Wildfires in the Atomic Age: Mitigating the Risk of Radioactive Smoke
This <i>Perspective</i> highlights the lingering consequences of nuclear disasters by examining the risks posed by wildfires that rerelease radioactive fallout originally deposited into the environment by accidents at nuclear power plants or testing of nuclear weapons. Such wildfires pro...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Fire |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/5/1/2 |
| _version_ | 1797480493229277184 |
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| author | Christine Eriksen |
| author_facet | Christine Eriksen |
| author_sort | Christine Eriksen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This <i>Perspective</i> highlights the lingering consequences of nuclear disasters by examining the risks posed by wildfires that rerelease radioactive fallout originally deposited into the environment by accidents at nuclear power plants or testing of nuclear weapons. Such wildfires produce uncontainable, airborne, and hazardous smoke, which potentially carries radioactive material, thus becoming the specter of the original disaster. As wildfires occur more frequently with climate change and land use changes, nuclear wildfires present a pressing yet little discussed problem among wildfire management and fire scholars. The problem requires urgent attention due to the risks it poses to the health and wellbeing of wildland firefighters, land stewards, and smoke-impacted communities. This <i>Perspective</i> explains the problem, outlines future research directions, suggests potential solutions, and underlines the broader benefits of mitigating the risks. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:00:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a4caf356e164496f9d05f583a875b043 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2571-6255 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:00:50Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Fire |
| spelling | doaj.art-a4caf356e164496f9d05f583a875b0432023-11-23T19:50:44ZengMDPI AGFire2571-62552021-12-0151210.3390/fire5010002Wildfires in the Atomic Age: Mitigating the Risk of Radioactive SmokeChristine Eriksen0Center for Security Studies, ETH Zürich, Haldeneggsteig 4, 8092 Zürich, SwitzerlandThis <i>Perspective</i> highlights the lingering consequences of nuclear disasters by examining the risks posed by wildfires that rerelease radioactive fallout originally deposited into the environment by accidents at nuclear power plants or testing of nuclear weapons. Such wildfires produce uncontainable, airborne, and hazardous smoke, which potentially carries radioactive material, thus becoming the specter of the original disaster. As wildfires occur more frequently with climate change and land use changes, nuclear wildfires present a pressing yet little discussed problem among wildfire management and fire scholars. The problem requires urgent attention due to the risks it poses to the health and wellbeing of wildland firefighters, land stewards, and smoke-impacted communities. This <i>Perspective</i> explains the problem, outlines future research directions, suggests potential solutions, and underlines the broader benefits of mitigating the risks.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/5/1/2Chernobyl Exclusion Zoneclimate changefuel managementhazardous smokenuclear disastersnuclear wildfires |
| spellingShingle | Christine Eriksen Wildfires in the Atomic Age: Mitigating the Risk of Radioactive Smoke Fire Chernobyl Exclusion Zone climate change fuel management hazardous smoke nuclear disasters nuclear wildfires |
| title | Wildfires in the Atomic Age: Mitigating the Risk of Radioactive Smoke |
| title_full | Wildfires in the Atomic Age: Mitigating the Risk of Radioactive Smoke |
| title_fullStr | Wildfires in the Atomic Age: Mitigating the Risk of Radioactive Smoke |
| title_full_unstemmed | Wildfires in the Atomic Age: Mitigating the Risk of Radioactive Smoke |
| title_short | Wildfires in the Atomic Age: Mitigating the Risk of Radioactive Smoke |
| title_sort | wildfires in the atomic age mitigating the risk of radioactive smoke |
| topic | Chernobyl Exclusion Zone climate change fuel management hazardous smoke nuclear disasters nuclear wildfires |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/5/1/2 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT christineeriksen wildfiresintheatomicagemitigatingtheriskofradioactivesmoke |