| Nuclear Power Generation - Past, Present and Future | p. 1 |
| Introduction | p. 2 |
| Origins of Nuclear Power: The Nuclear Weapons Programme | p. 2 |
| Expansion of Nuclear Power | p. 7 |
| A Period of Decline | p. 12 |
| A Nuclear Renaissance? Possibilities and Challenges | p. 15 |
| Uranium: A Sustainable Energy Source? | p. 20 |
| Nuclear Power Economics | p. 22 |
| Shortages in Skilled Labour and Materials | p. 25 |
| Nuclear Safety | p. 26 |
| Nuclear Waste Disposal and Decommissioning Nuclear Plants | p. 28 |
| Proliferation Risks | p. 31 |
| Conclusions | p. 33 |
| References | p. 34 |
| Nuclear Fuel Cycles: Interfaces with the Environment | p. 40 |
| Nuclear Fission as an Energy Resource | p. 40 |
| Nuclear Fuel | p. 41 |
| Uranium Mining | p. 41 |
| Uranium Fuel Production and Use | p. 42 |
| Modern Civil Reactor Fuels | p. 43 |
| Plutonium | p. 43 |
| Irradiation of Nuclear Fuel | p. 44 |
| Alternative Fuels | p. 44 |
| Uranium/Plutonium Fast Reactors | p. 44 |
| Highly Enriched Uranium | p. 45 |
| Thorium | p. 45 |
| Nuclear Fuel Recycling | p. 45 |
| Separation of Uranium and Plutonium | p. 46 |
| Other Reasons to Reprocess | p. 46 |
| Historical Reprocessing Technologies | p. 47 |
| Precipitation Processes | p. 47 |
| Purex | p. 48 |
| Wastes from Fuel Reprocessing | p. 49 |
| Other Solvent Extraction Processes | p. 49 |
| Waste Management Options | p. 49 |
| The UK Waste Inventory | p. 51 |
| Impact of the "Global Nuclear Renaissance" | p. 52 |
| Growth in Demand | p. 52 |
| Implications for the Fuel Cycle | p. 53 |
| Conclusions | p. 54 |
| Acknowledgements | p. 55 |
| References | p. 55 |
| Nuclear Accidents | p. 57 |
| Introduction | p. 58 |
| The 1957 Windscale Fire | p. 58 |
| Events Leading to the Accident | p. 58 |
| Environmental Contamination | p. 60 |
| Radiation Exposures and Health Impacts | p. 62 |
| Social and Psychological Consequences | p. 62 |
| The Kyshtym Explosion | p. 63 |
| Events Leading to the Accident | p. 63 |
| Environmental Contamination | p. 63 |
| Radiation Exposures and their Environmental and Health Impacts | p. 64 |
| Social and Psychological Impacts | p. 67 |
| Three-Mile Island | p. 67 |
| Events Leading to the Accident | p. 67 |
| Environmental Contamination | p. 68 |
| Radiation Exposures and their Environmental and Health Impacts | p. 68 |
| Social and Psychological Impacts | p. 70 |
| The Chernobyl Accident | p. 71 |
| Events Leading to the Accident | p. 71 |
| Environmental Contamination | p. 71 |
| Radiation Exposures and their Environmental and Health Impacts | p. 73 |
| Social and Psychological Impacts | p. 76 |
| Conclusions | p. 76 |
| References | p. 78 |
| Management of Land Contaminated by the Nuclear Legacy | p. 82 |
| Introduction | p. 83 |
| Contamination at Worldwide Nuclear Facilities | p. 83 |
| United Kingdom | p. 84 |
| Sellafield | p. 84 |
| Dounreay | p. 90 |
| Russia | p. 91 |
| Mayak | p. 91 |
| United States of America | p. 92 |
| Rocky Flats | p. 93 |
| Oak Ridge | p. 94 |
| Hanford | p. 95 |
| Depleted Uranium | p. 97 |
| Remediation | p. 98 |
| Bioremediation | p. 98 |
| Chemical Redox Reactions | p. 103 |
| Permeable Reactive Barrier | p. 104 |
| Sediment Washing | p. 104 |
| Electrokinetic Remediation | p. 105 |
| Case Studies | p. 106 |
| Hanford Case Study | p. 106 |
| Rifle Case Study | p. 107 |
| Oak Ridge Case Study | p. 109 |
| Conclusions | p. 110 |
| Acknowledgements | p. 110 |
| References | p. 110 |
| Decommissioning of Nuclear Sites | p. 116 |
| Introduction | p. 116 |
| The Goal of Decommissioning | p. 116 |
| Stages of Decommissioning | p. 118 |
| The Scale of the Decommissioning Challenge in the UK | p. 119 |
| Decommissioning Techniques | p. 121 |
| Selection of a Decommissioning Approach | p. 123 |
| Environmental Impacts of Decommissioning | p. 124 |
| Conclusions | p. 127 |
| References | p. 127 |
| Geodisposal of Higher Activity Wastes | p. 129 |
| Introduction | p. 129 |
| Radioactive Wastes | p. 130 |
| High Level Wastes | p. 130 |
| Intermediate Level Waste | p. 131 |
| Low Level Waste | p. 132 |
| Other Potential Wastes | p. 132 |
| Geological Disposal | p. 132 |
| The GDF Concept | p. 132 |
| International Experience | p. 134 |
| Suitable Host Geologies | p. 134 |
| Engineering Approaches | p. 141 |
| Implementing the UK GDF | p. 142 |
| Historical Perspective, Public Consultation, Policy Decisions, and Responsibilities | p. 142 |
| Guiding Principles and Timeline | p. 142 |
| Site Selection | p. 143 |
| Inventory of Geodisposal Wastes | p. 144 |
| Conditioning and Packaging of Geodisposal Wastes | p. 145 |
| Interim Storage of Geodisposal Wastes | p. 146 |
| Reference Scenarios | p. 147 |
| Environmental Chemistry Research Challenges in Geological Disposal | p. 148 |
| Acknowledgements | p. 150 |
| References | p. 150 |
| Pathways of Radioactive Substances in the Environment | p. 152 |
| Introduction | p. 153 |
| Sources of Radionuclides in the Environment | p. 154 |
| Nuclear Weapons | p. 154 |
| Nuclear Fuel Cycle | p. 155 |
| Depleted Uranium | p. 156 |
| Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material | p. 157 |
| Accidental Release | p. 157 |
| Environmental Chemistry of Key Contaminants | p. 158 |
| Processes and Factors affecting Radionuclide Transport in the Atmosphere | p. 159 |
| Processes and Factors affecting Radionuclide Transport in Aquatic Systems | p. 161 |
| Sorption to Mineral Surfaces | p. 162 |
| Redox Reactions | p. 164 |
| Complexation Reactions | p. 166 |
| (Co-)Precipitation | p. 169 |
| Colloidal Transport | p. 169 |
| Conclusions | p. 170 |
| References | p. 170 |
| Radiation Protection of the Environment: A Summary of Current Approaches for Assessment of Radionuclides in Terrestrial Ecosystems | p. 177 |
| Introduction | p. 178 |
| Radiation Protection of Wildlife | p. 178 |
| Environmental Transfer in Terrestrial Ecosystems | p. 180 |
| Atmospheric Deposition | p. 181 |
| Radionuclides in Soil | p. 181 |
| Radionuclide Transfer to Plants | p. 182 |
| Quantification of Transfer to Plants | p. 183 |
| Radionuclide Transfer to Terrestrial Animals | p. 183 |
| Gastrointestinal Absorption | p. 184 |
| Radionuclide Distribution in Animals | p. 185 |
| Quantification of Transfer to Animals | p. 185 |
| Dosimetry for Wildlife | p. 186 |
| Dose Rate Calculation | p. 188 |
| Effects on Wildlife | p. 189 |
| Environmental Radiological Protection | p. 190 |
| Benchmarks for Wildlife Assessment | p. 191 |
| The ICRP's Derived Consideration Reference Levels | p. 191 |
| Alternative Approaches used in Radiological Risk Assessments | p. 192 |
| Acknowledgements | p. 194 |
| References | p. 194 |
| Radiological Protection of Workers and the General Public | p. 199 |
| Introduction | p. 200 |
| The Health Effects of Radiation | p. 202 |
| The Scientific Framework for the Protection of Humans | p. 205 |
| The ICRP's System of Protection | p. 207 |
| Justification | p. 210 |
| Optimisation | p. 211 |
| Dose Limits | p. 212 |
| Dose Constraints and Reference Levels | p. 212 |
| Radiation Protection in Practice in the UK | p. 214 |
| Radiation Exposure of Workers | p. 215 |
| Radiation Exposure of the Public | p. 216 |
| Experience Gained from Nuclear Accidents Outside the UK | p. 218 |
| Conclusions | p. 221 |
| References | p. 221 |
| Subject Index | p. 223 |
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