scholarly journals Radioactive Contamination due to 241Am Lightning Rod Failure

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 262
Author(s):  
K. L. Karfopoulos ◽  
G. N. Papadakos ◽  
D. J. Karangelos ◽  
P. K. Rouni ◽  
N. P. Petropoulos ◽  
...  

It is estimated that until 1978 about 200000 lightning conductor rods with -a emitting sources attached to their end were installed worldwide. The sources were supposed to increase the lighting collection efficiency of these rods through the ionization of the surrounding air. Nevertheless, this improvement has never been established conclusively. Such devices are, in most cases, not accessible by the pub- lic; therefore, the dose to the population is considered insignificant. However, the possibility of radioactive material leakage, due to the source attachment failure, and the subsequent contamination of the surroundings that could lead to possible health risk of the public cannot be excluded. In this work, the case of 241Am contamination due to a lightning rod conductor failure is investigated. This contamination was accidentally detected on the surface soil around a laboratory building in the National Technical University of Athens Campus, during a routine in-situ gamma-ray measurement campaign that took place in 2003. A detailed survey revealed that this 241Am contamination was due to the leakage from two lightning rods on the building roof. Consequently the rods were removed from the building and the contamination pattern on the roof and on the surface soil around the building was examined in detail. From the results obtained so far it may be concluded that there exists well localized contamination on the roof and also around the building. It was established that the pathway through which contamination reached the ground was  the rainwater drainage system of the building. The gamma ray dose rate due to 241Am contamination found on the roof and on the surface soil is low compared to that due to its natural radioactivity and does not seem to pose any health risk to the people working in the building or to the public.

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0250528
Author(s):  
Halmat Jalal Hassan ◽  
Suhairul Hashim ◽  
Mohamad Syazwan Mohd Sanusi ◽  
Mohamad Hidayat Jamal ◽  
Sitti Asmah Hassan ◽  
...  

Forming part of a study of radiological risk arising from use of radioactive consumer products, investigation is made of pendants containing naturally occurring radioactive material. Based on use of gamma-ray spectrometry and Monte Carlo (MC) simulations, the study investigates commercially available ‘scalar energy pendants’. The doses from these have been simulated using MIRD5 mathematical phantoms, evaluation being made of dose conversion factors (DCFs) and organ dose. Metallic pendants code MP15 were found to contain the greatest activity, at 7043 ± 471 Bq from 232Th, while glass pendants code GP11 were presented the greatest 238U and 40K activity, at 1001 ± 172 and 687 ± 130 Bq respectively. MP15 pendants offered the greatest percentage concentrations of Th, Ce, U and Zr, with means of 25.6 ± 0.06, 5.6 ± 0.005, 1.03 ± 0.04 and 28.5 ± 0.08 respectively, giving rise to an effective dose of 2.8 mSv for a nominal wearing period of 2000 h. Accordingly, these products can give rise to annual doses in excess of the public limit of 1 mSv.


Liquidity ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-118
Author(s):  
Iwan Subandi ◽  
Fathurrahman Djamil

Health is the basic right for everybody, therefore every citizen is entitled to get the health care. In enforcing the regulation for Jaringan Kesehatan Nasional (National Health Supports), it is heavily influenced by the foreign interests. Economically, this program does not reduce the people’s burdens, on the contrary, it will increase them. This means the health supports in which should place the government as the guarantor of the public health, but the people themselves that should pay for the health care. In the realization of the health support the are elements against the Syariah principles. Indonesian Muslim Religious Leaders (MUI) only say that the BPJS Kesehatan (Sosial Support Institution for Health) does not conform with the syariah. The society is asked to register and continue the participation in the program of Social Supports Institution for Health. The best solution is to enforce the mechanism which is in accordance with the syariah principles. The establishment of BPJS based on syariah has to be carried out in cooperation from the elements of Social Supports Institution (BPJS), Indonesian Muslim Religious (MUI), Financial Institution Authorities, National Social Supports Council, Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Finance. Accordingly, the Social Supports Institution for Helath (BPJS Kesehatan) based on syariah principles could be obtained and could became the solution of the polemics in the society.


1964 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 535-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Bolté ◽  
S. Mancuso ◽  
G. Eriksson ◽  
N. Wiqvist ◽  
E. Diczfalusy

ABSTRACT In 15 cases of therapeutic abortion by laparotomy the placenta was disconnected from the foetus and perfused in situ with tracer amounts of radioactive dehydroepiandrosterone (DHA), dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHAS), androst-4-ene-3,17-dione (A), testosterone (T) and 17β-oestradiol (OE2). Analysis of the placentas, perfusates and urine samples revealed an extensive aromatisation of DHA, A and T; more than 70% of the radioactive material recovered was phenolic, and at least 80 % of this phenolic material was identified as oestrone (OE1), 17β-oestradiol (OE2) and oestriol (OE3), the latter being detected only in the urine. Comparative studies indicated that A and T were aromatised somewhat better than DHA and that all three unconjugated steroids were aromatised to a much greater extent than DHAS. Radioactive OE1 and OE2 were isolated and identified in the placentas and perfusates, but no OE3, epimeric oestriols, or ring D ketols could be detected in these sources, not even when human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) was added to the blood prior to perfusion. Lack of placental 16-hydroxylation was also apparent when OE2 was perfused. Regardless of the precursor perfused, there was three times more OE2 than OE1 in the placenta and three times more OE1 than OE2 in the perfusate. This was also the case following perfusion with OE2. The results are interpreted as suggesting the existence in the pregnant human of a placental »barrier« limiting the passage of circulating androgen. The barrier consists of a) limited ability to transfer directly DHAS and b) an enzymic mechanism resulting in the rapid and extensive aromatisation of the important androgens DHA, A and T.


Author(s):  
Siti Aisyah

The Malay people made Arabic as the medium of instruction in the form of writing by the Malay community. The use of this script is known as Malay Arabic script by adding some Arabic letters by adjusting the sound with Malay language. The first stage of this writing as a communication in trade between the people of Indonesia with Arab traders, then the writers use it as script writing in Malay language. This writing continues to use it as the medium of instruction in Islamic education and teaching to the public. Then the scientists and scholars use it as well as writing characters in writing religious books such as fiqh, tafseer, hadith and tarekat and other writings. After that Malay Arabic script has become a national script of Malay society, including in Indonesia. The Malay Arabic script was used as a newspaper and magazine literature until the arrival of Europeans to the archipelago. Slowly after that Malay Arabic script is no longer used as a national writing script by Malays society including Indonesia.


Author(s):  
Wendy J. Schiller ◽  
Charles Stewart III

From 1789 to 1913, U.S. senators were not directly elected by the people—instead the Constitution mandated that they be chosen by state legislators. This radically changed in 1913, when the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, giving the public a direct vote. This book investigates the electoral connections among constituents, state legislators, political parties, and U.S. senators during the age of indirect elections. The book finds that even though parties controlled the partisan affiliation of the winning candidate for Senate, they had much less control over the universe of candidates who competed for votes in Senate elections and the parties did not always succeed in resolving internal conflict among their rank and file. Party politics, money, and personal ambition dominated the election process, in a system originally designed to insulate the Senate from public pressure. The book uses an original data set of all the roll call votes cast by state legislators for U.S. senators from 1871 to 1913 and all state legislators who served during this time. Newspaper and biographical accounts uncover vivid stories of the political maneuvering, corruption, and partisanship—played out by elite political actors, from elected officials, to party machine bosses, to wealthy business owners—that dominated the indirect Senate elections process. The book raises important questions about the effectiveness of Constitutional reforms, such as the Seventeenth Amendment, that promised to produce a more responsive and accountable government.


2018 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 266-273
Author(s):  
Ivan S. Palitai

The article is devoted to the modern Russian party system. In the first part of the article, the author shows the historical features of the parties formation in Russia and analyzes the reasons for the low turnout in the elections to the State Duma in 2016. According to the author the institutional reasons consist in the fact that the majority of modern political parties show less and less ability to produce new ideas, and the search for meanings is conducted on the basis of the existing, previously proposed sets of options. Parties reduce the topic of self-identification in party rhetoric, narrowing it down to “branded” ideas or focusing on the image of the leader. In addition, the author shows the decrease in the overall political activity of citizens after the 2011 elections, and points out that the legislation amendments led to the reduction of the election campaigns duration and changes in the voting system itself. The second part of the article is devoted to the study of the psychological aspects of the party system. The author presents the results of the investigation of images of the parties as well as the results of the population opinion polls, held by the centers of public opinion study. On the basis of this data, the author concludes that according to the public opinion the modern party system is ineffective, and the parties don’t have real political weight, which leads to the decrease of the interest in their activities and confidence in them. The author supposes that all this may be the consequence of the people’s fatigue from the same persons in politics, but at the same time the electorate’s desire to see new participants in political processes is formulated rather vaguely, since, according to the people, this might not bring any positive changes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-144
Author(s):  
Dini Maulana Lestari ◽  
M Roif Muntaha ◽  
Immawan Azhar BA

Islamic banks are present in the community as financial institutions whose activities are based on the principles of Islamic law for the benefit of the people. This study aims to determine the strategic role of Islamic Banks as financial service institutions, the importance of the existence of Islamic Banks and Islamic-based markets and financial instruments in them. In its development, Islamic banks have a role as institutions that turn on public funds, channel funds to the public, transfer assets, liquidity, reallocation of income and transactions. In the Indonesian economic system, the existence of Islamic Banks is important as an alternative solution to the problem of conflict between bank interest and usury. Islamic financial markets and instruments provide a free society of interest and follow a different set of principles. Distribution of profit/ loss according to evidence of participation in the management fund. The division of rental income in the form of musharaka.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document