The geological disposal of spent nuclear fuel may represent a good solution after a thorough risk assessment. In Finland and Sweden, the host rock for geological disposal is crystalline rock and the repository is based on the Swedish KBS-3 multi-barrier design. When radionuclides from spent nuclear fuel are potentially released into the bedrock, they are then transported by advection along wate...

Radionuclides of caesium are environmentally important since they are formed as significant high yield fission products (Cs and Cs) and activation products (Cs and Cs) during nuclear fission. They originate from a range of nuclear activities such as weapons testing, nuclear reprocessing and nuclear fuel cycle discharges and nuclear accidents. Whilst Cs, Cs and Cs are routinely measurable at hig...

We present an experimental and numerical study of the effects of decoherence on a quantum system whose classical analogue has Kolmogorov-Arnol’d-Moser (KAM) tori in its phase space. Atoms are prepared in a caesium magneto-optical trap at temperatures and densities which necessitate a quantum description. This real quantum system is coupled to the environment via spontaneous emission. The degree...

We present experimental results showing that a dark state with finite lifetime, a grey state, becomes darker the more the atom is exposed to on-resonant light. We discuss this phenomenon theoretically in the context of the complex eigenenergies and show that it can be understood qualitatively in terms of the quantum Zeno effect. The predicted dependence of the lifetime on the composition of the...

Potassium is actively transported from blood-side to lumen of the isolated silkworm midgut (Harvey & Nedergaard, 1964). Rubidium is also actively transported and, when present in equal amounts, potassium and rubidium compete on an almost equal basis (Nedergaard & Harvey, 1968). Recently, Zerahn (1970) has found that caesium as well is actively transported, but the competition with potassium is ...

The optical properties of a caesium atomic beam driven on a resonant hyperfine transition in the D(2) line were studied as a function of the probe laser frequency. Using a third off-resonant laser system, a heterodyne interferometer allowed simultaneous absorption and phase shift measurements of either the probe or the coupling laser. The signal features of the probe and coupling laser transmit...

Almost all insect pest control programmes currently releasing sterile insects as part of the area-wide integrated application of the sterile insect technique (SIT) use radioisotope irradiators that are loaded either with cobalt-60 or caesium-137, which produce ionizing radiation consisting of gamma rays. Irradiators such as the Gammacell 220 have proven to be extremely reliable for the purpose ...