Biannual Newsletter of the South Pacific Environmental

Radioactivity Association

Editor


Paul Martin

Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist

GPO Box 461

Darwin NT 0801

Australia

Fax: +61 8 89201195

E-mail: Paul.Martin@deh.gov.au


Committee

President: John Twining, ANSTO, Sydney, Australia

jrt@nucleus.ansto.gov.au

Vice President: Sandor Mulsow, UACH, Chile

sandormulsow@uach.cl

Secretary: NOW VACANT

Treasurer: Sue Brown, ANSTO, Sydney, Australia

sab@ansto.gov.au

Oceania representative:

Sitaram Garimella, USP, Fiji

garimella_s@usp.ac.fj


Membership Enquiries

Please send enquiries to the President at the above address.


From the President

I would like to preface my first message with a big ‘Thank you’ to outgoing President (and current editor) Paul Martin. He is to be

congratulated on his excellent leadership of SPERA over the preceding years during which time SPERA’s profile was raised substantially, particularly outside the region. It is my hope that we can all make SPERA more widely known and active, especially within the region.


However, to achieve that goal will require each of us to take any

opportunity to promote the association as they arrive. I appreciate your assistance in this matter. For my part, I also plan to make more formal approaches to institutions across the region to make them more aware of SPERA and to seek membership and participation by interested researchers within those laboratories.


To enhance our profile and to promote our major objectives I would like to progress Paul’s idea to encourage students to undertake studies in the South Pacific region using environmental radioactivity. If any of you have suggestions on how this might be achieved I would be pleased to hear from you. Better yet, send them to the editor! As an example, ANSTO have recently been involved in setting up a Post-Graduate Certificate Course on Applications of Environmental Radioactivity, with the University of NSW. There will be more on this later in the newsletter.


Regarding SPERA 2002 I would like to thank all the participants for their constructive and stimulating involvement in what turned out to be a very successful conference. As with all such activities there were some difficulties, the major one arising in relation to publication of the

proceedings. However, thanks mainly to Paul Martin with some help

from Ross Jeffree those problems were eventually overcome (see

below). Paul is to be complemented and congratulated once again for

his efforts in getting all the submissions reviewed and amended to the

proceedings specifications. In relation to the conference itself I would

like to thank all of my committee for helping to make the occasion a

general success. Without naming everyone I would particularly like to

mention Gillian Peck’s efforts in keeping the show on track. Thanks

Gillian!


We also currently find ourselves without a secretary due to Riitta’s

return to Europe for personal reasons. We will battle on despite our loss so please forward all correspondence to me in the interim. Hopefully this situation can be resolved at our next meeting.

We are all now looking forward to our next conference in Valdivia, Chile, 2004. I encourage all members, especially those in the western Pacific,

to start the ball rolling to ensure that as many delegates as possible can attend what will be the best SPERA conference yet, both scientifically - and socially!


John Twining

SPERA President



SPERA2002 Proceedings


A serious problem with the publication of the SPERA2002 proceedings arose in late 2002 when the online journal TheScientificWorld closed due to financial difficulties.


The SPERA committee had email discussions with Steve Sheppard, the editor of a print journal (JER: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity) and he agreed that the proceedings could be placed as a special issue in that journal after a full refereeing and editorial process. I agreed to take on the role as guest editor for the journal.

I am happy to report that the final edited papers went to Steve

Sheppard in January, and should appear soon in JER. I would like to

thank the authors for their patience during the preparation of the special issue, and the referees who so generously gave of their time and expertise to help improve the quality of the papers.


The unavoidable delay caused by this situation was unfortunate,

however the opportunity for the proceedings to be published in this

major international journal is a positive for SPERA and for the authors.


Paul Martin

Newsletter Editor

Paul.Martin@deh.gov.au

News from the Regions

Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising

Scientist (eriss), Northern Territory, Australia - contributed

by Andreas Bollhöfer, Andreas.Bollhoefer@deh.gov.au


In late 2002 the Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising

Scientist (eriss) moved from its old laboratories in Jabiru to their new

dwelling in Darwin. The new laboratories have been designed

individually for the special needs of the different research sections

within eriss. The Environmental Radioactivity section for example has chosen low activity building materials before the setup of their counting facilities to ensure minimal natural background radiation in the low level radioactivity laboratory. Radionuclides of the uranium and thorium decay chains and potassium-40 have been measured in various sands and concretes and the least radioactive material chosen for the final concrete mix. This process was discussed in the last SPERA Newsletter.


The counting laboratory has a separate earth and its own UPS which

eliminates noise and groundloops and allows the equipment to run

uninterrupted in case of a power outage. This is very important for us as thunderstorms are frequent during our wet season; Darwin has an

average of over 80 thunderdays per year (see http://www.

bom.gov.au/climate/averages/climatology/thunder/tdays.shtml).


Five HPGe gamma spectrometers, a NaI(Tl) spectrometer, gross-alpha counters and various banks of alpha spectrometers (a total of twenty-six chambers) have been set up in the detector laboratory.

The acquisition computers are networked throughout and can be accessed from other parts of the building.


Since the move to Darwin eriss’ Environmental Radioactivity section

has adopted a new sample preparation technique for gamma

spectrometry of soils and sediments, developed by John Pfitzner at

AIMS in Townsville. This technique allows for faster and more

convenient sample preparation, the re-use of the sample material for

other analyses after gamma counting, and an increased sensitivity

compared to the old technique (previously samples were cast in an

epoxy resin). Samples are now milled and then pressed into standard

geometries, using a commercially available bench press. After three

weeks to allow for the ingrowth of radon progeny in the samples, the

samples are ready to be counted. Routinely, 238U, 226Ra, 228Ra,

228Th, 210Pb and 40K activities are reported, but we can also

determine the activity concentrations of other natural (e.g. beryllium-7) or man-made (e.g. cesium-137) radioactive elements in the samples.


Despite the low background radiation and improved sensitivity, some of the samples, such as ground or surface waters or plant material that we investigate for the uptake of radionuclides, have very low activity concentrations, too low to be detected by our gamma counting equipment. We then separate the radionuclides of interest from the sample matrix in our radiochemistry laboratory, using well established solvent extraction and ion exchange techniques. The radionuclides are then precipitated onto a metal disc and the alpha particles released from its surface are counted in one of the alpha chambers. Alpha particle spectrometry has a sensitivity much better than gamma ray spectrometry. However, sample preparation is very time consuming. Fortunately, our team has recently been joined by Dr. Claudia Sauerland, an environmental chemist from the EPA in South Australia specialized on water quality issues. This allows us to deal with the increasing demand for commercial services of our laboratory.


With the move to Darwin and its associated improved infrastructure and vicinity to other organisations, new possibilities for collaborative projects with other institutions in northern Australia have arisen for eriss. We are now progressing into additional areas of environmental radioactivity research and are busy initiating collaborative projects, for example with the Charles Darwin University (CDU), the Australian Institute for Marine Science (AIMS) and PowerWater in Darwin. Exciting new research areas to investigate are the Darwin harbour for instance, and more frequently we now use other techniques such as lead isotope fingerprinting to supplement our radioactivity data. After the move and the time consuming setup of the new laboratories, exciting times are ahead for the Environmental Radioactivity group at eriss.


Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation

(ANSTO), Sydney, Australia – contributed by Peter Airey,

pla@ansto.gov.au

Nuclear Education at ANSTO: a New Initiative


Recognising the need to maintain and extend those nuclear capabilities which underpin national development activities, the IAEA recently convened a Meeting of Senior Officials on Managing Nuclear

Knowledge (Vienna, 17 to 19 June 2002). The six major

recommendations were concerned with the organisation and

dissemination of nuclear knowledge through institutions working

cooperatively.


2 from its surface are counted in one of the alpha chambers. Alpha

particle spectrometry has a sensitivity much better than gamma ray

spectrometry. However, sample preparation is very time consuming.

Fortunately, our team has recently been joined by Dr. Claudia

Sauerland, an environmental chemist from the EPA in South Australia

specialized on water quality issues. This allows us to deal with the

increasing demand for commercial services of our laboratory.

With the move to Darwin and its associated improved infrastructure and

vicinity to other organisations, new possibilities for collaborative projects

with other institutions in northern Australia have arisen for eriss. We are

now progressing into additional areas of environmental radioactivity

research and are busy initiating collaborative projects, for example with

the Charles Darwin University (CDU), the Australian Institute for Marine

Science (AIMS) and PowerWater in Darwin. Exciting new research

areas to investigate are the Darwin harbour for instance, and more

frequently we now use other techniques such as lead isotope

fingerprinting to supplement our radioactivity data. After the move and

the time consuming setup of the new laboratories, exciting times are

ahead for the Environmental Radioactivity group at eriss.

Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation

(ANSTO), Sydney, Australia – contributed by Peter Airey,

pla@ansto.gov.au

Nuclear Education at ANSTO: a New Initiative

Recognising the need to maintain and extend those nuclear capabilities which underpin national development activities, the IAEA recently convened a Meeting of Senior Officials on Managing Nuclear Knowledge2 (Vienna, 17 to 19 June 2002). The six major recommendations were concerned with the organisation and dissemination of nuclear knowledge through institutions working cooperatively.


The needs articulated by the IAEA reflect the situation in many

countries. ANSTO has traditionally responded to the challenge through internal staff development programs. In a new initiative, the

Environment Division at ANSTO has joined with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering within the University of New South Wales to development two topics within the University’s Graduate Certificate program. The topics are: Isotope Techniques: Applications to Industry and the Environment and Radioactivity: Environmental Monitoring and Remediation.


The Isotope Techniques course covers basic nuclear, radiation and

health physics that underpin a range of case studies. These include: the applications of nucleonic gauges to industry and coastal engineering; the application of tracer techniques to studying the fate and behaviour of contaminants in surface waters and sediments; and the applications of environmental isotopes to hydrology, sedimentology and aspects of oceanography. In the Radioactivity course, case studies illustrating environmental monitoring and remediation have been selected from the mining industry (including uranium mining); from problems associated with technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials; and from nuclear activities (the Maralinga clean-up, the operations of a nuclear facility, and environmental aspects of safeguards).


Each course is offered in a ‘short course’ mode and is available to

students in Australia and abroad. Further information can be obtained

from Dr Peter Airey (E-mail: pla@ansto.gov.au or Dr William Peirson

W.Peirson@unsw.edu.au ).


2 Report issued 26 June 2002

New Projects proposed at ANSTO

A number of new projects have been put up in Environment Division at ANSTO for funding in the next financial year. If any SPERA members would potentially like to help fund or collaborate in these programs, or simply require more information, please don’t hesitate to contact the respective project leaders.


I4W (Isotopes for Water)


The project goal is to apply and develop nuclear and isotopic techniques to identify and assist in the management of the impact of human activity on water resource dynamics, particularly in the Sydney Basin. The aim is to answer the question “How can nuclear science deliver more & cleaner water?”.


Human activities & urban pressures are increasing demand on water

resources as well increasing pollutant inputs into the waterways. The

key issues are: What is the sustainability of aquifer resources in the

region? What are the interactions between groundwaters, surface

waters and ecosystems? Are the estuaries keeping themselves clean? Can we define the dynamics of source to sink for contaminants in water & sediments? How bio-available are the contaminants & what are their environmental risks? And, how is urban development affecting water flow paths leading to salinisation of Western Sydney?


The project will be applying ANSTO tools and technologies using stable isotopes together with U & Th-series, cosmogenic and reactor-produced radionuclides in geochemical and biological tracer investigations combined with geophysical, hydrological and dating techniques. These will be applied to studies of regional, national and international significance as well as in packaging nuclear based solutions to environmental problems to commercial clients through the spin-off business unit, ANSTO Green Trends.


The project leader will be Dr Suzanne Hollins (sho@ansto.gov.au)


IsoTrans (Isotopic Tracers in Atmospheric Transport)


Using ANSTO nuclear techniques, this project aims to produce

advanced representations of transport and exchange processes in the lower atmosphere over the Sydney region and the Murray-Darling

Basin. The proposed research is driven by a need for detailed

knowledge and better predictions of the processes underlying diurnal

and seasonal cycles of surface emissions, mixing and movement of

important anthropogenic pollutants and water in the lower atmosphere on local and regional scales.


IsoTrans will combine novel applications of naturally occurring

radioactive tracers (Rn-226; 14C in CO2), stable isotopes of water and CO2, Accelerator Mass Spectrometry techniques and Ion Beam

Analysis of fine particle aerosols, to reveal aspects of transport and

exchange processes inaccessible to conventional techniques. Project

deliverables will have valuable applications in weather and climate prediction models, science-based pollution and water resource

management strategies for the nation and its cities, and mitigation of the potential impacts of anthropogenic climate change.


The project leader will be Dr Alastair Williams

(Alastair.Williams@ansto.gov.au).


Also check out these ANSTO news pages:


50 years ANSTO

http://www.ansto.gov.au/info/press/2003/p007.html


Climate modelling using stable isotopes

http://www.ansto.gov.au/info/press/2004/p04.html


NT study press release

http://www.ansto.gov.au/info/press/2003/p008.html


Others may also catch your eye at

http://www.ansto.gov.au/info/press/pressrel.html#Releases03


Moves from ANSTO


Long-time SPERA stalwarts have made recent moves from the ANSTO shores. We wish them all the best in their new endeavours.


member of the SPERA 2002 team has moved to the Department

of Defence.

leading a consulting research laboratory in Gippsland, Victoria.

IAEA MEL Radioecology Lab in Monaco.


Each of them want to stay as SPERA members and we look forward to our future interactions with them whilst wishing them all the best in their new jobs.


See also this story on Helen Garnett and Charles Darwin University:

http://www.ansto.gov.au/info/press/2003/p013.html


(Almost) IAEA Marine Environment Laboratory, Monaco -

contributed by Ross Jeffree, Ross.Jeffree@ansto.gov.au


I will be leaving ANSTO to take up the position of Head, Radioecology

Laboratory, IAEA Marine Environment Laboratory, Monaco. This position will start on March 15. I am keen to encourage enhanced interaction between MEL and SPERA in the future; more news on the details when I have been in the position for while. At this point I would also encourage individual SPERA members to interact with me in the new position, with a view to developing possible regional activities/training programs/collaborations etc.


My new e-mail will be: R.Jeffree@iaea.org


Regards

Ross


University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji – contributed by

Sitaram Garimella, garimella_s@usp.ac.fj


Following are the highlights of the activities of the USP Nuclear Physics Applications Group:


MSc thesis

Ms. Aarti Pillay submitted her MSc thesis “Evaluation and experimental verification of solid angle subtended by extended sources onto a nuclear detector” in November 2003. The reports of the examiners are being awaited.


Publication

Garimella S, Koshy K & Singh S (2003). Concentration of 7Be in

surface air at Suva, Fiji. South Pacific Journal of Natural Science,

21, 1519.


Research in progress


Investigation of rates of floodplain sediment accretion in tropical Pacific island river basins

(Project No. 6584 funded by USP and the University of Guelph,

Investigators: J. Terry, S. Garimella and R. Kostaschuk)


During the period 6 – 20 December 2002, the above team traveled to

Samoa and looked at the floodplains of several rivers in the two big

islands Upolu and Savai’i. Due to the volcanic nature of the islands,

most river basins are littered with boulders and there are few developed floodplains. The team found a good floodplain at the Falefa River in eastern Upolu. Sediment core samples at intervals of 3.0 cm were collected to a depth of 1.90 m (almost up to the water level). The samples were brought back to Suva and their 137Cs concentrations measured using the HPGe spectrometer. These measurements revealed that the floodplain accretion rate during the last 40 years is 4.0 0.1 cm a-1. This is a very high accretion rate, but this could be attributed to frequent and violent cyclones in the region and high soil erosion rates due to the steep topography of Samoa.


Floodplain accretion rate in the Wainimala tributary of the Rewa river in Fiji was previously investigated by the same team (See Geomorphology 42, 171-182, 2002) and the accretion rate here was found to be about 3.0 cm a-1. Both Fiji and Samoa have similar problems (frequent cyclones and high soil erosion rates).


Total suspended particulates (TSP) and concentrations of heavy metals and trace elements in air at Suva, Fiji

(MSc project of Mr Ravin Deo, Supervisor: S. Garimella)


Using a high volume air sampler (1 m3 min-1), weekly aerosol samples were collected on Whatman-41 filter papers. About 15 locations in Suva were chosen and each site was sampled for 4 – 7 weeks since 2002. The sites are classified into three categories: residential, industrial and heavy traffic areas.


TSP values for residential and heavy traffic areas were similar, with

concentrations in the range 20 – 60 g m-3 of air. Industrial locations

had concentrations 40 – 90 g m-3, while inside a steel factory it was

100 – 340 g m-3. This should be compared to the WHO guideline of 60 – 90 g m-3 for polluted sites.


Elemental concentrations in the filters were determined using the

neutron activation analysis technique. About 8 cm2 of each filter was

irradiated for 4 hours at a thermal neutron flux of about 3 x 1012 cm2 s-1 in the HIFAR reactor at ANSTO, Sydney. The samples were flown back to Suva after a waiting period of 3 days. Upon arrival in Suva, the samples were measured by the HPGe spectrometer at USP and

analysed. The concentrations found in some filters are shown in Figure 2.




SPERA2004


Accompanying this newsletter is the first announcement for the

SPERA2004 conference, to be held in Valdivia, Chile. This will be the

first SPERA meeting to be held in South America, and promises to be

an exciting event not to be missed!


Please send in your abstract for an oral or poster paper by May 15.

Papers on any topic related to environmental radioactivity studies in the South Pacific are welcome, although the sessions will mainly focus on the theme of aquatic ecological processes and radioisotopic techniques.In addition, there will be a special workshop concentrating on marine coastal algal blooms and radionuclear approaches in the South Pacific.


The organising committee is investigating the possibility of having

selected papers published as a special issue in an international journal following a peer-review process. However, it is not a requirement for either an oral or poster presentation that a written paper be submitted for publication. More details will follow in the next announcement.


Some information on Valdivia, supplied by Sandor Mulsow, follows.


About Valdivia


The first westerner man to visit Valdivia was Jean Batiste Pastene in

1544 sailing in through its mayor river. This man was from Genoa. The river at that time was called Ainilebu (meaning new river) and thereafter Valdivia River. Later on 1552, Mr. Pedro de Valdivia arrived on February 9th, 1552 to a site called Gaudalaiquen (meaning duck valley) and founded Santa Maria La Blanca de Valdivia thus Valdivia city has 450 years old. Strategically Valdivia was the south most post of the Spaniard Sub kingdom. Its location and river network justified the construction of forts and castles to defend the colonizers from other colonizers from the sea as well as from natives from inland. Therefore in 1645 the castles of Mancera, Corral, Niebla Amargos, Cruces as well as the fortifications of San Carlos and el Molino were built by the Spaniards. These constructions are well preserved and there is several organized tourist travel to the above-mentioned sites. After the independence of Chile from the Vice-Kingdom of Spain in 1810, the Region of the lakes, as it is called today, was slowly colonized by Germans land workers (1850-1900). Their valuable input made of Valdivia a prosperous industrial city and agricultural zone. One example of that is the legacy of a well re-known traditional local beer.


On May 22 of 1960, the city suffered from a strong earthquake (9.5

Richter scale). The telluric movement generated a tsunami that affected Japan and then Valdivia’s harbour, Corral. The devastated city and industrial zone could never recover completely. Parts of the city descended more than a meter. Houses were totally buried and 100’s of people died.


Little by little the city begun to reconstruct their infrastructure, industries and today it is flourishing city that has become the cultural center for the southern part Chile.


Geographically it is located at 800 km south of the capital. It is the only city in the country with navigable river. It is only 40 minutes from the ocean by boat and 19 km by land. Most the beaches are exposed and have black sand. It is 2 h from sky resorts and hot water spring by car. It has an international Airport 27 km north and there are 3 to 4 flights a day connecting the city to the rest of the country.


How to get to Valdivia, Chile?


From Latin American Countries


Any airlines check out www7.lanchile.com and www.lanchile.com


From the Pacific Rim and Australia


Two flights per week, Tuesday and Wednesday via Qantas,

Continental, LAN Chile, LAN Peru.


From Europe and North America


There are several flights per week from European capitals. Check

Lufthansa, British Airways, AirFrance, Lan Chile, Iberia, Alitalia, KLM.

From States and Canada, Continental, Northwest, Lan Chile,

AirCanada. Most of the flights from USA and Canada pass through

Miami.


From your destination you will arrive to Santiago de Chile International

Airport Arturo Merino Benitez, the capital. Change end to national

airport (same building, same floor, just few steps) and try

www.lanexpress.cl to Valdivia-Pichoy Airport. From here either taxi or

airport shuttle to downtown Valdivia City (27 km).


To go around the city


Within the city, public transportation, “colectivos” (kind of taxis but

cheaper), taxi. Car rental at the Pichoy Airport : Major International Car Rental like Hertz, Alamo etc. Try local car rentals they are cheaper and reliable. For general information on Chile and Chileans sites check this web site www.turismochile.cl in English and Spanish.


About the Conference Meeting Site


This meeting is carefully planned to provide an appropriate atmosphere and numerous opportunities to interact with colleagues and friends. All plenary sessions, exhibits, posters, and the special and contributed sessions will take place at one venue, at the Marine Environment Laboratory of Calfuco - Universidad Austral de Chile. There will be a shuttle bus everyday from the several Hotels to the meeting point. MELC is only 20 minutes north of main Campus UACH-Valdivia city. For general information on the university visit its web page http://www.uach.cl


Hotels


A list of hotels will be given in the second announcement of SPERA

2004 to provide more accurate rates and kinds of Hotels.


Currency Exchange


The national currency is Chilean pesos. The exchange rate varies daily but it can be check Universal Currency Converter at www.xe.com.


Weather Forecast


In October 2004, it will be springtime in Southern Chile. Hopefully we

will have fresh morning (10-12 °C), warmer mid days (18-21°C).


Next Newsletter


The newsletter can only be as successful as you make it, by providing

material for publication.

The following types of articles are particularly welcome:


Note

The information in this Newsletter has been provided by various

contributors or acquired from other sources, and has on occasions been edited to improve readability. The SPERA committee and SPERA members accept no responsibility for the accuracy or otherwise of the information supplied, nor for any use that the information may be put to.