Published: 15 Apr 2011
- Following the massive earthquake and tsunami
of 11 March 2011, a number of explosions
and fires took place at the reactor buildings
of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Japan declared a state of alert and reported
leaks of radioactive material. Given the
magnitude and the global dimension of the
disaster, Japanese authorities and the international
community are following the situation very
closely. A series of sources provide the
public with up-to-date information on the
accident's possible impacts on Europe's
environment as well as radiation measurements
across Europe.
The International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) provides regular updates
on the nuclear accident in Japan. In Europe,
many countries also provide unvalidated
radiological monitoring data and maps on
a daily basis through EURDEP, the European
Radiological Data Exchange Platform managed
by Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European
Commission. In response to a request by
the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
to support IAEA, the Central Institute for
Meteorology and Geodynamics in Austria (ZAMG)
has developed plume calculation models.
The European Nuclear
Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) provides
further information on nuclear safety and
emergency arrangements at different levels
of governance. The Urgent Radiological Information
Exchange (ECURIE), operated by JRC, ensures
information sharing at an EU-level. Systems
such as ENSEMBLE aim at reconciling national
forecasts of medium and long-range atmospheric
dispersion. For Russian speakers, the Russian
State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom
provides map viewers with near-real time
data on radiation level across the Russian
Federation.
+ More
Searching for noise
solutions on awareness day
Published: 27 Apr 2011
- To mark the International Noise Awareness
Day on 27 April, the European Environment
Agency (EEA) and the Noise Abatement Society
(NAS) seek submissions for the new European
Soundscape Award which will recognise innovative
solutions to noise problems.
Themes
Noise Exposure to unwanted noise can cause
stress and interfere with basic activities
such as sleep, rest and study. Prolonged
exposure can also trigger illnesses as serious
as hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
This has recently been documented in the
report 'Burden of disease from environmental
noise' from the World Health Organisation
(WHO), which estimates that each year Europeans
lose at least one million healthy life years
due to noise from road traffic alone.
The EEA is teaming up
with the Noise Abatement Society to raise
awareness about the health impacts of noise
and to reward European initiatives that
can help reduce excessive noise. Any product,
campaign, innovation or scheme offering
a creative solution to a noise problem can
be nominated for the Award. The Award will
be presented for the first time at a prestigious
ceremony in London in November 2011.
For more information
on how to submit an application, visit the
European Soundscape Award webpage. The closing
date for applications is 2 September 2011.
