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.     

井矿盐开发所致的辐射水平

本文报道了自贡市井矿盐开发所致的辐射水平。井矿盐开发的主要废弃物－卤泥中＾２３８Ｕ，＾２２６Ｒａ，＾２３２Ｔｈ的天然放射性核素比活度比四川省土壤中相应核素平均值高１－２个数量级，且造成卤泥堆积场和局部生产环境陆地γ辐射剂量率高出自贡市环境陆地γ辐射平均值的２．０－４８．３倍，最主超过１６５倍。部份卤泥和盐厂附近江河排放口底泥中天然放射性废物标准。     

当代世界50起重大毒性灾害初析

本文对当代世界１９３０～１９９２年５０起重大毒性灾害进行了分析。其中药物中毒６起，食物中毒７起，环境污染８起，毒气泄漏５起，有毒化学品与有毒气体爆炸９起，核爆炸与核辐射６起，恐怖行为２起，其它毒性灾害７起。本文还对减轻毒性灾害的基本对策进行了探讨。     

新疆建筑材料用工业废渣及其建材产品的辐射水平

报道了分布在新疆１３个地州市８０多个厂家的建材用工业废渣及其建材产品的放射性检测结果。多数废渣及其产品的放射性水平低于国家规定的限制（控制）标准，可以用作建筑材料，少数地区的部分工业废渣明显高于限制标准，不能用作建筑材料．必须健全放射性检测和管理制度．     

After 35 years,have we made progress: A government perspective

The use of irradiation to improve the safety, protect the nutritional benefits, and preserve the quality of fresh and processed foods is a well established and proven technology. Over the past 35 years, the United States Government has invested in the science to confirm safety and in the technology to show application. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration have approved sources of ionizing radiation for the treatment of foods, and their application to most meats, fruits, vegetables, and spices. Despite the value of this technology to the food industry and to the health and welfare of the public, only minimal application of this technology occurs. This underscores the importance of increasing the public's understanding of radiation risks relative to other hazards. Accordingly, in 1995, the Committee on Interagency Radiation Research and Policy Coordination of the Executive Office of the President made recommendations for the creation of a centralized National Radiation Information Center that would work closely with Federal departments and agencies in responding to public queries about radiation issues and Federal programs. This article updates a commentary published in 1996 (Young 1996). In the past six years, some progress has been made, including the establishment of a government operated Food Irradiation Information Center, and the completion of final rule making by USDA, thus permitting the safe treatment of meats and poultry. Despite these actions, little progress has been made on the public acceptance of this technology. The need for an informed public and for a better understanding of risks, i.e., risk communication, is noted.     

云的辐射强迫效应研究

利用ISCCP资料和我国实际的辐射观测资料,着重讨论了云对短波辐射的吸收、云放射的长波辐射及云的净辐射,在此基础上分析了云的辐射强迫引起的加热率和降温率,给出其全国分布图。      

放射性环境监测中探测限附近测量数据的处理

阐述了探测限的基本概念和对探测限附近的数据处理问题.提出探测限的作用是用来评价检测的能力,不宜用于常规计数及报告测量结果;判断限则用于对测量结果在统计上是否与本底有显著差别做出判断,也不宜用来报告测量结果.当样品净计数大于(或等于)判断限时,不管其是否小于探测限,都应当报出其测量值及标准差;当样品净计数小于判断限时,用小于限作为其上置信限报告测量结果;在对同类样品结果平均时,无论样品净计数小于判断限,或大于(或等于)判断限,都应当按其活度实测值(正、负或零)参加平均.     

广东省部分饮用水源地水中总α和总β放射性水平

调查广东省不同地区饮用水源地水中总α、总β放射性水平,分丰水期和枯水期2次各采集20个不同水样,按照《生活饮用水标准检验方法放射性指标》(GB/T 5750.13—2006),利用BH1227型低本底α、β测量仪测定样品。结果表明,40个水样中总α、总β放射性水平分别为0.017 Bq/L~0.286 Bq/L和0.027 Bq/L~0.397 Bq/L,测量值均在正常本底波动范围之内,放射性指标符合国家《生活饮用水卫生标准》(GB 5749—2006)。     

Radionuclides in terrestrial ecosystems of the zone of Kyshtym accident in the Urals

It was shown that along the Eastern Ural Radioactive Trace central axis, about 100 km in length, decrease of the ⁹⁰Sr and ¹³⁷Cs deposition densities in soil samples may be described as an exponential function. At the western and eastern periphery of the trace, ⁹⁰Sr contents in soils approached to the background level due to global fallout. ⁹⁰Sr and ¹³⁷Cs concentrations in seeds of some herbaceous plants have been determined. The radionuclide concentrations and the resulting dose loads upon plant seeds showed an excess over the background level of about two or three orders of magnitude.     

Abundance and diversity of aquatic macroinvertebrate communities in lakes exposed to Chernobyl-derived ionising radiation

Littoral (lake shore) macroinvertebrate communities were studied in eight natural lakes affected by fallout from the Chernobyl accident. The lakes spanned a range in ¹³⁷Cs contamination from 100 to 15500 kBq m⁻² and estimated external dose rates ranged from 0.13 to 30.7 μGy h⁻¹. General linear models were used to assess whether abundance of individuals, taxon richness, Berger-Parker dominance and Shannon-Wiener diversity varied across the lakes. Step-wise multiple regressions were used to relate variation in total abundance, taxon richness, Berger-Parker dominance, Shannon-Wiener diversity, taxon richness within major groups of macroinvertebrates and abundance of the more common individual taxa to the measured environmental characteristics (conductivity, pH, total hardness and phosphate; lake area, lake maximum depth and total external dose) of the lakes. No evidence was found in this study that the ecological status of lake communities has been influenced by radioactive contamination from the Chernobyl accident. Indeed, the most contaminated lake, Glubokoye, contained the highest richness of aquatic invertebrates. Taxon richness in the eight study lakes varied from 22 (Svyatskoe #7) to 42 (Glubokoye) which spans a range typical for uncontaminated lakes in the region. Since ⁹⁰Sr is readily-absorbed by Mollusca, estimated dose rates to this group exceeded those for other invertebrate groups in two lakes (Perstok and Glubokoye). However this study found no association between mollusc diversity or abundance of individual snail species and variation between lakes in the external radiation dose. Indeed Glubokoye, the lake most contaminated by ⁹⁰Sr, had the highest richness of freshwater snails per sample (an average of 8.9 taxa per sample).