An international workshop on Conceptual Model Development for Subsurface Reactive Transport Modeling of Inorganic Contaminants, Radionuclides, and Nutrients was held April 20- 24, 2004 at La Posada de Albuquerque in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The workshop was organized and convened by the Federal Working Group on Subsurface Reactive Solute Transport Modeling and sponsored by the Federal Interagency Steering Committee on Multimedia Environmental Models (ISCMEM). The workshop themes were organized by processes: physical properties/coupling, sorption, precipitation/dissolution, and redox/microbiology. The workshop objectives were to 1) evaluate the state-of-the-art in conceptual model development and parameterization for reactive transport modeling as applied to soil, vadose zone, and groundwater systems and 2) prioritize research directions that would enhance the practical utility of reactive transport modeling. Plenary presentations and discussions provided an overview of critical modeling issues and needs, various agency applications, specifics of the four primary themes, and examples of complex applications of reactive transport models. Breakout discussion groups generated reports summarizing the motivation, current state-of-the-science, expectations, and recommendations for research in each of the four theme topics.

The 16th ICSMGE responds to the needs of the engineering and construction community, promoting dialog and exchange between academia and practice in various aspects of soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering. This is reflected in the central theme of the conference 'Geotechnology in Harmony with the Global Environment'. The proceedings of the conference are of great interest for geo-engineers and researchers in soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering. Volume 1 contains 5 plenary session lectures, the Terzaghi Oration, Heritage Lecture, and 3 papers presented in the major project session. Volumes 2, 3, and 4 contain papers with the following topics: Soil mechanics in general; Infrastructure and mobility; Environmental issues of geotechnical engineering; Enhancing natural disaster reduction systems; Professional practice and education. Volume 5 contains the report of practitioner/academic forum, 20 general reports, a summary of the sessions and workshops held during the conference.

Uranium mining in the Commonwealth of Virginia has been prohibited since 1982 by a state moratorium, although approval for restricted uranium exploration in the state was granted in 2007. Uranium Mining in Virginia examines the scientific, technical, environmental, human health and safety, and regulatory aspects of uranium mining, milling, and processing as they relate to the Commonwealth of Virginia for the purpose of assisting the Commonwealth to determine whether uranium mining, milling, and processing can be undertaken in a manner that safeguards the environment, natural and historic resources, agricultural lands, and the health and well-being of its citizens. According to this report, if Virginia lifts its moratorium, there are "steep hurdles to be surmounted" before mining and processing could take place within a regulatory setting that appropriately protects workers, the public, and the environment, especially given that the state has no experience regulating mining and processing of the radioactive element. The authoring committee was not asked to recommend whether uranium mining should be permitted, or to consider the potential benefits to the state were uranium mining to be pursued. It also was not asked to compare the relative risks of uranium mining to the mining of other fuels such as coal. This book will be of interest to decision makers at the state and local level, the energy industry, and concerned citizens.

This edited volume provides a framework for integrating methods and information drawn from geological and medical sciences and provides case studies in medical geology to illustrate the usefulness of this framework for crafting environmental and public health policies related to natural materials. The relevance of medical geology research to policy decisions is a topic rarely discussed, and this volume attempts to be a unique source for researchers and policy makers in the field of medical geology in addressing this gap in practical medical geology applications. The book's four sections establish this framework in detail using risk assessment, case studies, data analyses and specific medical geology techniques. Following an introduction to medical geology in the context of risk assessment and risk management, the second section discusses specific methods used in medical geology in the categories of geoscience, biomedicine, and data sources. The third section discusses the medical geology of natural materials, energy use, and environmental and workplace impacts. This section includes specific case studies in medical geology, and describes how the methods and data from the previous section are used in a medical geology analysis. The fourth section includes a guide to the medical geology literature and provides some examples of medical geology programs in Asia and Africa.

The book addresses the development of the basic knowledge of the subsurface solute transfer with a particular emphasis on field data collection and analysis coupled with modeling (analytical and numerical) tool application. The relevant theoretical developments are concerned mainly with the formulation and solution of deterministic mass-transport equations for a wide range of engineering issues in groundwater quality assessment and forecasting. The book gives many computational examples and case studies drawn from the conducted field investigations. The analyzed problems are as follows: investigation and prediction of groundwater contamination by industrial contaminants and solutions (radionuclides, chloride and nitrate brine) with special focus on the effect of (a) aquifer heterogeneity, anisotropy, and dual porosity, (b) density contrast existing between industrial waste and groundwater, or in density-stratified artesian and coastal groundwater systems; (c) physicochemical interactions that play a major role in retarding (e.g. adsorption) or enhancing (e.g. interactions between dissolved species and mobile colloids) contaminant transport; prediction of the effects of pumping on groundwater quality at wellfields; groundwater dating using stable and radioactive isotopes for prediction and assessment of contamination potential; field and laboratory tests’ design and analysis, and monitoring data interpretation; partitioning of surface and subsurface flows using isotope techniques. One of the most essential topics addressed in the book is the migration and fate of radionuclides. Model development is motivated by field data analysis from a number of radioactively contaminated sites in the Russian Federation: near-surface radioactive waste disposal sites and deep-well radioactive waste injection sites. They play a unique role in the advancement of knowledge of the subsurface behavior and fate of many hazardous radionuclides and can be considered as field-scale laboratories. Thus, the book, along with theoretical findings, contains field information, which will facilitate the understanding of subsurface solute transport and the development of a methodology for practical applications to groundwater hydrology.

V.3 ... consists of individual chapters that describe 1) the conceptual background for radionuclides, including tritium, radon, strontium, technetium, uranium, iodine, radium, thorium, cesium, plutonium-americium and 2) data requirements to be met during site characterization.