Event investigations at nuclear power plants in Sweden: Reflections about a method and some associated practices

The MTO-E method for event investigation is described in the light of almost 20 years of usage in the Swedish nuclear industry. Various problems are addressed in the context of the method, e.g. accident models, causality, the use of the barrier concept, the meaning of safety culture, and the process of going from problem identification to problem solving. It is argued that future applications of in-depth investigations should focus more on (innovative) methods when suggesting remedial actions as a consequence of information derived from event investigations.     

Risk factors for elevated Enterococcus concentrations in a rural tropical island watershed

Associations were examined between riparian canopy cover, presence of cattle near streams, and month of year with the concentration of Enterococcus (Most Probable Number (MPN)/100 ml) in surface water at Waipā watershed on the North Side of the Hawaiian island Kaua'i. Each one percent decrease in riparian canopy cover was associated with a 3.6 MPN/100 ml increase of waterborne Enterococcus. Presence of cattle near monitoring sites was associated with an increase of 99.3 MPN/100 ml of Enterococcus in individual grab samples. Lastly, summer samples (July) were substantially higher in concentration of Enterococcus than winter collected samples (February) in Enterococcus in sampled streams. These results suggest that reducing canopy cover and introduction of cattle into riparian zones may contribute to increases of Enterococcus concentrations in stream water.     

Restoring Forests and Associated Ecosystem Services on Appalachian Coal Surface Mines

Surface coal mining in Appalachia has caused extensive replacement of forest with non-forested land cover, much of which is unmanaged and unproductive. Although forested ecosystems are valued by society for both marketable products and ecosystem services, forests have not been restored on most Appalachian mined lands because traditional reclamation practices, encouraged by regulatory policies, created conditions poorly suited for reforestation. Reclamation scientists have studied productive forests growing on older mine sites, established forest vegetation experimentally on recent mines, and identified mine reclamation practices that encourage forest vegetation re-establishment. Based on these findings, they developed a Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) that can be employed by coal mining firms to restore forest vegetation. Scientists and mine regulators, working collaboratively, have communicated the FRA to the coal industry and to regulatory enforcement personnel. Today, the FRA is used routinely by many coal mining firms, and thousands of mined hectares have been reclaimed to restore productive mine soils and planted with native forest trees. Reclamation of coal mines using the FRA is expected to restore these lands’ capabilities to provide forest-based ecosystem services, such as wood production, atmospheric carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, watershed protection, and water quality protection to a greater extent than conventional reclamation practices.     

Twenty‐One‐Year Simulation of Chesapeake Bay Water Quality Using the CE‐QUAL‐ICM Eutrophication Model

The CE‐QUAL‐ICM (Corps of Engineers Integrated Compartment Water Quality Model) eutrophication model was applied in a 21‐year simulation of Chesapeake Bay water quality, 1985‐2005. The eutrophication model is part of a larger model package and is forced, in part, by models of atmospheric deposition, watershed flows and loads, and hydrodynamics. Results from the model are compared with observations in multiple formats including time series plots, cumulative distribution plots, and statistical summaries. The model indicates only one long‐term trend in computed water quality: light attenuation deteriorates circa 1993 through the end of the simulation. The most significant result is the influence of physical processes, notably stratification and associated effects (e.g., anoxic volume), on computed water quality. Within the application period, physical effects are more important determinants of year‐to‐year variability in computed water quality than external loads.     

The radiological impact of atmospheric emissions from oil shale retorts

The radionuclide content of various oil shales, shale oils, and retorting waste products has been studied to determine the extent to which the development of this energy resource may perturb the natural radiation environment. Nearly all of the radioactivity in the raw shale is found in the spent shale after retorting. A primary exposure pathway to the public from this radioactivity will be through the release of particulate matter to the atmosphere during various mining, crushing, and retorting operations. Since the activity of this material is close to that of normal soil, however, the expected radiological impact is small.     

Freshwater Mussel Population Status and Habitat Quality in the Clinch River,Virginia and Tennessee,USA: A Featured Collection

The Clinch River of southwestern Virginia and northeastern Tennessee is arguably the most important river for freshwater mussel conservation in the United States. This featured collection presents investigations of mussel population status and habitat quality in the Clinch River. Analyses of historic water‐ and sediment‐quality data suggest that water column ammonia and water column and sediment metals, including Cu and Zn, may have contributed historically to declining densities and extirpations of mussels in the river's Virginia sections. These studies also reveal increasing temporal trends for dissolved solids concentrations throughout much of the river's extent. Current mussel abundance patterns do not correspond spatially with physical habitat quality, but they do correspond with specific conductance, dissolved major ions, and water column metals, suggesting these and/or associated constituents as factors contributing to mussel declines. Mussels are sensitive to metals. Native mussels and hatchery‐raised mussels held in cages in situ accumulated metals in their body tissues in river sections where mussels are declining. Organic compound and bed‐sediment contaminant analyses did not reveal spatial correspondences with mussel status metrics, although potentially toxic levels were found. Collectively, these studies identify major ions and metals as water‐ and sediment‐quality concerns for mussel conservation in the Clinch River.     

Gray tree frogs, Hyla versicolor, give lower-frequency aggressive calls in more escalated contests

As animal contests escalate, variation in the performance of aggressive signaling behaviors can give important insights into contest dynamics. In anuran amphibians, males of numerous species utilize distinctive aggressive vocalizations during disputes over calling spaces. Little is known, however, about the causes and consequences of variation in aggressive-call characteristics. We analyzed recordings of calls made during staged aggressive interactions between male gray tree frogs, Hyla versicolor, to determine how variation in a key aggressive-call characteristic, dominant frequency, was affected by increasing contest escalation. We found that dominant frequencies of aggressive calls were lower than those of advertisement calls used to attract females. Furthermore, we found that males lowered their aggressive-call frequencies with increases in escalation. Winners tended to have lower-frequency aggressive calls than losers. We conclude that aggressive calls in H. versicolor are similar to the graded aggressive calls that have been described in several other species. This gradation may allow males to balance the energetic costs of producing lower-frequency calls with the benefits of efficiently repelling rival males. Other processes related to motivation and the physiological effects of participating in contests may also be responsible for the observed variation in aggressive-call frequency with contest escalation. Our results demonstrate that detailed experimental studies of aggressive calling behavior in anurans, which to this point have rarely been performed, are feasible and generate important insights relating to general problems in animal contest behavior and animal communication.