[en] This book describes the papers presented in conference on physics in environmental and biomedical research. The topics covered are: Fusion energy and its environmental impact; underground laboratories; synchrotron radiation in biophysics and medicine; spectroscopy contribution to knowledge of the hemoproteins; x-ray scattering experiments with three-dimensional imaging gas detectors; accelerators in environmental and biomedical research; problems in medicine and biology studied by use of particle accelerators; applications of nuclear physics techniques; emission computed tomography; advanced radiation detectors for biomedical imaging; optical techniques; perspectives of magnetic resonance techniques; imaging and remote sensing; quantitative information in medical imaging; lasers and electromagnetic images for environmental monitoring; model development of medicine; risk assessment of transportation of radioactive material; models in radiological protection; and membrane physics in medicine

[en] Recently at the Italian Institute of Health an interactive algorithm (RANA - Radiological Assessment of Nuclear Accidents) has been developed to evaluate the space and time structure of the radiological consequences of an accident at a nuclear plant in Europe. Individual or collective doses from several exposure paths are calculated, either starting from the source term or from air and ground contamination data. The algorithm, formulated in the language of Mathematica, can be run on a personal computer. After 11 September 2001, the risks associated with nuclear terrorism have been the subject of increasing attention. Three categories of risk have been identified: theft of nuclear material, physical attack or sabotage action onto a nuclear facility or use of one or more radioactive sources in a radiological dispersion device. The above mentioned algorithm has been therefore expanded to allow dealing with an arbitrary source term, as could be the case in a sabotage-induced accident, allowing for both somatic (short distance) and stochastic effects evaluation. Along with the previous functions of RANA, a new set of tools allows the user to evaluate also the areas where doses (from several pathways and to all age classes) exceed those at which onset of deterministic effects begin, a variable that plays a major role in emergency planning. In this paper the radiological risks related to the hypothetical use of radioactive sources in a dispersion device have been evaluated. By means of the improved version of the model, the doses as a function of the distance from the release point, for those sources that may be of concern for use in a dispersion device, are evaluated, taking into account the relevant exposure paths in the early emergency phase. For emergency planning purposes the distances within which the absorbed doses (to bone marrow) exceed the threshold values for deterministic effects have been assessed too. A radiological ranking of the most significant accidents related to a few realistic dispersion devices is proposed. (authors)

[en] The Ginzburg-Landau equations are solved for d>=xi(T), where d is the film thickness and xi(T) the coherence length, so that the parallel critical fields for first kind superconducting films can be calculated. Finally a comparison is given between the theoretical values for Hsub(cF), as a function of temperature and specimen thickness, and the existing experimental data in the intermediate thickness range. (Auth.)

[en] All the nuclear plants in Italy have ended their commercial activity more than 15 years ago and practically since then they are in the decommissioning phase together with other facilities of the nuclear fuel cycle. From the radioprotection point of view, the decommissioning phase has a minor impact than that related to the production phase. For the aspects regarding the general public, liquid discharges and gaseous effluents are at lower levels and accident analyses foresee events at lower scale; for what regards workers, operations with high level-wastes are, in principle, not more demanding in term of radiation doses than several inspection or replacement operations needed in maintenance periods during the commercial life of the nuclear plant. Then, as such, the decommissioning phase does not raise particular radioprotection problems and certainly it is of less radiological risk than the previous phase. There are however other considerations that make this phase of relevant potential risk if actions are not coordinate in a global scheme aiming to solve all the problems that this phase sets. The situation in Italy of temporary depositories of radioactive wastes has already been shown. On the contrary than in almost all European countries Italy has not a licensed centralized repository for low-medium activity wastes, not to speak of HLW. The localisation, on more than 25 places scattered all over the territory, of wastes stemming from medical activity and previous nuclear power activity as well as of spent fuel elements is from the radiological protection point of view far from being an optimised solution. Solidified high activity wastes in glass matrix, resulting from the Italian spent fuel elements reprocessed by BNFL that should be returned to our country, make the problem even worst. The need for the establishment of a national repository for nuclear wastes, raised by technical-scientific institutions long time ago, has become in Italy a shared objective among all institutional bodies in 1997. In that year ENEL application for decommissioning license of its plants with a SAFSTOR approach, deferring the dismantling within 50 years, was rejected by the Ministry of Industry, responsible of the authorization procedure, following similar comments and opinions expressed, in the foreseen licensing procedure by the Ministry of Health, APAT and other administrations. The Ministry of Industry published at the end of 1999 a document addressing 'Strategic Directions for the management of the outcome of the nuclear commercial phase'. Three general objectives with relative time lines were defined. The first two regarded the conditioning of all radioactive wastes present in the national territory and the siting, construction and commissioning of the national repository. These objectives should have been reached within 10 years. The third objective concerns the unrestricted release of the sites where the four nuclear power plants are localized. This last objective should be pursued through an accelerated dismantling (DECON) strategy within 20 years. In the framework of the agreement Stato-Regioni concerning the definition of some initiatives to promote the safe management of radioactive wastes and to select a site for the national repository, an Expert Group composed by 7 members, designed by the Ministries of Industry, Environment and Health as well as by Piedmont, Venetia, Emily-Romagna and Tuscany Regions, prepared a report on 'Conditions for a safe management of radioactive wastes'. Technical problems connected with the setting of clearance levels for all radionuclides of interest must be solved through a specific legislative document taking into account the debate that is developing at European Community and other International institutions and regulatory bodies. The major point to be solved for the decommissioning activities in which Italy is deeply committed is the siting of a national repository for radioactive wastes that should be at the same time an ultimate repository for wastes of categories I and II and a temporary repository for spent fuel elements and wastes of category III. Having solved this problem, the repository must be built and commissioned approximately by 2010, to maintain the objective sets in the 'Strategic Directions' document of the Ministry of Productive Activities to have the unrestricted release of the sites where the four Italian nuclear power plants are located approximately by 2020. Also in Italy one main issue in all these problems is how to build a public consensus. As it is now done in all countries with democratic representative systems, such decision processes cannot be done without an involvement of stakeholders, starting from local communities. There are not realistic and rational shortcuts to this procedure as already been seen in many countries and also in our own country. Italy has not yet a general legislation seeking stakeholders and more specifically public participation in the decision aiding process, then an administrative solution must be found. One possibility is to try to follow the recommendations of the Expert Group set up by the Conferenza Stato-Regioni. Probably this means that the time scale foreseen in the Decree of last December is unrealistic but not any more time must be wasted. In the meantime all the activities concerning the treatment and conditioning of radioactive wastes and dry storage of spent fuel must be considered as primary activities and carried out in a time as short as possible

No abstract available

[en] Type of repository: It is assumed that the disposal structure is similar to the French one in l'Aube or to the Spanish one in El Cabril. The waste are assumed to comply with the ANPA Technical Guide (T.G.) n. 26 and are, therefore, conditioned in a concrete matrix with compression strength of at least 50 Kg/cm². Reference impact: It is assumed that the reference impact produces a conical crater having an angle of 90^o and a depth of 4 m. The cause of the impact is, moreover assumed to be undefined; it could be eventually identified, however, with a plane crash, with the launch of a projectile or with the blast of an internal or external explosive charge. The 4 m deep crater has been chosen as it can be related with an explosive projectile of medium size (discussion at the Hannover Congress on the nuclear underground sites). The volume of material expelled from the crater would then be of about 70 m³ corresponding to a weight of about 140 tons. These values can be compared with the effect of mining explosives and with the effect of a plane crash. The amount of rock (hard limestone rock) demolished in an open air mine is of the order of 7-10 tons of rock per Kg of explosive. The 140 tons of rock considered above would then correspond (in ideal conditions) to about 20 Kg of explosive, an amount to be considered modest. The effect of an aeroplane crash, then, may cause, according to usual assumptions, a load of about 10 000 tons on a surface area of 7 m², corresponding to about 150 Kg/cm²

[en] Full text: After the Chernobyl accident a national emergency plan of protective measures for radiological emergencies has been set up in Italy to cope with nuclear risks which require actions at national level. Since most of the Italian nuclear installations are, at present, not operational, the most relevant nuclear risk sources identified in the national emergency plan stem from accidents in nuclear power plants near the Italian borders or aboard nuclearpropelled ships, or events related to the fall of nuclear-powered satellites and transportation of radioactive materials. The plan identifies a reference scenario for nation-wide emergency interventions and the proper structures to be involved in the radiological emergency. However, risks related to nuclear terrorism are not taken into account in the plan, whereas nuclear plants as well as nuclear materials and sources (in use in medical, scientific and industrial applications) are known to represent potential targets for hostile acts, potentially giving rise to harmful radioactive releases into the atmosphere. Along with four nuclear power plants, now undergoing a decommissioning procedure, several other nuclear facilities, such as provisional radioactive waste deposits or research centers, are present in Italy. Unfortunately not all of the radioactive waste inventory is conditioned in such a way to make a spread of radioactive contamination, as a consequence of a hostile action, unlikely; moreover, spent fuel elements are still kept, in some cases, inside the plant spent fuel storage pool. In this paper the hypothetical radiological impact of deliberate actions against some reference nuclear installations will be evaluated, together with its amplications for an appropriate profiling of the emergency countermeasures which could be required. Especially the case of a terrorism act against a spent fuel storage pool is worked out in some detail, as this event appears to be one of those with the most severe consequences. The radiological evaluations will be carried out by means of the interactive algorithm RANA (Radiological Assessment of Nuclear Accident), worked out to evaluate the space and time structure of the radiological consequences of an accident in a nuclear plant in Europe. RANA makes use of the gaussian model for short and medium distances and of the 'wedge' model for long distances, the weather diffusion conditions being classified according to the Pasquill-Gifford scheme. The algorithm, formulated in the language of Mathematica, can be run on a personal computer. Individual or collective doses from several exposure paths are calculated, either starting from the source terms or from air and ground contamination data. Last developments of the model include the possibility of dealing with an arbitrary source term, as could be the case in a sabotage-induced accident, allowing for both somatic (short distance) and stochastic effects evaluation. (author)

[en] Surface and bulk critical fields in vanadium have been measured up to a reduced temperature t = 0.99. A merging of Hsub(c3) with Hsub(c2) as t → 1 is found. A brief discussion on the consistency of the experimental data for Hsub(c3)/Hsub(c2) with previous theoretical models is presented. (author)

[en] A comparative overview is provided of some major aspects concerning assessment and management of chemical and nuclear risks arising as a consequence of accidents. Statutory procedures for constructing and running nuclear and chemical plants in Italy are discussed in detail. Special attention is given to the major changes that are likely to occur after the adoption of the EEC Council Directive 82/501, designed to prevent major accidents which might result from certain industrial activities and to limit their consequences for humans and their environment. Present status and future trends of accident analysis and risk assessment are also dealt with, and special emphasis is placed on aspects common to both nuclear and chemical plants. Lastly, managerial aspects of contingency planning for, and response to, emergencies and accidents involving toxic chemical and/or ionizing radiations are examined with the aim of identifying more critical steps. (author)

[en] In 1987 a preliminary evaluation of the radiological impact of Chernobyl accident on Italian population was performed. This evaluation took into account both the first year activity levels measured in various matrices and models for the time behavior of radioactive contamination. It comes out that the dose assessment which was then performed is in good agreement with the present evaluation, with some differences that should be noticed. 12 refs, 9 figs, 2 tabs