The long-term governance of radioactive waste continues to be a major complex and contentious socio-technical issue worldwide. Traditionally, it has been considered as mainly a challenge to scientists and engineers to develop technical solutions to specific problems. But increasingly these narrow solutions have been enlarged by wider societal considerations such as ethics, public involvement, control and retrievability - needs that have in the meanwhile been recognised by the nuclear community, at least in a general way. In this book, we analyse motives for a broad discourse as well as suggest prerequisites to launch it. The author attempts to give a novel, empirically based and technically sound treatment of fundamental issues in long-term management and governance.

This book systematically presents the technical aspects of supercritical water oxidation and supercritical water gasification for energy and environmental applications, which include reactor design, construction materials, corrosion, salt precipitation, etc. The book provides a comprehensive introduction to the properties of supercritical water, and the industrial applications, reaction mechanisms and reaction kinetics of supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) and supercritical water gasification (SCWG). The reactions occurring in supercritical water are complex, and studying their reaction mechanisms is of great importance for the development of supercritical water processing technologies. Accordingly, the book explains the oxidative mechanisms and kinetics of organic matter in supercritical water in detail. However, the harsh reaction conditions in supercritical water can easily create severe reactor corrosion and salt deposition problems. Therefore, the book also comprehensively reports on the mechanism analysis, state of research, and development trends regarding these two problems. Lastly, the book summarizes the development of supercritical water processing technologies, including studies on SCWO and SCWG, as well as near-zero-emission systems of pollutants based on SCWO technology. In short, the book provides a wealth of valuable information for all readers who are interested in using SCWO for organic waste treatment, and in using SCWG for hydrogen production with wet biomass.

This book provides updated and comprehensive information on the effective functioning of earthworms used alone or in combination with other biological systems/microbes, as well as factors affecting the process and performance of vermiremediation under a range of conditions. It also compares earthworm assisted vermifiltration with other conventional biochemical methods. Presenting cutting-edge research on the earthworm assisted remediation of industrial and municipal effluents and sludges, along with its role in solid waste management (SWM), the book will benefit readers from the research community and industrial sector alike, familiarizing them with the latest remediation techniques for wastewater and different types of solid waste.

Consumers are not usually incorporated into the sociological concept of 'division of labour', but using the case of household recycling, this book shows why this foundational concept needs to be revised.

This book presents recent developments in advanced biological treatment technologies that are attracting increasing attention or that have a high potential for large-scale application in the near future. It also explores the fundamental principles as well as the applicability of the engineered bioreactors in detail. It describes two of the emerging technologies: membrane bioreactors (MBR) and moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBR), both of which are finding increasing application worldwide thanks to their compactness and high efficiency. It also includes a chapter dedicated to aerobic granular sludge (AGS) technology, and discusses the main features and applications of this promising process, which can simultaneously remove organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus and is considered a breakthrough in biological wastewater treatment. Given the importance of removing nitrogen compounds from wastewater, the latest advances in this area, including new processes for nitrogen removal (e.g. Anammox), are also reviewed. Developments in molecular biology techniques over the last twenty years provide insights into the complex microbial diversity found in biological treatment systems. The final chapter discusses these techniques in detail and presents the state-of-the-art in this field and the opportunities these techniques offer to improve process performance.

What happens when a chemical is released into the environment? It diffuses, disperses, adsorbs, reacts, and/or changes state. To predict and analyze this process, the mathematics of diffusion is applied to lakes, rivers, groundwater, the atmosphere, the oceans, and transport between these media. A sustainable world requires a deep understanding of the transport of chemicals through the environment and how to address and harness this process. This volume presents a succinct and in-depth introduction to this critical topic. Featuring authoritative, peer-reviewed articles from the Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology, Transport and Fate of Chemicals in the Environment represents an essential one-stop reference for an audience of researchers, undergraduate and graduate students, and industry professionals.

This book provides a comprehensive review of biosynthetic approaches to the production of industrially important chemicals and the environmental challenges involved. Its 19 chapters discuss different aspects of biosynthetic technology from the perspective of leading experts in the field. It covers various biorefinery approaches, including the use of microbes, metabolically engineered plants, biomass-based and green technology methods. Further, it examines important research in the areas of organic and hazardous waste composting, management and recovery of nutraceuticals from agro-industrial waste, biosynthesis and technological advancements of biosurfactants and waste water bioremediation. This book contributes to the scientific literature on biosynthetic technologies and the related environmental challenges for researchers and academics working in this area around the globe.

Site-specific risk assessment is the process of evaluating whether or not a site poses a risk to human health or the environment. The purpose of all hazardous waste site remediation is ultimately to render a site safe for human or ecological populations. Consequently, risk assessment, as the process used to measure the effectiveness of the remediation process, is critical to all hazardous waste-site work.
Risk assessment at hazardous waste sites involves the use of standard approaches and assumptions in a reasoned, common sense manner. The purpose of this book is to provide practical guidance to people wishing to learn about, conduct, or use risk assessment procedures in evaluating hazardous waste sites. Critical issues, standard formulas and assumptions, and guidance on characterizing risk results in a useable manner are presented. The use of risk assessment as a key tool in selecting appropriate remedial options at hazardous waste sites is also described. Most attention is given to human health risks associated with exposure to toxic chemicals, but descriptions of the strategies used to estimate radiation health risks and to evaluate risks to the environment are also provided. Although most commonly applied to hazardous waste site remediation, the procedures outlined in this book are generally applicable to any situation involving a potential for health risks to an exposed population.
This book provides guidance on the mechanics of risk assessment preparation and illustrates these approaches with examples. However, the focus of the book is on the subjective nature of risk assessment, the art rather than the science.
The actual risk (i.e., the right answer) can never be known. Consequently, while it is valuable to attempt to obtain the best numeric solution, reasonableness and the application of common sense are equally important. The book therefore devotes a substantial amount of space to issues of uncertainty that are inherent in risk assessment, and the need to address this uncertainty.

Hydroinformatics systems are systems that combine computational hydraulic modelling with information systems (including knowledge-based systems). They are gaining rapid acceptance in the areas of environmental planning, design and management. The present book focuses exclusively on sewage systems, starting with their planning and then going on to discuss their design, operation and rehabilitation. The very experienced authors discuss business and information needs in the management of urban drainage, tools for collecting and archiving such data, and their use in modelling catchment hydrology, sewer systems hydraulics, wastewater quality, wastewater treatment plant operation, and receiving waters. The control and operation of sewer systems in real time is described, followed by a discussion of their maintenance and rehabilitation. Intelligent decision support systems for managing the urban drainage business process are presented. Audience: Researchers into sewer design, municipal engineers, planners and managers interested in an innovative approach to all aspects of the planning, design and operation of sewer systems.

This book presents novel techniques to evaluate electrodialysis processes, to synthesize ionic membranes and to characterize their properties. It shows the potential use of membrane process to the treatment of effluents generated in many industrial sectors such as refineries, leather industries, mining and electroplating processes. The book is based on the results obtained by the author's research group during the past decade. It is useful for students, researchers and engineers interested in membrane technologies for water reuse.

This book is focused on the current status of industrial pollution, its source, characteristics, and management through various advanced treatment technologies. The book covers the recycle, reuse and recovery of waste for the production of value-added products. The book explores industrial wastewater pollution and its treatment through various advanced technologies and also the source and characteristics of solid waste and its management for environmental safety. It discusses new methods and technologies to combat the waste-related pollution and focuses on the use of recycled products. This book is of value to upcoming students, researchers, scientists, industry persons and professionals in the field of environmental science and engineering, microbiology, biotechnology, toxicology, further it is useful for global and local authorities and policy makers responsible for the management of liquid and solid wastes.

Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology attempts to provide concise, critical reviews of timely advances, philosophy and significant areas of accomplished or needed endeavor in the total field of xenobiotics, in any segment of the environment, as well as toxicological implications.

In this timely volume, scientists examine examine the physical, structural, and analytical chemistry of fuel combustion. Their contributions also address the issue of combustion efficiency and how air quality can be protected or improved. Supported by numerous illustrations, this volume be appreciated by researchers and students working in various areas of chemistry.

Snaking 2,540 miles from Montana to the Mississippi River, the Missouri is the longest waterway in the nation. Its basin--stretching 530,000 square miles--extends broadly into ten states and twenty-five Indian reservations. For millions of years the river and its tributaries meandered untamed. But that irrevocably changed with the passage of the Pick-Sloan Plan, part of the Flood Control Act of 1944.

In "River of Promise, River of Peril," John Thorson takes the first comprehensive look at how and why the Missouri River basin-now with six major dams and hundreds of miles of navigation canals-has become one of the most significantly altered drainage systems in the country. He also looks at the consequences.

The Pick-Sloan Plan, he argues, has not fared well over time, particularly in its failure to provide an effective blueprint for regional river management. Persistent conflicts over the river, he contends, illuminate important weaknesses of federalism in dealing with regional resources, the most glaring being the exclusion of any proactive role for Indian tribal governments.

To support his argument, Thorson examines the physical, demographic, and political features of the river basin; analyzes the comprehensive river development that gave birth to the Pick-Sloan Plan; reveals why the original goals of the legislature were never achieved; explores the deep-seated and continuing tensions between basin governments; and investigates how Indian tribes, the river's ecology, and federalism have been damaged as the river has been developed. He also describes the various associations created and later abandoned from the sixties to the eighties and assesses their virtues and limitations.

Thorson sees in the story of the Missouri River Basin the vertical and horizontal strains of federalism-the states chafing against federally mandated and controlled projects exacerbated by the lack of constitutional guidance for handling conflicts among neighboring states and with Indian nations. Not just bent on spotlighting problems, Thorson also evaluates different approaches for improved river system management and recommends a Missouri River management institution based on environmentally sensitive policies, a strong state role, and full participation by the basin's tribal governments.

* Updated vision on tunnelling design, tools, materials and construction * Balanced mix of theory, technology and applied experience * Different and harmonized points of view from academics, professionals and contractors * Easy consultation in the form of a handbook * Risk-oriented approach to tunnelling problems

Achieving environmental sustainability with rapid industrialization is currently a major global challenge. Industries are the key economic drivers, but are also the main polluters as untreated/partially treated effluents from industry are usually discharged into the aquatic environment or dumped. Industrial effluents often contain highly toxic and hazardous pollutants, which cause ecological damage and present and health hazards to living beings. As such, there is a pressing need to find ecofriendly solutions to deal with industrial waste, and to develop sustainable methods for treating/detoxifying waste before it's released into the environment. As a low cost and eco-friendly clean technology, bioremediation can offer a sustainable alternative to conventional remediation technologies for the treatment and management of industrial wastes. This book (Volume II) describes the role of biological agents in the degradation and detoxification of organic and inorganic pollutants in industrial wastes, and presents recent bioremediation approaches for waste treatment and management, such as constructed wetlands, electro- bioremediation and nano-bioremediation, as well as microbial fuel cells. It appeals to students, researchers, scientists, industry professionals and experts in the field of microbiology, biotechnology, environmental sciences, eco-toxicology, environmental remediation and waste management and other relevant areas who are interested in biodegradation and bioremediation of industrial wastes for environmental safety.

This book focuses on value addition to various waste streams, which include industrial waste, agricultural waste, and municipal solid and liquid waste. It addresses the utilization of waste to generate valuable products such as electricity, fuel, fertilizers, and chemicals, while placing special emphasis on environmental concerns and presenting a multidisciplinary approach for handling waste. Including chapters authored by prominent national and international experts, the book will be of interest to researchers, professionals and policymakers alike.

The environmental impact of industrial waste is one of the most serious challenges facing the chemical process industries. From a focus on end-of-pipe treatment in the 1970s, chemical manufacturers have increasinglyimplemented pollution prevention policies in which pollutants are mitigated at the source or separated and recovered and then reused or sold.
This book is the first to present systematic techniques for cost-effective pollution prevention, altering what has been an art that depends on experience and subjective opinion into a science rooted in fundamental engineering principles and process integration. Step-by-step procedures are presented that are widely applicable to the chemical, petrochemical, petroleum, pharmaceutical, food, and metals industries.
Various levels of sophistication ranging from graphical methods to algebraic procedures and mathematical optimization, numerous applications and case studies, and integrated software for optimizing waste recovery systems make Pollution Prevention through Process Integration: Systematic Design Tools a must read for a wide spectrum of practicing engineers, environmental scientists, plant managers, advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and researchers in the areas of pollution prevention andprocess integration.
1Allows the reader to establish pollution-prevention targets for a process and then develop implementable, cost-effective solutions
1Contains step-by-step procedures that can be applied to environmental problems in a wide variety of process industries
1Integrates pollution prevention with other process objectives
1Author is internationally recognized for pioneering work in developing massintegration science and technology
1CD-ROM contains software for design of waste recovery networks (MEN) and optimization (LINGO()

This book highlights the latest research on waste processing technologies, particularly for domestic, agricultural, and petroleum based pollutants, intended to achieve waste valorisation. In addition, it discusses the important role of plastic recycling, as well as advanced waste processing techniques.

This book reviews health hazards associated with wastewater use and water pollutants. Chapters present applications of green materials made of agricultural waste, activated carbon and magnetic materials for wastewater treatment. The removal of toxic metals using algal biomass and the removal of toxic dyes using chitosan composite materials are also discussed. The book includes reviews on the removal of phenols, pesticides, and on the use of ionic liquid-modified activated carbon for the treatment of textile wastewater.

The use of renewable bioenergy is increasing, and so is the production of associated wastes: biomass ashes. This book presents eleven chapters on the options for recycling such biomass ashes, ranging from their use as fertilizer in agriculture and forestry to their application as a supplement for the production of cement-based materials or bricks. The book also examines the pros and cons for each of the different uses of biomass ashes.

This book is for practising professionals and academics working in urban planning and international development: international project staff, trainers, urban development researchers and teaching staff in universities and polytechnics.
Solid Waste Management and Recycling is unique in that it:
-utilizes an 'integrated solid waste management perspective' in its analysis;
-provides embedded case study data;
-deals with both formal and informal actors and institutional arrangements in solid waste management and recycling;
-has chapters written by experts from the countries concerned (Kenya and India);
-can be used in graduate-level courses in urban development, urban management and planning, and technical engineering courses for students, project staff, and technical students.

Nicolas Buclet and Olivier Godard In terms of economic scale, waste management is one of the two most important environmentally oriented sectors. 1 It stands at the cross-roads in the material organization of society, resource management, changing lifestyles and consumption patterns, and ecological issues. For many years waste management has been perceived as aresources and health issue, confined mainly to dense urban areas, and not an environmental issue. In contemporary affiuent societies, however, the scale reached by waste flows, the inheritance of accumulated deposits in soils from the waste of previous generations and increasing levels of public concern about environmental proteetion and quality of life have all conspired to impose a fresh look at what waste really implies for a modern society. We are obliged to focus our attention on such questions as how the circulation of matter is at present organized by society and can be modified and controlled if economic development is to become more environmentally sustainable. This is the period we live in. Significant changes in waste management in European countries have been introduced during the last decade or so. To some extent the transition between traditional regimes mainly based on local disposal and new regimes based on a revised organisation of flows of waste matter is still in the making, involving new attitudes, new activities, new technologies and new incentives, reducing the pressure on virgin natural resources and eliminating the huge dissipation of various pollutants into the environment.