ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Environmental studies overview

• Investigation of radionuclide distribution and dispersion in the marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments
• Studies of the impact of radionuclide releases from nuclear and non-nuclear establishments
• Public reassurance monitoring programmes
• High precision isotopic ratio measurements for source apportionment studies
• Sediment accumulation rate measurements
• Use of radionuclides in environmental process studies

Studies include:

• Uptake of ⁵⁵Fe in marine sediments and biota
• Accumulation of COGEMA-La Hague derived reprocessing wastes in French saltmarsh sediments
• Decline of radionuclides in the nearshore environment following nuclear reactor closure.
• Severn Estuary tritium (OBT) dispersion studies
• Greenham Common uranium & plutonium isotopic study
• AWE Independent U & Pu Environmental Survey
• Distribution of ⁹⁹Tc in marine sediments
• Distribution of alpha emitting radionuclides in intertidal sediments
• Mechanisms for the deposition of short lived NOR and their impact on nuclear site environmental monitoring programmes
• Radioactive particle degradation rates in sands under simulated marine conditions

Public Sector Radiation Monitoring

• Regional monitoring in S. England and N. Ireland since 1980
• Design and implementation of regional sampling programs
• Routine analysis of widely ranging environmental samples
• Maintain capability for rapid response to incidents

GAU-Radioanalytical Laboratories manage and provide a radiation monitoring capability for two local authority consortia in Southern England and Northern Ireland. It has provided this service for 20 years and 10 years respectively (www.sermg.org.uk and www.nirmg.org.uk). The programmes arose as a result of local authorities choosing to have an independent monitoring capability.

Studies include:

• Southern England Radiation Monitoring Group
• Northern Ireland Radiation Monitoring Group
• Orkney Radiation Monitoring

Please refer to our brochure for further information. This can be found on our downloads page.