This paper presents the results of a study to assess the effects of impervious and pervious (or porous) asphalt on the quality of runoff from highways in the Netherlands. Furthemlore, the effects of settling and filtration on the quality of runoff of both types of asphalt have been elaborated. This study has been performed to support decisionmaking on how to deal with polluted runoff from highways in the Netherlands. The results show that runoff from well-maintained pervious asphalt contains a relatively low concentration of pollutants such as heavy metals, mineral oil, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, and suspended solids compared to runoff from impervious asphalt. In runoff from both types of asphalt, copper, lead, and zinc are the prevailing heavy metals. The impression exists that especially the hard shoulders along highways provided with pervious asphalt act as a sink for suspended solids, soil particles, and other pollutants. To maintain its permeability and filter action, the hard shoulders should be regularly cleaned.Water treatment tests in the laboratory revealed that treatment of runoff from pervious asphalt results in lower efficiencies in the removal of heavy metals, compared with the treatment of runoff from impervious asphalt. This is probably because of the lower concentration of suspended solids and the difference in partitioning of the metals in the soluble and particle-bound phase. However, despite encouraging findings, long-term research on the continued permeability of pervious asphalt is lacking. As a result, its long-term performance with and without aggressive maintenance cannot be predicted at this time.The results of this study show that the current switch from impervious to pervious asphalt on Dutch highways has certain environmental benefits. The combination of low concentrations of pollutants, poor treatment efficiencies, and high costs makes it questionable whether additional treatment of runoff from pervious asphalt by means of settling basins or sand filtration is meaningful. Despite other positive properties of pervious asphalt such as noise abatement and less spray and skid resistance during wet weather, the rather moderate behavior of pervious asphalt with respect to slipperiness in winter should always remain an important point of attention when choosing this type of pavement. Water Environ. Res .. 71, 183 (1999).

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Within the framework of the “Co-ordination Network on Decommissioning of Nuclear Installations Project (2005–2008)” funded by the European Community a first edition of EURSSEM has been developed to promote common understanding of key issues in the development of a strategy, implementation and execution of a programme to remediate radioactively contaminated sites. The objective of EURSSEM is to describe and provide a consistent consensus information and guidance on strategy, planning, implementation and execution of stakeholder involvement, performing, and assessing radiological soil surface and groundwater (final) status surveys to meet established dose- or risk-based release criteria, and/or remediation, restoration, reuse and stewardship objectives, while at the same time encouraging effective use of human, raw material and financial resources. To be able to provide a consistent guidance and leading practices to involved participants (stakeholders) in a remediation programme for radioactively contaminated sites, an extensive literature study has been performed to collect important documents that have been produced in this field by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the SAFEGROUNDS Learning Network, Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual (MARSSIM) and other national and international institutes. EURSSEM incorporates information provided in those and other documents to conduct all actions at radioactively contaminated and potentially radioactively contaminated sites and/or groundwater up to their release for restricted or unrestricted (re)use. Brief descriptions are provided about the background and the need for a document like EURSSEM, about key issues like stakeholder involvement and archiving for future referencing including the follow-up of the further development of EURSSEM.

ENTRAP comprises a pan-European cooperation of leading scientific institutions and regulatory bodies in the field of nuclear-waste characterization and its quality assurance for the safe disposal of radioactive waste. Here, the scope of this cooperation is presented and explained and links or interfaces for a potential collaboration with partners fulfilling tasks of IDG-TP are pursued.KEYWORDS: nuclear-waste characterization, destructive and non-destructive testing of radioactive waste forms, quality assurance of nuclear waste, safe disposal of radioactive waste.