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| A Few
Examples
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| MANAGING
WATER RESOURCES |
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Over 70 percent of the Earth's surface is covered with water, but less
than 3 percent of that is freshwater - most of it locked up in
glaciers,
ice caps, the atmosphere and deep groundwater reservoirs. Just 13
percent
of the globe's total freshwater is readily available to meet human
needs.
In the meantime, worldwide demand for water is doubling every 21 years
according to FAO.As industrial, agricultural and domestic pollution
threatens finite supplies, water is becoming an increasingly precious
resource that must be managed Judiciously.
One growing emphasis in TC activities is helping countries and regions
to
investigate and manage water resources using isotope hydrology.
Isotopes
are extremely powerful tools for investigating many areas of natural
science
Most elements are made up of different isotopes, which are nearly
identical
to one another chemically, but are of different atomic mass. The
water
molecule is made up mostly of two oxygen and hydrogen isotopes, But
along
with these are "rare" isotopes (H-2 and O-18) occurring in
relatively low
and variable concentrations that permit a broad range of hydrological
investigations.
Isotopic techniques provide an important analytical tool for managing
water
resources. The Agency has established a dedicated isotope hydrology
laboratory in Vienna that supports national development
activities.
Typically, Agency assistance aims at developing experience and know-how
through training, expert advice and the provision of equipment to
improve
local infrastructure and build capacity to study water resources using
tracer isotopes.
Over the last decade, the IAEA has supported some 160 TC projects
amounting
to US$ 18.8 million to assist 63 countries in developing their
capabilities
in isotope hydrology applications. More than 550 students have
been trained
to apply isotopic investigations for natural resource management.
TC
projects are more and more designed to tackle practical problems in
Member
States. The following stories portray projects that are making
substantial
contributions to better water management and an improved quality of life
for
communities in water-short regions of the globe.
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| Mutated
Rice Gains Ground in China and Myanmar |
Nine varieties of early season rice, obtained by induced mutation of
locally
grown varieties, were officially released and cultivated on 598, 1 00
hectares in five provinces along the Yangtze River in China during
1995.
The mutant varieties now cover about 11 percent of the total 5.5 million
hectares of rice growing area in these provinces. While performance of
each
mutant variety varied, yield increases per hectare for nine mutants was
on
average 440 kilograms higher than for the control varieties, according
to
data collected during the multi-location trial.
The Chinese National Rice Research Institute estimates that the total
yield
increase was 263,000 tonnes across the cultivated area. At a
market price
of US $200 per tonne, the gain to farmers is estimated at over US$50
million.
The seed extension process was actively supported by seed companies at
the
provincial, municipal and county level. Because the seed
multiplication
programme has been so successfully implemented, an extension area of
990,000
hectares was established for the 1996 growing season. Results
again looked
promising.
In Myanmar, according to recent information received from the Ministry
of
Agriculture, the rice mutant "Shwewartun" showed improved
yield, grain
quality and earliness compared to its parent variety. Over the
period 1990
to 1993, the mutant variety was grown on over 810,000 hectares, or 17
percent of the total rice area sown.
Close collaboration with national institutes in both China and
Myanmar-made
possible through CRPs and TC projects - contributed to the development
of
these successful mutant varieties. Moreover, the experience gained
in these
Asian projects is contributing to similar mutation breeding advances in
other regions.
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| PROMOTING
A SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT |
Within 25 years, an estimated 60 percent of the world's population will
live
in urban areas. But many cities - especially in developing
countries - are
expanding beyond the capacity of their infrastructure to sustainably
support
them. Environmental problems including water and air pollution,
inadequate
sewage treatment and solid waste disposal and ozone depletion are having
serious economic and human health consequences for many of the new
"mega-cities." Air pollution in Mexico City, for example,
already
contributes to 12,000 deaths per year. And in the Thai capital, Bangkok,
high lead exposure from car emissions has been found to reduce the
average
IQ of children,
To address some of these problems, IAEA is building new partnerships
with
governments and international organizations to assess and plan
environmental
mitigation through the application of nuclear techniques. These
involve a
variety of applications from using isotopes as tracers for selected
pollutants, to the adaptation of electron accelerators for cleaning flue
gases from fossil-fueled power plants. IAEA is also an important
technical
resource for national programmes in geothermal energy production and
environmental management including the mitigation of marine pollution.
The IAEA Marine Environment Laboratory (MEL) located in Monaco helps
Member
States in addressing problems related to polluted oceans and coastal
zones.
Numerous analytical techniques are used to investigate radio-nuclide
contamination, chemical concentrations and dispersion of waters among
other
issues. MEL's training programmes help to increase Member States'
capacity
to understand, monitor and protect the marine environment. The
Laboratory is
also an international centre for analytical quality control services for
radioactive and non-radioactive marine pollutants.
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| Planning
an Energy Future:Agenda 21 and the DECADES Programme |
Every source of electrical power
produces impacts on human health and the
environment. In order to respond to the priorities identified by
the 1992
Rio Summit on Environment and Development, the IAEA joined forces with
eight
other international organizations* to examine the health and
environmental
effects of different electricity generating systems. This work
evolved into
an IAEA-led interagency project called "DECADES".
DECADES has subsequently assembled one of the world's most comprehensive
databases on technical, economic and environmental aspects of different
energy sources for electricity generation, and has developed
sophisticated
computer software for power sector planning. The reference
Technology
Database includes an inventory covering all current and prospective
energy
sources - coal, oil, gas, hydro, nuclear, geothermal, solar, wind, wave
and
biomass - and encompasses the full energy chain concept, allowing
comparisons
not just between electricity generating plants but also by considering
all
steps of the chain from tapping of the resource to final disposal of
wastes.
Some 35 countries are constructing their own databases on this frame,
customizing them for their own conditions and decision making.
Software (known as DECPAC) has also been developed for integrated
electricity
system analysis. It can help a country-user to screen, compare and
assess
different electrical system expansion strategies, taking into account
various environmental burdens such as emissions of SO2, Nox and
"greenhouse
gases" from the full energy chains, including mining,
transportation, fuel
fabrication and waste disposal.
During its second phase, DECADES will be enhancing the basic model to
cover
even more comprehensive coverage of environmental burdens, and to
quantify
impacts on crops, human health and economic infrastructure. Other
challenges being addressed are enhancing the model for forecasting the
future
energy and electricity needs in developing countries, demand side
management
and regulatory analysis. The IAEA is disseminating the DECADES
databases
and software globally through training programmes and co-ordinated
research
efforts. Further information may be obtained from the Planning and
Economic
Studies Section, Division of Nuclear Power and the Fuel Cycle, IAEA
Vienna,
Austria.
*Organizations participating in the project., European Commission,
Economic
and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), IAEA,
International
Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), OECD Nuclear Energy
Agency
(OECD/NEA), Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), UN
Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), World Bank and World
Meteorological Organization (WMO).
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| Human
Tissue Banking: Sri Lanka Sets its Sights High |
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A large new facility to irradiate and store a variety of human tissues for
medical use on this island and around the region was inaugurated late last
year by Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike in Sri
Lanka's
capital. The 10,000 curie gamma irradiator provided by IAEA-TC
is now
operational, and the tissue bank is already distributing sterile human
tissue
to government hospitals across the country. Indeed, a
catalogue is now
available listing various bones, eye parts, tendons and other tissue.
Tissue banking isn't new to Sri Lanka, however. Nearly 20 years ago,
Dr. Hudson Silva launched a campaign to preserve eyes donated by his
patients
so that others might see again. The tax-free charity that he set up,
the
SriLanka Eye Donation Society (widely known as the Eye Bank), has helped
more
than 10,000 Sri Lankans to regain their vision. Over the last 30
years, the
bank has sent more than 30,000 sight-restoring corneas to eve surgeons in
60
countries. These have been delivered free of charge, but recipient
institutions have made cash donations enabling the bank to thrive.
Today,
the Society has 325 branches around the country with the active
involvement
of 15,000 volunteers.
Given such a track record, and the fact that tissue banking is now a
demonstrably viable technology, TC was fully confident about helping Sri
Lanka set up the new facility which is sited on land in a prime
residential
area provided by the Health Ministry. The Agency will contribute
some
US$375,000 over four years (1995-98). Apart from the governmental
inputs,
the Eye Bank and local charities will donate nearly US$150,000.
Oblation of one's body is inherent in Sri Lanka's religious-cultural
traditions, so the Eve Bank has never been short of cornea
donations.
An average of 15 to 20 people per day are filling out the form for eye
donation. About 15 percent of them are also willing to donate
tissue.
By autumn of 1996, some 90,000 registered donors had expressed their
willingness to donate tissues.
Processing of "amnion" - the inner membrane of the placenta that
cocoons
the fetus - began in 1995. This thin, opaque material is immensely
rich
in hormones, but is usually thrown away after a baby is delivered.
Pharmaceutical companies procure it from maternity hospitals to extract
hormones, and it is also widely used to treat wounds and secondary burns.
But the full range of its medical applications is still being explored.
The Colombo tissue bank has begun providing amnion to public and private
hospitals. Its capacity to prepare, double package and irradiate
amnion is
about 350 pieces a month, while current local needs are estimated at 200
pieces. The rest is being sent abroad to meet urgent needs
elsewhere. In
time, the Bank will similarly process and store skin and bone tissues as
well
as brain and spinal cord membranes, intra-muscular tissue, heart valves,
arterial and cardiovascular graft material.
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| Biofertilizers
for Bangladeshi Farmers |
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A TC Model Project is establishing a
demonstration plant for the large scale
production of Rhizobium biofertilizers in Bangladesh. It will also
support
extensive field trials to demonstrate to farmers the effectiveness of
biofertilizers in increasing grain yields. Early field trials have
already
shown that the technology typically increases grain legume production by
about 25 percent. Large scale adoption can thus save the country an
estimated US$23 million per year in imported grains and some $6 million
annually in imported chemical fertilizers. |
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