Following reports in Korea of an increased risk of thyroid cancer among those living near nuclear power plants (NPPs) [1], there has been debate regarding the interpretation of the findings. One suggested explanation is the screening effect on thyroid cancer risk. The basic assumption of this argument is that the screening process increases the number of detected thyroid cancer cases in a popul...

A few reports of increased numbers of leukaemia cases (clusters) in children living in the vicinity of nuclear power plants (NPP) and other nuclear installations have triggered a heated debate over the possible causes of the disease. In this review the most important cases of childhood leukaemia clusters around NPPs are described and analyzed with special emphasis on the relationship between th...

The development of training environments for the operations and maintenance of nuclear power plants is a long process where many components are not reused due to specific characteristics of each power plant. This paper presents an environment formed by a simulation kernel with a set of tools aiming at building reusable components. The simulators are being used for the real-time training of futu...

Contamination of food by chemicals can result from their use on agricultural commodities; accidents or misuse during food handling and processing; nucler weapon testing and operation of nuclear power plants; and disposal of industrial chemicals or by-products with subsequent dispersal into the environment. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as the Federal agency mainly responsible for eval...

Objectives: Radiation monitoring in the environs of Finnish nuclear power plants, which are carried out by the NPP Environmental Laboratory of STUK as a consultant service ordered by the power companies, requires not only implementation of the permanent monitoring programmes, but also more profound study projects which focus on different sectors of the surveillance. The aim of these projects is...

AIM To investigate the association between cancer risk and proximity of place of residence to the Guadalajara nuclear power plants: Trillo and Zorita. METHODS Case-control study. Cases were patients admitted with cancer and controls were non-tumorous patients, both admitted to Guadalajara Hospital (period 1988-99). Exposure factor: place of residence (areas within 10, 20, and 30 km of each pl...

quality assurance programme is often incorrectly interpreted as only a regulatory demand and/or paperwork, with no effective impact in the overall performance of the nuclear project. Over the past decade, however, the nuclear industry has experienced a loss of public confidence stemming from real shortcomings in performance. This has led to dramatic changes in the perception of quality and how ...

The viability of a new generation of nuclear power plants, small modular reactors (SMR), has been studied as a possible way of meeting Alaska’s energy needs in the near to intermediate future. However, in order to understand whether SMRs present a viable option for Alaska, a thorough understanding of the technical, permitting, environmental and economic constraints is required. The intent of th...

The recent publication by Spycher et al. was obviously triggered by concerns over the findings of a previous study in Germany that demonstrated a significant increase in risk for childhood leukaemia with diminishing distance from a nuclear power plant. However, neither the discussion nor the public presentation to the media disclosed that a virtually identical result was obtained in the Swiss e...

FOREWORD The analysis of feedback experience from the operation of nuclear power plants (NPPs) in the past 20 years shows few cases of degradation of the plant safety initiated by external events. However, when these have occurred, the consequences have been serious, involving challenges to the defence in depth of the plant. Part of the problem involves the definition of the design basis parame...