Projects GNOME and SEDAN : the PLOWSHARE program /

"DNA 6029F."

Safety experiments : November 1955 - March 1958 /

"United States Atmospheric Nuclear Weapons Tests, Nuclear Test Personnel Review."

Operation TUMBLER-SNAPPER, 1952 /

"DNA 6019F."

Operation TEAPOT /

Cover title.

Operation GREENHOUSE, 1951 /

"DNA 6034F."

Operation DOMINIC I, 1962 /

Mode of access: Internet.

Operation WIGWAM /

Cover title.

Operation Sandstone, 1948 /

"DNA 6033F."

Operation Ranger : Shots ABLE, BAKER, EASY, BAKER-2, FOX, 25 January-6 February 1951 /

26 February 1982.

PLUMBBOB series, 1957 /

"DNA 6005F."

The nitrate to ammonia and ceramic (NAC) process for the denitration and immobilization of low-level radioactive liquid waste (LLW)

Hazardous radioactive liquid waste is the legacy of more than 50 years of plutonium production associated with the United States' nuclear weapons program. It is estimated that more than 245,000 tons of nitrate wastes are stored at facilities such as the single-shell tanks (SST) at the Hanford Site in the state of Washington, and the Melton Valley storage tanks at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee. In order to develop an innovative, new technology for the destruction and immobilization of nitrate-based radioactive liquid waste, the United State Department of Energy (DOE) initiated the research project which resulted in the technology known as the Nitrate to Ammonia and Ceramic (NAC) process. However, inasmuch as the nitrate anion is highly mobile and difficult to immobilize, especially in relatively porous cement-based grout which has been used to date as a method for the immobilization of liquid waste, it presents a major obstacle to environmental clean-up initiatives. Thus, in an effort to contribute to the existing body of knowledge and enhance the efficacy of the NAC process, this research involved the experimental measurement of the rheological and heat transfer behaviors of the NAC product slurry and the determination of the optimal operating parameters for the continuous NAC chemical reaction process. Test results indicate that the NAC product slurry exhibits a typical non-Newtonian flow behavior. Correlation equations for the slurry's rheological properties and heat transfer rate in a pipe flow have been developed; these should prove valuable in the design of a full-scale NAC processing plant. The 20-percent slurry exhibited a typical dilatant (shear thickening) behavior and was in the turbulent flow regime due to its lower viscosity. The 40-percent slurry exhibited a typical pseudoplastic (shear thinning) behavior and remained in the laminar flow regime throughout its experimental range. The reactions were found to be more efficient in the lower temperature range investigated. With respect to leachability, the experimental final NAC ceramic waste form is comparable to the final product of vitrification, the technology chosen by DOE to treat these wastes. As the NAC process has the potential of reducing the volume of nitrate-based radioactive liquid waste by as much as 70 percent, it not only promises to enhance environmental remediation efforts but also effect substantial cost savings. ^

Geochemical data and radiocarbon ages of organic matter fractions and bacteriohopanepolyol data of sediment core GeoB6518-1 from the Congo River basin

The age of organic material discharged by rivers provides information about its sources and carbon cycling processes within watersheds. While elevated ages in fluvially-transported organic matter are usually explained by erosion of soils and sediments, it is commonly assumed that mainly young organic material is discharged from flat tropical watersheds due to their extensive plant cover and high carbon turnover. Here we present compound-specific radiocarbon data of terrigenous organic fractions from a sedimentary archive offshore the Congo River in conjunction with molecular markers for methane-producing land cover reflecting wetland extent in the watershed. We find that the Congo River has been discharging aged organic matter for several thousand years with increasing ages from the mid- to the Late Holocene. This suggests that aged organic matter in modern samples is concealed by radiocarbon from nuclear weapons testing. By comparison to indicators for past rainfall changes we detect a systematic control of organic matter sequestration and release by continental hydrology mediating temporary carbon storage in wetlands. As aridification also leads to exposure and rapid remineralization of large amounts of previously stored labile organic matter we infer that this process may cause a profound direct climate feedback currently underestimated in carbon cycle assessments.

Going it alone? North Korea’s adaptability as a small power in a changing world

This article uses small states scholarship to map North Korea’s evolution from a post-colonial small state to a system-influencing state due to its nuclear weapons programme. The framework allows for contributions to: (1) The DPRK literature which in some parts has suggested the future collapse of the state, (2) The small states literature that suggests they can only survive if they integrate larger political and/or economic units, (3) The mainstream IR literature and its dominant realist streak that considers great powers and their will as the main drivers in contemporary world politics.

Plutonium release from Fukushima Daiichi fosters the need for more detailed investigations

The contamination of Japan after the Fukushima accident has been investigated mainly for volatile fission products, but only sparsely for actinides such as plutonium. Only small releases of actinides were estimated in Fukushima. Plutonium is still omnipresent in the environment from previous atmospheric nuclear weapons tests. We investigated soil and plants sampled at different hot spots in Japan, searching for reactor-borne plutonium using its isotopic ratio Pu-240/Pu-239. By using accelerator mass spectrometry, we clearly demonstrated the release of Pu from the Fukushima Daiichi power plant: While most samples contained only the radionuclide signature of fallout plutonium, there is at least one vegetation sample whose isotope ratio (0.381 +/- 0.046) evidences that the Pu originates from a nuclear reactor (Pu239+240 activity concentration 0.49 Bq/kg). Plutonium content and isotope ratios differ considerably even for very close sampling locations, e.g. the soil and the plants growing on it. This strong localization indicates a particulate Pu release, which is of high radiological risk if incorporated.

La pérdida de la condición de persona protegida durante los conflictos armados

La discusión sobre la protección de personas durante el desarrollo de conflictos armados internacionales y no-internacionales, hace parte del ius in bellum, es decir, de las reglas que gobiernan la conducción de hostilidades. Estas reglas pueden dividirse en dos grandes grupos: las que regulan los métodos de combate y las que regulan los medios para combatir2 . El tema que nos ocupa hace parte del primero, en el cual encontramos por ejemplo normas relativas a la regulación internacional del uso de armas y medios de combate, la condena de la perfidia, el tratamiento de los combatientes hors de combat y las obligaciones de las partes al momento de la preparación de las operaciones militares. Dentro de este escenario, toma un lugar central el principio de distinción, el cual es base para discernir sobre quiénes son personas protegidas frente ataques directos y quiénes no. Durante las siguientes líneas desarrollaremos un marco teórico, el cual fundamentará lo que hemos denominado test para el análisis de la pérdida de la condición de persona protegida. Con este test pretendemos facilitar la valoración de las alegaciones presentadas por las partes en aquellos procesos en los que se imputa el delito de “homicidio en persona protegida”.