IURTG

Background

The IUR Task Force "Waste and Radioecology" was launched during the Workshop "Mobility in Biosphere of Iodine, Technetium, Selenium and Uranium" organized in April 2002 by the French National Radioactive Management Agency (ANDRA) and the International Union of Radioecologists (IUR).

The first meeting of the Task Force was carried out during the "International Conference on Radioactivity in the Environment", held in Monaco, September 2002 where the objectives and work form of the group were agreed upon.

At the moment the Task Force has 35 active members from 22 institutions in ten countries: Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. Rodolfo Avila (Facilia, Sweden) is the chairman
( rodolfo.avila@facilia.se).

Objective

The objective of the Task Force is to promote cooperation among radioecologists working in the field of radioactive waste management with focus on the following topics:

• Processes influencing the behaviour or radionuclides at the biosphere-geosphere interface and treatment of underground sources.
• Models of the long-term behaviour and accumulation of radionuclides in the environment.
• Gaps in knowledge and data concerning the environmental behaviour of some key radionuclides, such as Cl36, C14, Np237, Tc99 and U238.

Work description

Two workshops have been carried out: the first in Merlewood, February 2003 was dedicated to the environmental behaviour of C14, Cl36 and Np237 and the second, held in Madrid, November 2003, was focused on Tc99 and U238. For more information about these workshops refer to the IUR website: or login below.

At the moment the Task Force is preparing a technical report summarizing the findings of the task force and outlining suggestions for further research and development in the field.