[en] The purpose of this study was to measure radon concentration in public primary schools located in priority investigation areas, with the aim of decreasing occupants' exposure to radon in public buildings where concentrations exceed the Canadian Federal guidelines (i.e. 200 Bq m^-3). In addition, the association between radon levels, substratum geological characteristics and schools' structural characteristics were investigated. The results showed that radon concentrations measured in the 65 investigated schools are generally below the Federal guideline levels. Eleven schools (17 %) had at least one measurement above the Federal guideline, while one had a level above 600 Bq m^-3. On average, targeted schools' occupants are exposed to radon concentrations of 56 Bq m^-3. Although statistical analysis, which was limited by the sample size, did not show any link between aggregated radon measurements and geochemical or radiological signatures of investigated sites, the geological evidence that led to the choice of the studied regions remains relevant. (authors)

[en] The Nuclear Technology Laboratory of the Aristotle Univ. of Thessaloniki has since 1999 an open research project of indoor radon measurements in Greek workplaces. Since now 1380 measurements in 690 workplaces have been performed. Most (75 %) of the workplaces were offices in schools. The remaining 25 % were offices, mainly in public buildings. In the present study, a possible correlation between radon concentration in schools and other workplaces is investigated and discussed. (authors)

[en] The implementation of Public-Private Partnerships in infrastructure projects in Colombia has proven to be an efficient and innovative opportunity in the execution and management of projects that contribute to the development of the country.

[en] The 600 MeV synchrocyclotron (SC) was the first accelerator designed, built and operated by CERN, in operation from 1957 until 1990. In 2010, after 20 years of radioactive decay, it was decided - rather than undertaking a complete decommissioning - to convert the building into a Visit Point, leaving the accelerator in place. The 'SC project' started with a preliminary phase that achieved a full radiological characterisation of the vault, and in 3 operational phases: 1) the radiological clean up and decommissioning of all obsolete equipment and material, 2) the refurbishment of the building and 3) the design and installation of a visitors' area with a multi-media exhibition. The new SC Visit Point was inaugurated on 19. June 2014 as part of the celebrations of CERN 60. anniversary, and named Historic Site by the European Physical Society. (author)

[en] This contribution highlights that the paper presented by Ma et al. (Nat Hazards 89(2):741–756, 2017) presents VIF lower than 1 which does not coincide with the natural definition of VIF and clarifies how to detect collinearity after the application of the ridge estimator and how the results can be analyzed. Thus, this contribution allows empirical conclusions to be founded on a rigorously well-applied methodology.

[en] The implementation of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in infrastructure projects involves the private sector and the public sector. The participation of the first one is widely documented, however, the role of the second one has not been rigorously studied.

[en] Owing to differences in geology, radon in Belgium is recognised to be a more serious problem in the southern part of the country than in the northern part. From national and regional surveys, it became clear that in the province of Luxembourg indoor radon concentrations exceeding the European reference level of 400 Bq.m^-3 frequently occur. As many people (children as well as adults) spend an important part of the day indoors at school or at work, it was decided by the local authorities to conduct a more systematic survey. In all schools and public buildings, measurements with integrating etched track devices have been performed. The results of these campaigns are discussed and a limiting scheme for radon in schools and public buildings, based mainly upon the existing Belgian regulations for protecting against ionising radiation is presented. (author)

[en] To estimate annual average concentrations in Korean dwellings and the effective dose to the general public, nationwide surveys on radon were conducted in 1989, 1999-2013; 2000 and 2002-2005. The total number of dwellings was about 5600. A survey of thoron and its decay products was also conducted in 2002-2005. In 2008-2009, a new radon survey in 1100 public buildings was conducted. The annual arithmetic (AM) and geometric (GM) means of indoor radon concentration in total were 62.1 ± 66.4 and 49.0 ± 1.9 Bq m^-3, respectively. The annual AM and GM means of indoor thoron concentrations were 40.4 ± 56.0 and 10.7 ± 2.9 Bq m^-3, respectively. The radon and thoron concentrations in detached houses were much higher than those in apartments. The locations of the high radon or thoron houses seem to be correlated with the concentrations of their parent nuclides in surface soil. The mean individual doses of radon and thoron were calculated to be 1.65 and 0.17 mSv y^-1, respectively. (authors)

[en] Kuta Alam Sub District has many potential hazards, especially from the sea. The location of the area that is directly adjacent to the sea causes it to be very vulnerable to tsunami. Its topography is lowland less than 1 meter above the sea-level. Tsunami in 2004 had taken a great number of people lives in the area about 14.95 % of the total number of inhabitants which is 55,030 people that time. However, there is still no any evacuation building available in Kuta Alam to escape from Tsunami. We know tsunami which might be occurred anytime unpredictable. In order to save people’s lives, it is needed to conduct a study to find alternatives buildings to be used for evacuation and rescue in the area. The aim of this study to identify the locations and number of alternative buildings that are potential as the tsunami evacuation building in Kuta Alam Sub-district. The study used the survey system toward the buildings with qualitative and quantitative approaches. Data analyzing is conducted spatially through geographic information systems. Based on observation results toward evacuation building in Kuta Alam Sub-district, there are some buildings renovated in order to be functioned as tsunami evacuation buildings. The renovation should be done on roof, school, and ladder evacuation of the mosque that are selected as evacuation buildings. Until today, those buildings have not been renovated to be eligible as evacuation places. The result found that there are 45 public buildings that can be used for alternative evacuation buildings in Kuta Alam Sub-district. That can accommodate 94.06 % of the total number of people this time which is 49,011 people. (paper)

[en] Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA), DOE/EA-0789, evaluating the environmental impacts of construction and operation of a Biomedical Research Institute (BRI) at the Louisiana State University (LSU) Medical Center, Shreveport, Louisiana. The purpose of the BRI is to accelerate the development of biomedical research in cardiovascular disease, molecular biology, and neurobiology. Based on the analyses in the EA, DOE has determined that the proposed action does not constitute a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Therefore, the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement is not required