Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

In the previous paper the authors have studied the radioactive pollution caused by a complex fertilizers production plant. In this paper, the effective doses to the plant workers and to members of the population surrounding the industrial site are estimated. The authors have considered external irradiation, inhalation and ingestion of dust and inhalation of radon and radon daughters as the main occupational exposure routes. After estimating the single contributions, the total effective dose has been calculated as the sum of said contributions. Calculations have been differentiated according to the different tasks of the company employees. The estimated annual effective doses range from 0.6 to 1.4mSvy−1. Annual individual effective doses to local residents, resulting from internal and external irradiation caused by particulate matter emitted into the atmosphere by the plant have been estimated. The maximum individual dose rate is estimated to be about 4μSvy−1.

Quantification of solute transport in natural waters is a key aim, or major component, of many geochemical studies. In models which describe such transport, the interactions of solute with solid phases are usually bulked into a simple distribution coefficient (Kd) term. Recently, there has been an increasing number of papers which purport to measure in-situ Kd values, which may be further claimed to be preferable to conventional laboratory measurements. This paper demonstrates that the general application of such in-situ values to transport modelling may be incorrect - especially in low-flow environments. In particular, for applications in which the movement of contaminants such as toxic wastes is concerned, these in-situ values may be non-conservative in the sense that they underpredict releases.