Nuclear Pollution: Causes, effects and preventive measures

It would seem that mankind feels a need to always leave some kind of legacy, some kind of lasting trace. Sadly, it also seems that these influences are almost always very bad for where we leave them. This planet is incredibly polluted, and it is only getting worse, with associated woes such as global warming and population over-crowding only adding to the list. Two of the most pressing concerns come tied together the energy problem andglobal warming. The paradox is thus; we need to reduce global warming, and to do so we have to reduce the amount of greenhousegases that we belch out from our factories, our cars and indeed our society in general. However, we also need to ensure that we produce enough energy, in the form of electricity to meet with our requirements. But conventional power plants burn fossil fuels, which then emit greenhouse gases. So it would appear that meeting one goal cannot be done without damaging the other. Fortunately, there is a solution within our grasp. Since scientists first split the nucleus of the atom over 70 years ago, we have learned how to controllably release the fantastic amounts of energy bound up as matter inside atoms. Nuclear power plants utilise the process of nuclear fission; splitting heavy atoms such as Uranium to generate energy. Since you can generate massive amounts of energy this way, much much more than you could ever get by burning fuels, nuclear power plants seem to provide an answer to the increasing energy demands of the world. On top of this, they do not emit greenhouse gases, so they do not contribute to global warming and air pollution, making them seem to a very environmentally friendly option. The only problem with nuclear fission power is the waste that it produces. This waste is not only highly chemically toxic (i.e. If you ate it you would be poisoned), it is also radioactive. That means that it is still giving off energy, turning into other elements by a process known as radioactive decay. On a physical level, what is happening is that the atoms produced by nuclear fission in the splitting of a uranium nucleus are themselves unstable. That means that they break down after a period of time, measured as their half life (half life is the time it takes for 50% of a sample to decay). This process is still giving off energy even though we no longer consider the fuels useful for use in power plants. If you could hold a lump of Plutonium in your hand, a substance produced by Nuclear reactors, it would feel warm to the touch due to the energy released through radioactive decay (I say if because this would be a phenomenally bad idea, as you would then succumb to radiation poisoning within the week). The process of radioactive decay means that we have to be very careful what we do with this highly toxic and hazardous waste. At present, we transport it to nuclear reprocessing facilities, such as Sellafield in the UK. Here, the radioactive substances are sealed in chemical proof containers, amongst other treatments, to help make them more safe, and then stored

deep underground, in secure, concrete lined bunkers, away from humans and without any ability to cause harm to the environment around them. This is at present the best method of dealing with radioactive waste. The waste has a half life of hundreds of years, which means it must be stored for many generations before the radioactivity has decreased to such a level as to be safe. In fact, the greatest danger is that some of the toxic radioactive waste may fall into the hands of terrorists, who could then use this for great harm; for example to construct a 'dirty bomb'. As a result, these sites are always heavily guarded. In conclusion, though it certainly has its disadvantages, nuclear power should be a major part of our energy strategies, and it should not be a problem provided that the waste is properly dealt with.

The principal sources that are of environmental concern are the nuclear weapons and nuclear power reactors in the event of mishaps. Before we consider these hazards in detail we with examine the effects of the nuclear radiations on the life system. A number of nuclear explosions have already been made during recent past in different pa of world. Irrespective of judgments about the ethics of this practice, these tests occurred, injecting substantial amounts of radioactivity into the environment. Nuclear explosions are very rapid and based on a rough estimate, in an explosion about 50 per cent of the energy goes to the blast, 33 per cent as heat and the rest 17 per cent or so to radioactivity. The radioactive dust that falls to the earth after atomic explosion is called radioactive fallout. The estimated percept dose to world population from fallout of past nuclear explosions is 10 microsievert per year. Biological effects of radiations Radioactive substances are among the most toxic substances known. Radium is 25,000 times more lethal than arsenic. The cell, which is the fundamental unit of life, is the primary site of radiation damage. If too many cells are damaged, the symptoms show up in the growing tissues as in the case of loss of hair, ulceration of the mouth, the reddening and hemorrhaging of the skin and lowering of the blood count. If these symptoms grow more severe, death will result. (i) Somatic effects These are the direct results of action of radiation on the body cell and tissues. Uranium mineworkers, painters of radium dials and Radiologists suffer most. These effects may be' immediate or delayed. More evidence of degree and kind of damage from radiation came from studies of the Nagasaki and Hiroshima survivors. If one survives the phase of radiation illness in the 50 to 500 rad. range, the other illness one is likely to become a victim arecardiovascular disorder, cataract, leukemia, sterility, premature ageing and shortenings of life span. All these are somatic effects.

(ii) Genetic effects There is another more serious type of effect of ionizing radiations, known as genetic effect. This arises from the damage to the sex cells. If a sex cell is damaged and if that sex cell is one of the pair that goes into the production of a fertilized ovum, it will give rise to an offspring with various kinds of major or minor physical defects. Radioactive Wastes from Nuclear Power Plants The hazards of radioactive materials stem from their basic characteristic that radiation cannot be detected by sense organs except in massive doses. Further, there is no way of destroying radioactivity. The radioactive waste from nuclear plants may be in form of gases, liquids or solids. There is no suitable and cheap method of storing the radioactive waste. At any time, radioactivity is likely to escape from the waste in water bodies, concrete cases and salt formations in high mountains. The nuclear waste is thus likely to get leached into the biosphere. Among the long-lived fission products the most hazardous are Strontium-90 (half life 28.9y) and caesium- 137 (half life 30.2y). The gaseous fission product iodine-131 (half life 8.1 days) is of hazardous nature in the event of its leakage during reactor operation. The highly toxic alpha-active element plutonium (half life 24,100y) is another reactor product that has to be taken care of. All these elements enter the human system and get deposited in various parts of the body causing cell damage. Some of the radio nuclides in these effluents have long half-lives. Sr-90 is produced in larger amounts than others. Radionuclides have become distributed throughout the environment and are transmitted to man via the food chain. When taken in by man, some radio nuclides become concentrated in specific organs where they become injurious to health. Reactor Accidents (Chernobyl Accident) A reactor is one in which fission of atomic fuel occurs. The power plants are designed in a way that there is no leakage of radioactive materials in any form. However, no nuclear plant is contamination proof. During recent years nuclear power programmes have been beset with problems. These problems have reached a climax with two accidents - Three Mile Island in US in 1979 and Chernobyl in Ukraine (erstwhile USSR) in 1986. These two major accidents have greatly shaken the public's confidence in the inherent safety of nuclear power. Significantly both the accidents were due to human error. The Chernobyl accident was relatively more serious. The radiological impact from the routine operation of nuclear power stations (NPS) is negligible, but concern remains about the consequences of potential accidents. The concerns have increased manifold after the accident at Unit-4 of the Chernobyl NPS is USSR on 26th April, 1986.

The accident occurred during a low power engineering experiment, when safety systems were bypassed. Radioactive gases and dust particles were environmentally released, causing radioactive contamination all around the world in varying intensity. It is estimated that about 7,000 kilograms of highly radioactive material containing iodine-131, strontium-90 and caesium-137 and plutonium as well as other nuclides with a total activity of 50-100 million curies were released in the explosion. The radioactive dust got dispersed over vast areas in Europe, affecting (in addition to USSR), France and even parts of UK. Dose values as high as 760 microsievert per year, has been reported for some European countries following the accident. In the weeks following the accident, fresh vegetables in many parts of Europe showed levels of radioactivity much above the permissible levels. Cattle grazing on contaminated grass were soon producing milk with significant radioactivity. Large populations in the area around the reactor were evacuated. The soil samples from the farmland in the area show radioactivity 170 times the value regarded as tolerable. Some forecasts suggest that the radioactive fallout from Chernobyl could cause as many as 40,000 deaths from cancer world-wide, mainly in Europe. The dominant source of lead in air is petrol, although significant contributions arise frometal works, coal combustion and waste incineration. Lead is emitted in the form of fumeof dust and is a cumulative poison acting on the nervous system.

Marine pollutioN
While marine pollution can be obvious, as with themarine debris shown above, it is often the pollutants that cannot be seen that cause most harm.

Marine pollution occurs when harmful, or potentially harmful effects, can result from the entry into the ocean of chemicals, particles, industrial, agricultural and residential waste, noise, or the spread of invasive organisms. Most sources of marine pollution are land based. The pollution often comes from nonpoint sources such as agricultural runoff and wind blown debris and dust. Many potentially toxic chemicals adhere to tiny particles which are then taken up by plankton and benthos animals, most of which are either deposit or filter feeders. In this way, the toxins are concentrated upwardwithin ocean food chains. Many particles combine chemically in a manner highly depletive of oxygen, causing estuaries to become anoxic. When pesticides are incorporated into the marine ecosystem, they quickly become absorbed into marine food webs. Once in the food webs, these pesticides can cause mutations, as well as diseases, which can be harmful to humans as well as the entire food web. Toxic metals can also be introduced into marine food webs. These can cause a change to tissue matter, biochemistry, behaviour, reproduction, and suppress growth in marine life. Also, many animal feeds have a

high fish meal or fish hydrolysate content. In this way, marine toxins can be transferred to land animals, and appear later in meat and dairy products

Pathways of pollution
There are many different ways to categorize, and examine the inputs of pollution into our marine ecosystems. Patin (n.d.) notes that generally there are three main types of inputs of pollution into the ocean: direct discharge of waste into the oceans, runoff into the waters due to rain, and pollutants that are released from the atmosphere. One common path of entry by contaminants to the sea are rivers. The evaporation of water from oceans exceeds precipitation. The balance is restored by rain over the continents entering rivers and then being returned to the sea. The Hudson in New York State and the Raritan in New Jersey, which empty at the northern and southern ends of Staten Island, are a source of mercury contamination of zooplankton (copepods) in the open ocean. The highest concentration in the filter-feeding copepods is not at the mouths of these rivers but 70 miles south, nearer Atlantic City, because water flows close to the coast. It takes a few days before toxins are taken up by the plankton[2]. Pollution is often classed as point source or nonpoint source pollution. Point source pollution occurs when there is a single, identifiable, and localized source of the pollution. An example is directly discharging sewage and industrial waste into the ocean. Pollution such as this occurs particularly in developing nations. Nonpoint source pollution occurs when the pollution comes from ill-defined and diffuse sources. These can be difficult to regulate. Agricultural runoff and wind blown debris are prime examples.

Direct discharge
Pollutants enter rivers and the sea directly from urban sewerage and industrial waste discharges, sometimes in the form of hazardous and toxic wastes. Inland mining for copper, gold. etc., is another source of marine pollution. Most of the pollution is simply soil, which ends up in rivers flowing to the sea. However, some minerals discharged in the course of the mining can cause problems, such as copper, a common industrial pollutant, which can interfere with the life history and development of coral polyps.[2] Mining has a poor environmental track record. For example, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, mining has contaminated portions of the headwaters of over 40% of watersheds in the western continental US.[3] Much of this pollution finishes up in the sea.

Land runoff
Surface runoff from farming, as well as urban runoff and runoff from the construction of roads, buildings, ports, channels, and harbours, can carry soil and particles laden with carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and minerals. This nutrient-rich water can cause fleshy algae and phytoplankton to thrive in coastal areas; known as algal blooms, which have the potential to create hypoxic conditions by using all available oxygen. Polluted runoff from roads and highways can be a significant source of water pollution in coastal areas. About 75 percent of the toxic chemicals that flow into Puget Sound are carried

by stormwater that runs off paved roads and driveways, rooftops, yards and other developed land.[4]

Ship pollution
Ships can pollute waterways and oceans in many ways. Oil spills can have devastating effects. While being toxic to marine life, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), found in crude oil, are very difficult to clean up, and last for years in the sediment and marine environment.[5] Discharge of cargo residues from bulk carriers can pollute ports, waterways and oceans. In many instances vessels intentionally discharge illegal wastes despite foreign and domestic regulation prohibiting such actions. It has been estimated that container ships lose over 10,000 containers at sea each year (usually during storms).[6] Ships also create noise pollution that disturbs natural wildlife, and water from ballast tanks can spread harmful algae and otherinvasive species.[7] Ballast water taken up at sea and released in port is a major source of unwanted exotic marine life. The invasive freshwater zebra mussels, native to the Black, Caspian and Azov seas, were probably transported to the Great Lakes via ballast water from a transoceanic vessel.[8] Meinesz believes that one of the worst cases of a single invasive species causing harm to an ecosystem can be attributed to a seemingly harmless jellyfish. Mnemiopsis leidyi, a species of comb jellyfish that spread so it now inhabits estuaries in many parts of the world. It was first introduced in 1982, and thought to have been transported to the Black Sea in a ships ballast water. The population of the jellyfish shot up exponentially and, by 1988, it was wreaking havoc upon the local fishing industry. The anchovy catch fell from 204,000 tons in 1984 to 200 tons in 1993; sprat from 24,600 tons in 1984 to 12,000 tons in 1993; horse mackerel from 4,000 tons in 1984 to zero in 1993.[7] Now that the jellyfish have exhausted the zooplankton, including fish larvae, their numbers have fallen dramatically, yet they continue to maintain a stranglehold on the ecosystem. Invasive species can take over once occupied areas, facilitate the spread of new diseases, introduce new genetic material, alter underwater seascapes and jeopardize the ability of native species to obtain food. Invasive species are responsible for about $138 billion annually in lost revenue and management costs in the US alone.[9] Atmospheric

pollution
[10]

Graph linking atmospheric dust to various coral deaths across the Caribbean Sea and Florida

Another pathway of pollution occurs through the atmosphere. Wind blown dust and debris, including plastic bags, are blown seaward from landfills and other areas. Dust from the Sahara moving around the southern periphery of the subtropical ridge moves into the Caribbean and Florida during the warm season as the ridge builds and moves northward through the subtropical Atlantic. Dust can also be attributed to a global transport from the Gobi andTaklamakan deserts across Korea, Japan, and the Northern Pacific to the Hawaiian Islands.[11] Since 1970, dust outbreaks have worsened due to periods of drought in Africa. There is a large variability in dust transport to the Caribbean and Florida from year to year;[12] however, the flux is greater during positive phases of the North Atlantic Oscillation.[13] The USGS links dust events to a decline in the health of coral reefs across the Caribbean and Florida, primarily since the 1970s.[14]

Climate change is raising ocean temperatures[15] and raising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. These rising levels of carbon dioxide are acidifying the oceans.[16] This, in turn, is altering aquatic ecosystems and modifying fish distributions,[17] with impacts on the sustainability of fisheries and the livelihoods of the communities that depend on them. Healthy ocean ecosystems are also important for the mitigation of climate change.[18]

Deep sea mining

Deep sea mining is a relatively new mineral retrieval process that takes place on the ocean floor. Ocean mining sites are usually around large areas of polymetallic nodules or active and extinct hydrothermal vents at about 1,400 - 3,700 meters below the oceans surface.[19] The vents create sulfide deposits, which contain precious metals such as silver, gold, copper, manganese, cobalt, and zinc.[20][21] The deposits are mined using either hydraulic pumps or bucket systems that take ore to the surface to be processed. As with all mining operations, deep sea mining raises questions about environmental damages to the surrounding areas Because deep sea mining is a relatively new field, the complete consequences of full scale mining operations are unknown. However, experts are certain that removal of parts of the sea floor will result in disturbances to the benthic layer, increased toxicity of the water column and sediment plumes from tailings.[20] Removing parts of the sea floor disturbs the habitat of benthic organisms, possibly, depending on the type of mining and location, causing permanent disturbances.[19] Aside from direct impact of mining the area, leakage, spills and corrosion would alter the mining areas chemical makeup. Among the impacts of deep sea mining, sediment plumes could have the greatest impact. Plumes are caused when the tailings from mining (usually fine particles) are dumped back into the ocean, creating a cloud of particles floating in the water. Two types of plumes occur: near bottom plumes and surface plumes.[19] Near bottom plumes occur when the tailings are pumped back down to the mining site. The floating particles increase the turbidity, or cloudiness, of the water, clogging filter-feeding apparatuses used by benthic organisms.[22] Surface plumes cause a more serious problem. Depending on the size of the particles and water currents the plumes could spread over vast areas.[19][23] The plumes could impact zooplankton and light penetration, in turn affecting the food web of the area.[19][23]

Thermal pollution
Thermal pollution is the degradation of water quality by any process that changes ambient water temperature.A common cause of thermal pollution is the use of water as a coolant, stormwater by power plants and industrial manufacturers. When water used as a coolant is returned to the natural environment at a higher temperature, the change in temperature decreases oxygen supply, and affects ecosystem composition. Urban runoffstormwater discharged to surface waters from roads and parking lotscan also be a source of elevated water temperatures. When a power plant first opens or shuts down for repair or other causes, fish and other organisms adapted to particular temperature range can be killed by the abrupt change in water temperature known as "thermal shock."