11th Environmental Radiochemical Analysis Conference

15-17 September 2010
Chester

In September 2010, the RSC Radiochemistry Group hosted its 11th Environmental Radiochemical Analysis conference. The historic city of Chester in northwest England was the conference location and around 100 delegates from around the world spent three well fed days in a comfortable and intimate venue, which was well set up to promote informality and easy discussion. 

The ERA conferences’ scope has evolved gradually over the years and, from an initial focus on analytical methods for environmental samples, it has now expanded to include studies of environmental source terms, transport pathways and impacts. 

This made for a varied and stimulating programme. For example, the two invited plenary lectures were by Randall Parrish from the British Geological Survey, who described the use of advanced analytical methods and the way he used them to understand the environmental and human impacts of depleted uranium munitions, and Paul MacDonald from Westlakes Research Institute, talked about his long-running research in the Irish Sea basin, focusing on the fate of historical discharges from Sellafield. 

Other topics of interest included radon and thoron in Bangkok, transuranic fallout in the mountains and lakes of Switzerland, 129I on Swedish beaches, uranium particles in New York State, natural radionuclides in ocean sediments off Brazil, and that old favourite, Irish Sea sediments. 

The broadened scope of the conference, and changes in the nuclear industry, were reflected studies of a wider range of systems, including papers on cement and ceramic wasteforms, the role of natural and anthropogenic organic matter in environmental mobility, geological disposal scenarios, decommissioning wastes, nuclear fuel storage ponds, and bioremediation at nuclear sites. Nevertheless, the conference’s origins are still well represented, with papers on methodology, which ranged from improved transuranic separations from soil samples, measurement of 3H, 14C, 36Cl and 129I, as well as accounts of intercomparison exercises. 

Chester was also an excellent base for the accompanying visitors’ programme, allowing easy access to Liverpool for the Beatles Story, and to historic Tatton Park in Cheshire. Overindulgence at the conference dinner was remedied by a morning’s guided walk round the city walls, which date back to Roman times.  

We would conclude by thanking the Queen Hotel, which made every effort to accommodate us, and turned out to be a fine venue, and Fiona Brown, of Visit Chester, who was a tremendous help to the organisers.