The Environmental Sciences Division effort is directed toward
furthering the understanding of the health, environmental, and societal
consequences of energy-related activities.
The scope includes aquatic
and terrestrial ecology, studies of physical, chemical and biological
processes, identification and characterization of pollutants, evaluations
of control and mitigation measures, development of instrumentation, and
assessments of energy-related impacts.
Related to nuclear energy,
the studies concentrate on the transport
and long-term environmental behavior of plutonium and other selected
radionuclides.
Included are studies of the coastal and oceanic behavior
of radionuclides, of their uptake and transfer through food pathways, of
their biogeochemical cycling,
and of the several radiological exposure
pathways to man.
The investigations, along with related monitoring
activities, are being carried out in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, the.
Marshall Islands, the Nevada Test Site, and the environment of nuclear
installations.
In support of these efforts, measurement and monitoring
instrumentation is being developed.
Information derived from these
activities and the available literature is used in preparing evaluations
of potential radiological doses and recommendations for mitigation
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measures.
In nonnuclear energy areas, similarly integrated approaches toward
source terms, pathways, dosimetry, and assessment are being applied to
'a wide spectrum of problems.
These activities include identification
and characterization of effluents from direct combustion of coal and
in situ conversion of coal and oil shale, studies of the transfer of
contaminants through food pathways, identification of mechanisms and
diagnostics for pollutant impacts on plants and plant ecosystems,
investigation of the ecological effects of off-shore petroleum exploitation,
monitoring and studies of the atmosphere, water quality, and ecosystems at
geothermal and fossil-fuel development sites, and various problems in
assessment and evaluation of the consequences of energy-related activities.
Of major importance are the integrated environmental assessments of
radiological dose commitments attendant to rehabitation of the Marshall
Islands.
Other comprehensive integrated assessments are being extended
to in situ fossil fuel and other nuclear and geothermal sites.
Significant accomplishments planned for Fiscal Years 1980 through
1982 include:
Fiscal Year 1980
®
Completion of preliminary assessment activites for high priority
a
Known Geothermal Resource Areas.