Download or read book The American West at Risk written by Howard G. Wilshire and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2008-06-05 with total page 634 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The American West at Risk summarizes the dominant human-generated environmental challenges in the 11 contiguous arid western United States - America's legendary, even mythical, frontier. When discovered by European explorers and later settlers, the west boasted rich soils, bountiful fisheries, immense, dense forests, sparkling streams, untapped ore deposits, and oil bonanzas. It now faces depletion of many of these resources, and potentially serious threats to its few "renewable" resources. The importance of this story is that preserving lands has a central role for protecting air and water quality, and water supplies--and all support a healthy living environment. The idea that all life on earth is connected in a great chain of being, and that all life is connected to the physical earth in many obvious and subtle ways, is not some new-age fad, it is scientifically demonstrable. An understanding of earth processes, and the significance of their biological connections, is critical in shaping societal values so that national land use policies will conserve the earth and avoid the worst impacts of natural processes. These connections inevitably lead science into the murkier realms of political controversy and bureaucratic stasis. Most of the chapters in The American West at Risk focus on a human land use or activity that depletes resources and degrades environmental integrity of this resource-rich, but tender and slow-to-heal, western U.S. The activities include forest clearing for many purposes; farming and grazing; mining for aggregate, metals, and other materials; energy extraction and use; military training and weapons manufacturing and testing; road and utility transmission corridors; recreation; urbanization; and disposing of the wastes generated by everything that we do. We focus on how our land-degrading activities are connected to natural earth processes, which act to accelerate and spread the damages we inflict on the land. Visit www.theamericanwestatrisk.com to learn more about the book and its authors.

Download or read book Long Term Institutional Management of U S Department of Energy Legacy Waste Sites written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2000-11-09 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is now becoming clear that relatively few U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) waste sites will be cleaned up to the point where they can be released for unrestricted use. "Long-term stewardship" (activities to protect human health and the environment from hazards that may remain at its sites after cessation of remediation) will be required for over 100 of the 144 waste sites under DOE control (U.S. Department of Energy, 1999). After stabilizing wastes that remain on site and containing them as well as is feasible, DOE intends to rely on stewardship for as long as hazards persistâ€"in many cases, indefinitely. Physical containment barriers, the management systems upon which their long-term reliability depends, and institutional controls intended to prevent exposure of people and the environment to the remaining site hazards, will have to be maintained at some DOE sites for an indefinite period of time. The Committee on Remediation of Buried and Tank Wastes finds that much regarding DOE's intended reliance on long-term stewardship is at this point problematic. The details of long-term stewardship planning are yet to be specified, the adequacy of funding is not assured, and there is no convincing evidence that institutional controls and other stewardship measures are reliable over the long term. Scientific understanding of the factors that govern the long-term behavior of residual contaminants in the environment is not adequate. Yet, the likelihood that institutional management measures will fail at some point is relatively high, underscoring the need to assure that decisions made in the near term are based on the best available science. Improving institutional capabilities can be expected to be every bit as difficult as improving scientific and technical ones, but without improved understanding of why and how institutions succeed and fail, the follow-through necessary to assure that long-term stewardship remains effective cannot reliably be counted on to occur. Long-Term Institutional Management of U.S. Department of Energy Legacy Waste Sites examines the capabilities and limitations of the scientific, technical, and human and institutional systems that compose the measures that DOE expects to put into place at potentially hazardous, residually contaminated sites.

Download or read book The Office of Environmental Management Technical Reports written by and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 972 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Alternatives for Ground Water Cleanup written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1994-02-01 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There may be nearly 300,000 waste sites in the United States where ground water and soil are contaminated. Yet recent studies question whether existing technologies can restore contaminated ground water to drinking water standards, which is the goal for most sites and the result expected by the public. How can the nation balance public health, technological realities, and cost when addressing ground water cleanup? This new volume offers specific conclusions, outlines research needs, and recommends policies that are technologically sound while still protecting health and the environment. Authored by the top experts from industry and academia, this volume: Examines how the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the subsurface environment, as well as the properties of contaminants, complicate the cleanup task. Reviews the limitations of widely used conventional pump-and-treat cleanup systems, including detailed case studies. Evaluates a range of innovative cleanup technologies and the barriers to their full implementation. Presents specific recommendations for policies and practices in evaluating contamination sites, in choosing remediation technologies, and in setting appropriate cleanup goals.

Download or read book Plans and Practices for Groundwater Protection at the Los Alamos National Laboratory written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2007-10-18 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The world's first nuclear bomb was a developed in 1954 at a site near the town of Los Alamos, New Mexico. Designated as the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in 1981, the 40-square-mile site is today operated by Log Alamos National Security LLC under contract to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Like other sites in the nation's nuclear weapons complex, the LANL site harbors a legacy of radioactive waste and environmental contamination. Radioactive materials and chemical contaminants have been detected in some portions of the groundwater beneath the site. Under authority of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the State of New Mexico regulates protection of its water resources through the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED). In 1995 NMED found LANL's groundwater monitoring program to be inadequate. Consequently LANL conducted a detailed workplan to characterize the site's hydrogeology in order to develop an effective monitoring program. The study described in Plans and Practices for Groundwater Protection at the Los Alamos National Laboratory: Final Report was initially requested by NNSA, which turned to the National Academies for technical advice and recommendations regarding several aspects of LANL's groundwater protection program. The DOE Office of Environmental Management funded the study. The study came approximately at the juncture between completion of LANL's hydrogeologic workplan and initial development of a sitewide monitoring plan.

Download or read book Los Alamos Science written by and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 522 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Monitored Natural Attenuation of Inorganic Contaminants in Ground Water written by and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: V.3 ... consists of individual chapters that describe 1) the conceptual background for radionuclides, including tritium, radon, strontium, technetium, uranium, iodine, radium, thorium, cesium, plutonium-americium and 2) data requirements to be met during site characterization.

Download or read book Natural Attenuation for Groundwater Remediation written by Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2000-08-31 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the past decade, officials responsible for clean-up of contaminated groundwater have increasingly turned to natural attenuation-essentially allowing naturally occurring processes to reduce the toxic potential of contaminants-versus engineered solutions. This saves both money and headaches. To the people in surrounding communities, though, it can appear that clean-up officials are simply walking away from contaminated sites. When is natural attenuation the appropriate approach to a clean-up? This book presents the consensus of a diverse committee, informed by the views of researchers, regulators, and community activists. The committee reviews the likely effectiveness of natural attenuation with different classes of contaminants-and describes how to evaluate the "footprints" of natural attenuation at a site to determine whether natural processes will provide adequate clean-up. Included are recommendations for regulatory change. The committee emphasizes the importance of the public's belief and attitudes toward remediation and provides guidance on involving community stakeholders throughout the clean-up process. The book explores how contamination occurs, explaining concepts and terms, and includes case studies from the Hanford nuclear site, military bases, as well as other sites. It provides historical background and important data on clean-up processes and goes on to offer critical reviews of 14 published protocols for evaluating natural attenuation.

Download or read book Dissertation Abstracts International written by and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 902 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Environmental Consequences of the Chernobyl Accident and Their Remediation written by International Atomic Energy Agency and published by IAEA. This book was released on 2006 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The explosion on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the consequent reactor fire resulted in an unprecedented release of radioactive material from a nuclear reactor and adverse consequences for the public and the environment. Although the accident occurred nearly two decades ago, controversy still surrounds the real impact of the disaster. Therefore the IAEA, in cooperation with other UN bodies, the World Bank, as well as the competent authorities of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, established the Chernobyl Forum in 2003. The mission of the Forum was to generate 'authoritative consensual statements' on the environmental consequences and health effects attributable to radiation exposure arising from the accident as well as to provide advice on environmental remediation and special health care programmes, and to suggest areas in which further research is required. This report presents the findings and recommendations of the Chernobyl Forum concerning the environmental effects of the Chernobyl accident.

Download or read book Vadose Zone Processes written by John S. Selker and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 1999-06-28 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Vadose Zone Processes provides a unified, up-to-date treatment on the movement of water through unsaturated media. In addition to covering the basic equations governing the flow and fate of water in unsaturated media, the text covers the biogeochemistry of vadose environments and the statistical description of vadose processes. The authors emphasize maintaining an intuitive understanding of how the results are derived and how they are appropriately applied. This comprehensive and important book will be useful not only to those in traditional fields such as civil engineering, geology, crop science, chemical engineering, agricultural engineering, and hydrology but also in the newer environmental engineering fields including containment transport, pollution remediation, and waste disposal.

Download or read book INIS Atomindex written by and published by . This book was released on 1985 with total page 1434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Energy Research Abstracts written by and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book United States Nuclear Tests written by and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This document lists chronologically and alphabetically by name all nuclear tests and simultaneous detonations conducted by the United States from July 1945 through September 1992. Two nuclear weapons that the United States exploded over Japan ending World War II are not listed. These detonations were not "tests" in the sense that they were conducted to prove that the weapon would work as designed (as was the first test near Alamogordo, New Mexico on July 16, 1945), or to advance nuclear weapon design, or to determine weapons effects, or to verify weapon safety as were the more than one thousand tests that have taken place since June 30,1946. The nuclear weapon (nicknamed "Little Boy") dropped August 6,1945 from a United States Army Air Force B-29 bomber (the Enola Gay) and detonated over Hiroshima, Japan had an energy yield equivalent to that of 15,000 tons of TNT. The nuclear weapon (virtually identical to "Fat Man") exploded in a similar fashion August 9, 1945 over Nagaski, Japan had a yield of 21,000 tons of TNT. Both detonations were intended to end World War II as quickly as possible. Data on United States tests were obtained from, and verified by, the U.S. Department of Energy's three weapons laboratories -- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California; and Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico; and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Additionally, data were obtained from public announcements issued by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and its successors, the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration, and the U.S. Department of Energy, respectively.

Download or read book Soil Screening Guidance written by and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Disposition of High Level Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2001-07-05 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focused attention by world leaders is needed to address the substantial challenges posed by disposal of spent nuclear fuel from reactors and high-level radioactive waste from processing such fuel. The biggest challenges in achieving safe and secure storage and permanent waste disposal are societal, although technical challenges remain. Disposition of radioactive wastes in a deep geological repository is a sound approach as long as it progresses through a stepwise decision-making process that takes advantage of technical advances, public participation, and international cooperation. Written for concerned citizens as well as policymakers, this book was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and waste management organizations in eight other countries.

Download or read book The Environmental Behaviour of Polonium written by International Atomic Energy Agency and published by . This book was released on 2018-01-31 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Polonium-210 is an alpha emitting radionuclide with no radioactive progeny and produces only very-low-intensity gamma rays at very low abundance. This means doses largely arise from internal exposure. In addition to the relatively high ingestion does coefficient of 210Po, radionuclide transfer in the environment results in high activity concentrations in certain foods. This publication focuses on radionuclide transfers in terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments, and provides information on key transfer processes, concepts and models--back cover.