UN agency: Source of radioactivity in Nordics still unclear











International Conference on Nuclear Physics




The International Atomic Energy Agency's director general, Rafael Grossi, said in a statement late Monday that "the levels reported to the IAEA are very low and pose no risk to human health and the environment."










The UN nuclear agency says slightly elevated levels of radioactivity that have been detected in northern Europe pose no risk to human health or to the environment but it’s still unclear what the cause was.

The Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish radiation and nuclear safety watchdogs said last week that they had spotted small amounts of radioactive isotopes in parts of Finland, southern Scandinavia and the Arctic.

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s director general, Rafael Grossi, said in a statement late Monday that “the levels reported to the IAEA are very low and pose no risk to human health and the environment.”


The Vienna-based agency contacted European countries on Saturday to request information.

It said that, by Monday afternoon, 29 had voluntarily reported that nothing had happened on their territory that might have caused the concentrations of isotopes in the air. A few countries outside Europe reported similar findings.

Russia wasn’t on the list of countries that had reported back to the IAEA by Monday.

“I expect more member states to provide relevant information and data to us, and we will continue to inform the public”, Grossi said.

The Netherlands’ National Institute for Public Health and the Environment said Friday the isotopes may be from a source in Russia and “may indicate damage to a fuel element in a nuclear power plant.” Russia’s state nuclear power operator, however, said the two nuclear power plants in northwestern Russia haven’t reported any problems.




#NuclearPower: Refers to discussions and content related to the use of nuclear energy for electricity generation. This can include advancements in nuclear technology, debates about its safety, environmental impact, and the role of nuclear power in the energy mix.


#NuclearWeapons: Focuses on discussions about nuclear weapons, including disarmament efforts, non-proliferation agreements, nuclear deterrence, and geopolitical implications. This can also include discussions about nuclear tests and arms control treaties.


#NuclearSafety: Pertains to the safety measures, regulations, and protocols associated with nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities. It involves discussions about preventing accidents, managing radioactive waste, and ensuring the secure operation of nuclear facilities.


#NuclearAccidents: Relates to incidents involving nuclear facilities, such as accidents, leaks, or meltdowns. This can encompass events like the Chernobyl disaster or the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, as well as discussions about lessons learned and the long-term consequences of such accidents.


#NuclearPolicy: Covers discussions about national and international policies related to nuclear energy and weapons. This can include debates on nuclear energy expansion, government regulations, diplomatic negotiations, and strategic decision-making regarding nuclear weapons.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New lithium-based scintillator crystal for detecting radiation can distinguish between neutrons and gamma rays

Image
Security concerns over radioactive materials have persisted for many years. Airports and other public locations now routinely employ radiation detectors, and nuclear regulators need to be able to monitor the levels of subatomic particles like neutrons. Now, a team of researchers led by the University of Tsukuba has tested a new method of scintillation radiation detection based on wavelength information rather than waveform.In a study published this month in Progress of Theoretical and Experimental Physics, researchers from the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences at the University of Tsukuba showed how to detect and distinguish between neutron and gamma-ray sources using data from scintillator emission wavelengths . Often, detectors known as scintillators are used for this purpose. The physical principle of scintillation is similar to the more familiar types of glow-in-the-dark phenomena, such as fluorescence and phosphorescence. In regular fluorescence, a UV photon excites an electron...
Read more

Dynamic nuclear polarization: how a technique from particle physics is transforming medical imaging

Image
An experimental technique that started life in nuclear and particle physics is now being used to measure chemical reactions inside the human body and to help diagnose cancer and heart disease in almost 50 clinical trials. Jack Miller charts the unexpected rise of dynamic nuclear polarization, which is vastly improving the quality of magnetic resonance imaging Life, for physicists, is an odd thing, seeming to create order in a universe that mostly tends towards disorder. At a biochemical level, life is even stranger – controlled and thermodynamically powered by a myriad of different molecules that most of us have probably never heard of. In fact, there’s one molecule – pyruvic acid – that’s crucial in keeping us alive. When burned, pyruvic acid releases carbon dioxide and water. If you’re exercising hard and your muscles are running low on oxygen, it’s converted anaerobically into lactic acid, which can give you a painful stitch. Later, your liver recycles the lactic acid back into suga...
Read more

Companies Cooperate to Upgrade Laser System of ELI for Nuclear Physics

Image
Advanced technology corporation Thales has partnered with German fusion technology company Marvel Fusion and the ELI-NP (Extreme Light Infrastructure - Nuclear Physics) in Romania to upgrade the laser system and to perform research relevant to nuclear fusion as a future energy source. Over the course of 2023, the partners intend to enhance parameters of the laser system, such as the temporal laser pulse contrast, to enable unique research capabilities of laser-based fusion processes. As part of an ongoing cooperation with ELI-NP, Thales will supply a new stretcher unit that is used to stretch laser pulses over time, which initially reduces their peak power. The stretched, less powerful pulses can then be amplified and then compressed again. This process is part of the chirped pulse amplification, the development of which earned Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou the Nobel Prize in physics in 2018. Mourou is part of Marvel Fusion’s Science and Technology Board. Marvel Fusion, which wil...
Read more