Challenges in radioecology following the new trends in UAE's agriculture and environmental changes: a review

Abstract

The development of the nuclear industry in the countries of the Arabian Gulf demands an investigation of its potential impact on the environment and human activities. It should involve routine monitoring of radionuclide from existing nuclear facilities as well as modelling of accidental release of radioactivity. Agriculture is usually considered the human activity which is the most endangered with radioactive pollution. Although the traditional concept of low-developed agriculture in the United Arab Emirates has been already described from a radioecological point of view, herein, the recent trends of agriculture are recorded. Due to climatic changes and population increase, the use of saline lands will be more pressing. Apart from it, the risk assessment for nuclear events, which was formed mainly for temperate zones, neglected another aspect of arid zones which is underground water reservoirs refilled with episodic heavy rains. The sandy or saline soils are not an effective barrier for the migration of radionuclide deposited in topsoil. A hypersaline environment could prevent the adsorption of radionuclide on soil particles and allow their high bioavailability for halophyte plants. The new principal challenges in radioecological research in arid zones are impacts on (i) saline agriculture, (ii) underground water reservoirs, and (iii) proposal for countermeasures in order to minimise the impact of radioactive contamination.

Keywords: Arid zone; Halophyte; Radioactivity; Radionuclides; Sabkha; Salinity.

Fig. 1

Distribution of sabkhas in the Arabian Peninsula (Alshenawy et al ; Qureshi 2017).  , nuclear power plant; , coastal sabkha; , inland sabka

Fig. 2

Situation in saline ecosystems and potential ways of contamination: (a) mangrove with tide, (b) coastal sabkha, (c) wind, (d) aquifer with upward capillary flow and downward flow by pores, (e) water table, (f) exchange of underground water between sea and water table