The Thermal Discharges From Nuclear Power Plants in Taiwan

The increasing use of sea water for industrial cooling presents a real threat to the ecological environment in the ocean. in Taiwan where many electric power plants along the coast take sea water for cooling, people are concerned seriously about nuclear power plants. There are three nuclear power plants in Taiwan. Each plant has two units for generating power. the first two are located along the northern coast of Taiwan. the third is located in Kenting National Park along the coast of southernmost Taiwan. the plants take sea water for cooling, and discharge their heated effluents to the ocean surface from the coast. the thermal effluents have variable effects on the ecological environment near the plants. Fishermen living near the power plants complain that the heated water affects the inshore fishery catch. in addition, the thermal water from the second plant is easily accumulated near the coastal zone to influence the nearby swimming area in the summer-time. the thermal water from the third plant bleaches or kills some corals in shallow water near the outlet, and this conflicts with the interests of Kenting National Park.     

Isotope tracing of submarine groundwater discharge offshore Ubatuba, Brazil: results of the IAEA–UNESCO SGD project

Results of groundwater and seawater analyses for radioactive (³H, ²²²Rn, ²²³Ra, ²²⁴Ra, ²²⁶Ra, and ²²⁸Ra) and stable (D and ¹⁸O) isotopes are presented together with in situ spatial mapping and time series ²²²Rn measurements in seawater, direct seepage measurements using manual and automated seepage meters, pore water investigations using different tracers and piezometric techniques, and geoelectric surveys probing the coast. This study represents first time that such a new complex arsenal of radioactive and non-radioactive tracer techniques and geophysical methods have been used for simultaneous submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) investigations. Large fluctuations of SGD fluxes were observed at sites situated only a few meters apart (from 0 cm d⁻¹ to 360 cm d⁻¹; the unit represents cm³/cm²/day), as well as during a few hours (from 0 cm d⁻¹ to 110 cm d⁻¹), strongly depending on the tidal fluctuations. The average SGD flux estimated from continuous ²²²Rn measurements is 17 ± 10 cm d⁻¹. Integrated coastal SGD flux estimated for the Ubatuba coast using radium isotopes is about 7 × 10³ m³ d⁻¹ per km of the coast. The isotopic composition (δD and δ¹⁸O) of submarine waters was characterised by significant variability and heavy isotope enrichment, indicating that the contribution of groundwater in submarine waters varied from a small percentage to 20%. However, this contribution with increasing offshore distance became negligible. Automated seepage meters and time series measurements of ²²²Rn activity concentration showed a negative correlation between the SGD rates and tidal stage. This is likely caused by sea level changes as tidal effects induce variations of hydraulic gradients. The geoelectric probing and piezometric measurements contributed to better understanding of the spatial distribution of different water masses present along the coast. The radium isotope data showed scattered distributions with offshore distance, which imply that seawater in a complex coast with many small bays and islands was influenced by local currents and groundwater/seawater mixing. This has also been confirmed by a relatively short residence time of 1–2 weeks for water within 25 km offshore, as obtained by short-lived radium isotopes. The irregular distribution of SGD seen at Ubatuba is a characteristic of fractured rock aquifers, fed by coastal groundwater and recirculated seawater with small admixtures of groundwater, which is of potential environmental concern and has implications on the management of freshwater resources in the region.     

Geochemical characteristics of surficial sediments in a tropical estuary, south-west India

Geochemical characteristics of surficial sediments in the Panangad region of Cochin estuary, the largest brackish-water humid ecosystem in the south-west coast of India, were analysed. Temporal variations in nutrient stoichiometry, seasonal characteristics of redox elements Fe and S, and the phosphorus geochemistry were employed for the purpose. The stoichiometric analysis pointed towards autochthonous origin of organic matter, possibility of nitrogen limitation, and allochthonous modification of redox conditions. Seasonal variations were not statistically significant for all the geochemical parameters, whereas significant spatial variations were observed with lower values at sandy stations, suggesting that the texture of the sediments is the main factor influencing the sediment geochemistry. Significant inter-relations between the geochemical parameters also suggest a common control mechanism. Based on these geochemical characteristics, the study region can be effectively categorized into two distinct zones, viz. (1) erosion and transportation and (2) deposition zones.     

A Marine Pollution Study of Northeast Coastal Water Off Taiwan Island

The coastal water of northeast Taiwan island, called 'Yin-Yang Hai' for its distinct yellow colour compared with blue offshore water, was investigated from 1989 to 1990 by the authors. Biological study showed the dominant species of plankton to be Copepoda, Cladocera, planktonic eggs and Diatoma. Dominant species of benthos were young crabs, Amphipoda and Annelida, with Amphipoda usually occurring in heavily polluted areas. Heavy metal data showed that the concentration of copper was high. the copper and iron concentration in algae of the intertidal zone was also high. the concentrations of iron and copper in inshore water were also higher than in offshore water. By comparison of the pH and salinity distribution of this area, we conclude that this coastal water has been polluted by acid waste water from coastal industry. the suspended solids concentration in sea water is high. Flocculation occurring at the boundary of fresh and saline water might be a reason for the distinct yellow colour of the water of this area. Further study is required.     

Influence of environmental factors on arsenic accumulation and biotransformation using the aquatic plant species Hydrilla verticillata

Hydrilla verticillata(waterthyme) has been successfully used for phytoremediation in arsenic(As) contaminated water.To evaluate the effects of environmental factors on phytoremediation,this study conducted a series of orthogonal design experiments to determine optimal conditions,including phosphorus(P),nitrogen(N),and arsenate(As(Ⅴ))concentrations and initial pH levels,for As accumulation and biotransformation using this aquatic plant species,while also analyzing As species transformation in culture media after 96-hr exposure.Analysis of variance and the signal-to-noise ratio were used to identify both the effects of these environmental factors and their optimal conditions for this purpose.Results indicated that both N and P significantly impacted accumulation,and N was essential in As species transformation.High N and intermediate P levels were critical to As accumulation and biotransformation by H.verticillata,while high N and low P levels were beneficial to As species transformation in culture media.The highest total arsenic accumulation was(197.2±17.4) μg/g dry weight when As(V) was at level 3(375μg/L),N at level 2(4 mg/L),P at level 1(0.02 mg/L),and pH at level 2(7).Although H.verticillata is highly efficient in removing As(Ⅴ) from aquatic environments,its use could be potentially harmful to both humans and the natural environment due to its release of highly toxic arsenite.For cost-effective and ecofriendly phytoremediation of As-contaminated water,both N and P are helpful in regulating As accumulation and transformation in plants.     

Long-term effects of silver nanoparticles on performance of phosphorus removal in a laboratory-scale vertical flow constructed wetland

Silver nanoparticles(AgNPs) have been widely used in many fields,which raised concerns about potential threats to biological sewage treatment systems.In this study,the phosphorus removal performance,enzymatic activity and microbial population dynamics in constructed wetlands(CWs) were evaluated under a long-term exposure to Ag NPs(0,50,and 200 μg/L) for 450 days.Results have shown that Ag NPs inhibited the phosphorus removal efficiency in a short-term exposure,whereas caused no obviously negative effects from a long-term perspective.Moreover,in the coexisting CW system of Ag NPs and phosphorus,competition exhibited in the initial exposure phase,however,cooperation between them was observed in later phase.Enzymatic activity of acid-phosphatase at the moderate temperature(10–20°C) was visibly higher than that at the high temperature(20–30℃) and CWs with Ag NPs addition had no appreciable differences compared with the control.High-throughput sequencing results indicated that the microbial richness,diversity and composition of CWs were distinctly affected with the extension of exposure time at different Ag NPs levels.However,the phosphorus removal performance of CWs did not decline with the decrease of polyphosphate accumulating organisms(PAOs),which also confirmed that adsorption precipitation was the main way of phosphorus removal in CWs.The study suggested that Ag NPs and phosphorus could be removed synergistically in the coexistence system.This work has some reference for evaluating the influences of Ag NPs on the phosphorus removal and the interrelation between them in CWs.     

中国淡水生态系统甲烷排放基本特征及研究进展

本文基于中国境内的湖泊、水库、河流等淡水系统CH₄排放研究的相关成果,对203个湖泊（595个样点）、46个水库（221个样点）、112条河流（441个样点）,总计1257个样点的CH₄通量数据进行统计分析,探讨了中国淡水系统（湖泊、水库、河流）CH₄排放的一般特征,总结了当前研究进展,并进一步估算和评估了中国淡水系统CH₄排放总量水平.结果表明：1）中国湖泊CH₄排放通量平均为（1.17±1.87） mg/（m²·h）,蒙新湖区（（3.84±0.57） mg/（m²·h））和东北湖区（（2.62±3.54） mg/（m²·h））较高,青藏湖区（（1.94±4.13） mg/（m²·h））次之,东部湖区（（0.81±0.90） mg/（m²·h））较低,云贵湖区（（0.19±0.26） mg/（m²·h））最低;湖泊CH₄排放通量呈显著的纬度模式,高纬度地区湖泊CH₄排放高于低纬度地区;2）水库CH₄排放通量（（1.25±1.78） mg/（m²·h））与湖泊相似,水库消落带较高的排放通量（（4.34±4.45）mg/（m²·h））对水库CH₄排放具有重要贡献;3）河流CH₄排放（（0.82±1.14） mg/（m²·h））略低于湖库,长江水系CH₄排放通量（（0.98±2.38） mg/（m²·h））和黄河水系（（0.85±0.75） mg/（m²·h））相近,高于海河水系（（0.54±0.93） mg/（m²·h））,辽河、珠江水系研究较少,数据变异性极大;4）受降水、温度、径流稀释等影响,淡水系统CH₄排放呈显著的季节变化,其中湖库排放夏季高于秋季,冬春季较低,而河流则春秋季高于夏冬季;5）基于外推法估算全国湖泊、水库、河流CH₄排放总量分别约为0.96,0.29,0.76Tg/a,相当于全国湿地系统排放的75%.由于较大的时空变异性以及监测数据分布的不均匀性,目前估算存在较大的不确定性,但淡水系统CH₄排放在全球气候变化中的贡献仍不容小觑.     

黄河流域水污染排放特征及污染集聚格局分析

掌握污染源排放特征及其空间差异,是在流域尺度提升水污染治理水平的重要基础.该研究分别从污染源的活动水平（简称“活动水平”）、污染物产生、污染物去除和污染物排放4个方面选取了28个指标,对黄河流域60个市州主要水污染物排放特征开展了现状评价和聚类分析.采用污染分布的地理集中度指数表征各市州污染集聚格局,并利用空间分析模型Global Moran's I和G_i*指数判断污染排放的空间集聚趋势与冷热点地区.结果表明:按照水污染排放特征的差异,黄河流域不同地区在水污染格局上可划分为高排放强度区、高排放绩效区、污染集聚区和低排放绩效区;水污染物排放与经济发展格局分布一致,上游、中游到下游地区呈现明显的阶梯型分布,上游地区单位水资源利用效率和排放绩效低,下游地区区域性污染集聚效应明显;山西省、河南省和山东省沿黄城市在空间上表现为区域性连片污染集聚,集中分布在晋中城市群和中原城市群.针对当前黄河流域水污染排放特征和空间集聚格局,建议制定统一的生态环境保护与治理策略,加强中下游城市群的污染协同控制.      

氮掺杂二氧化钛负载钒磷氧催化氧化NO的实验研究

以VPO为活性组分,N掺杂TiO 2为载体,采用浸渍法制备了VPO/TiN催化剂,基于单因素实验研究了其对NO的选择性催化氧化(SCO)性能以及抗硫抗水性能。研究表明:当P/V为1/5、N/Ti为1、活性组分负载量为10%、焙烧温度为350℃时,催化剂的SCO活性最好,NO氧化率达到61%;光致发光光谱(PL)表征显示N掺杂TiO 2在催化剂表面形成的氧空位可增强催化剂对O 2的吸附;VPO/TiN催化剂抗硫抗水性能较强,反应后的催化剂表面未发现硫酸根的特征峰,水蒸气主要通过与NO竞争吸附占据活性位点来抑制催化剂的SCO活性。     

Analysis of pollutant levels in central Hong Kong applying neural network method with particle swarm optimization

Air pollution has emerged as an imminent issue in modernsociety. Prediction of pollutant levels is an importantresearch topic in atmospheric environment today. For fulfillingsuch prediction, the use of neural network (NN), and inparticular the multi-layer perceptrons, has presented to be acost-effective technique superior to traditional statisticalmethods. But their training, usually with back-propagation (BP)algorithm or other gradient algorithms, is often with certaindrawbacks, such as: 1) very slow convergence, and 2) easilygetting stuck in a local minimum. In this paper, a newlydeveloped method, particle swarm optimization (PSO) model, isadopted to train perceptrons, to predict pollutant levels, andas a result, a PSO-based neural network approach is presented. The approach is demonstrated to be feasible and effective bypredicting some real air-quality problems.