Long-term transfer of global fallout 137Cs to cow’s milk in Iceland

The aim of this study was to provide improved information on the long-term transfer of global nuclear weapons ¹³⁷Cs fallout to cow’s milk in Iceland many years after deposition. The spatial variation in deposition was confirmed to be explained by precipitation. Soil samples showed a significant difference in ¹³⁷Cs deposition density between the main agricultural areas, with the South having the highest values, then the West and North and the lowest in the Northeast. There was no significant difference between the effective half-lives in ¹³⁷Cs activity concentrations in milk and milk powder from the main dairies in Iceland based on data for milk from 1990 to 2007 and for milk powder from 1986 to 2007. There was, however, a significant difference between the effective half-lives obtained for these two regions, 13.5?years for the Northern and 10.5?years for the Southern regions. These half-lives for global fallout are longer than those previously reported for similar time periods in other Arctic areas. The transfer of ¹³⁷Cs to cow’s milk was quantified for different agricultural regions using aggregated transfer coefficients (T _ag) for the period of peak global fallout soil inventory in 1965–1967. The values ranged from 2.8?×?10^?3 to 10.6?×?10^?3?m²?kg^?1. By 2001–2004, the T _ag values had only declined, in the main agricultural areas, to 0.6?×?10^?3–1.0?×?10^?3?m²?kg^?1. Long-term transfer rates to milk many years after deposition were high in Iceland compared with most other reported data. The transfer is potentially relevant for some of the contaminated areas around the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant after the accident in March 2011 since limited information is available on uptake from Andosols and associated effective half-lives.     

Complex habitat boosts scallop recruitment in a fully protected marine reserve

This study investigated the effects of a fully protected marine reserve on commercially valuable scallops and benthic habitats in Lamlash Bay, Isle of Arran, United Kingdom. Dive surveys found the abundance of juvenile scallops to be greater within the marine reserve than outside. A novel multivariate approach, based upon neural networks and generalised linear models, revealed the greater abundance of juveniles to be related to the greater presence of macroalgae and maerl within the reserve boundaries. This complex habitat appeared to have positively encouraged spat settlement. In contrast, the density of adult scallops did not differ between the two treatments, possibly due to the short duration of protection. However, the age, size and biomass of adult scallops were significantly greater within the reserve. Overall, this study suggests that the newly created marine reserve is already providing benefits which are flowing back to species targeted by fisheries, emphasising the importance of marine reserves in ecosystem-based management of fisheries.     

The SITE Demonstration of the Shirco Electric Infrared Incinerator

A test program for the Shirco infrared destruction process is described in this article. This incineration process is transportable and can be an effective method for cleanup of soils from Superfund sites. A pilot-scale unit and a 100-ton per day transportable unit were tested as part of the Superfund Technology Evaluation (SITE) program.

The process consists of a thermal destruction chamber where electricity is used for infrared rods that heat the waste, and a second chamber where propane is used to destroy any remaining hydrocarbons in the exhaust from the first chamber. A venturi scrubber and horizontal packed tower were used for particulate removal before exhausting the gas to the atmosphere. The feed material was reduced to less than one inch in diameter before it was processed by the unit.

The testing indicated that the Shirco system would remove and destroy organics from a waste, but would not remove heavy metals. The scrubber on the full scale system was of marginal capacity for that particular application and did not meet the RCRA specifications of 180 mg/dscm during two of the four tests made for the full scale unit.

Both units achieved Destruction and Removal Efficiencies (DRE) in excess of the 99.99 percent required for RCRA applications. Performance with respect to the TSCA requirement of 99.9999 percent for PCBs could not be ascertained due to the concentration of PCB in the feed.