The 5th anniversary of the Fukushima disaster and the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, the two most catastrophic nuclear accidents in history, both occurred recently. Images of Chernobyl are replete with the international sign of radioactive contamination (a circle with three broad spokes radiating outward in a yellow sign). In contrast, ongoing decontamination efforts at Fukushima l...

UNLABELLED This study assesses the effectiveness of using everyday cleaning agents for the radioactive decontamination of wet (99m)Tc-pertechnetate spills in the nuclear medicine department. METHODS Six cleaning agents (water, water and soap, alcohol, bleach, a commercial glass cleaner, and a commercial decontaminating agent) were analyzed for decontamination effectiveness for a wide range of...

Electrokinetic decontamination and extraction have been proven to be one of the most viable, cost effective and emerging techniques in removing contaminants, especially heavy metals from soils for about last five decades. Basic concepts and an overview of the electrokinetic extraction processes and their potential applications in geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering have been reviewed ...

Early attempts to eliminate Histoplasma capsulatum from known positive sites were either unsuccessful or rendered the soil unfit for growth of vegetation (1, 2). Recently, formaldehyde solution (formalin) and cresol compound have been shown to be effective decontamination agents in the laboratory and in field experiments under natural conditions (3). The promising results with formaldehyde solu...

Summer typhoons and spring snowmelt led to the riverine spread of continental Fukushima fallout to the coastal plains of Northeastern Japan and the Pacific Ocean. Four fieldwork campaigns based on measurement of radioactive dose rates in fine riverine sediment that has recently deposited on channel bed-sand were conducted between November 2011 and May 2013 to document the spread of fallout by r...

The Huelva Estuary in Huelva, Spain, has been one of the most studied environmental compartments in the past years from the point of view of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) releases. It has been historically affected by waste releases, enriched in radionuclides from the U-decay series, from factories located in the area devoted to the production of phosphoric acid and phosphate ...

The threat of radiologic or nuclear terrorism is increasing, yet many physicians are unfamiliar with basic treatment principles for radiologic casualties. Patients may present for care after a covert radiation exposure, requiring an elevated level of suspicion by the physician. Traditional medical and surgical triage criteria should always take precedence over radiation exposure management or d...