone. This study factors annual wellhead treatment costs into annual pineapple production costs to measure the effect on annual financial return from pineapple production. Wellhead treatment costs are calculated from the existing granulated activated carbon (GAC) water treatment facility for Millilani Wells I and II. Pineapple production costs are estimated from previous cost of production studies. The inclusion of wellhead treatment costs produces different production-cost results, depending on the scale of analysis. At the local scale, the Mililani wellhead treatment costs can be factored into the production costs of the pineapple fields, which were probably responsible for contamination of the Mililani Wells, without causing a deficit in economic return. At the larger regional scale, however, the return from all of the pineapple grown in the Pearl Harbor Basin can not sustain the cost of wellhead treatmentfor the entire water supply of the basin. Recommendations point to the prevention of groundwater contamination as more cost-effective measure than wellhead treatment.     

Experts under the microscope: the Wivenhoe Dam case

Prosecution of experts in the wake of disasters has emerged as common in the context of increasing social intolerance of risk. This paper examines expert blame using as a case study the decisions of engineers who operated Wivenhoe Dam during the Queensland floods in January 2011 and the criticisms of those decisions by the subsequent Commission of Inquiry. Our analysis draws on the literature on organisational safety, organisational learning and expertise to examine the relevance of the criteria against which the engineers were judged, the relevant competence of those who made this assessment and the broader implications of such exercises. Our analysis shows that lay judgements of expert practice can be misleading, as evidenced by the Commission of Inquiry’s misguided focus on procedural adherence. We argue that such inquiries—where the focus is on assigning blame—detract from opportunities to learn from incidents and can negatively impact on professional practices. If the aim is to make future disasters less likely, then inquiries that take this approach may be failing in this endeavour, or at least not maximising their contribution.     

An alternative role for economic instruments: Sustainable finance for environmental management

Economic instruments, such as effluent fees and tradable discharge permits (TDP), have often been suggested by economists as efficient or cost-effective means to control pollution. In recent years such instruments have received increasing attention due to their growing political acceptability. Still, their use in practice has been tentative. The interest in possible application of such instruments has led to a set of studies regarding their practical potential. These studies indicate that economic instruments require substantial government involvement, entailing high administration cost; require restrictions so as to prevent significant deterioration in receptor areas; and have ambivalent effects on innovation adoption. Consequently, the efficiency gains from such instruments may be smaller than potential gains identified in earlier studies. In addition, the distributional impacts of such instruments and their possible adverse effect on market contestability reduce their attractiveness in some cases. These findings raise the question: what is the desired role of economic instruments in addressing environmental concerns? In recent years the demand for environmental services has increased dramatically. Current legislation and studies indicate that desired environmental expenditures are likely to increase. At the same time environmental programs face increasing competition from other programs for a declining pool of general revenues. One outcome of these processes has been the search for alternative sources of funds for environmental programs. Furthermore, as the competition for general revenue funds increases, the allocation of such funds for environmental programs becomes less predictable. This may endanger many long-term environmental programs that require stable funding. This article suggests that economic instruments may prove one source of dedicated funds for many environmental goals. Consequently, studies of environmental-program financing as well as studies of economic instruments may well explore the possible role of economic instruments as financing tools. Some examples of the potential of such tools for estuary cleanup programs are discussed.     

The effects of agricultural cooperatives on smallholder livelihoods and agricultural performance in Cambodia

Cooperatives are increasingly advocated as a means to improve incomes, livelihoods and the sustainability of smallholder farmers. This study analyzes the impact of commercial vegetable cooperative membership on smallholder agricultural performance in Cambodia. Institutional heterogeneities are considered across cooperatives and various econometric techniques are used to control for potential selection bias. The impacts of horticulture on agricultural outcomes are also analyzed. The results indicate that membership of commercial vegetable cooperatives has so far had no effect on agricultural incomes or the value or amounts of agricultural inputs. However, results indicate that membership has affected technology choice, access to credit services and information transmission through technological training. Additionally, there is evidence that horticulture, as a component of overall agricultural diversification, can augment farm income. The results suggest that much of the benefit of cooperative membership stems from the cooperative's provision of services, which might not be easily inferred from measures of member incomes.     

“First Things First”: Application of Islamic Principles of Priority in the Ethical Assessment of Genetically Modified Foods

Advancement of modern agricultural biotechnology has brought various potential benefits to humankind, but at the same time ethical concerns regarding some applications such as genetically modified foods (GMF) have been raised among the public. Several questions are being posed; should they utilize such applications to improve quality of their life, or should they refrain in order to save themselves from any associated risk? What are the ethical principles that can be applied to assess these applications? By using GMF as a case study, this paper discusses possible answers to these questions from Islamic perspective. Such answers are based on the understanding of the Islamic concept of maslahah (benefit) and mafsadah (harm) as well as the Islamic principles of priority. There is no specific GMF that has been declared as unlawful by Muslim scholars thus far. Nevertheless, they generally state that any GMF that contains unlawful substance is prohibited in Islam. Such statement can be understood since Islam puts highest priority to preserve shari’ah (Islamic law) which prescribes the lawful and unlawful things in human life. Priorities have also been given to preserve human health and environment therefore any GMF that may inflict harm on both entities is also considered as unlawful.