It has become increasingly important to monitor environment contamination by such chemicals as chemical warfare agents (CWAs) and industrial toxic chemicals (TICs), as well as radiation hazards around and inside collective protection facilities. This is especially important given the increased risk of terrorist or military attacks. The Military Institute of Chemistry and Radiometry (MICR) has constructed and developed the ALERT device for the effective monitoring of these threats. This device uses sensors that detect chemical and radiological contaminations in the air. The CWA detector is an ion mobility spectrometer, TICs are detected by electrochemical sensors, and radiation hazards are detected via Geiger–Muller tubes. The system was designed to protect the crew from contamination. When chemical or radioactive contamination is detected at the air inlet for the shelter, air filtration through a carbon filter is activated. At this time, the air test procedure at the filter outlet is started to test the condition of the filter on an ongoing basis. After detecting contamination at the filter outlet, the system turns off the air pumping and the service can start the procedure of replacing the damaged carbon filter. This paper presents the results of laboratory testing of the ALERT gas alarm detector, which showed high measurements for important parameters, including sensitivity, repeatability, accuracy, and speed.

This work reports the possibility of uranium recovery from a post-mining uranium ore dump in Poland by a bioleaching method. The studies were conducted on the dump leaching model with the mass of 570 kg of uranium bearing mineral material from Radoniów pile and in the periodic bioreactor with a work volume of 80 dm³ and with mechanical mixing and aeration of the charge. The uranium concentration in the examined material was about 800 ppm. In this process, the consortium of microorganisms isolated from former mines was used. It was composed of the following microorganisms: Bacillius, Pseudomonas, Sphingomonas, Thiobacillus, Halothiobacillus, Thiomonas, and Geothrix. The efficiency of the uranium bioleaching process was 98% in the reactor, and a yield of 70% was obtained in the dump leaching model. The post-leaching solution contained significant amounts of uranium ions that were separated in two stages: (1) by ion chromatography and then (2) by a two-step precipitation method. The resulting solution was a source of ammonium diuranate, the precursor of yellowcake (uranium oxides).

In response to environmental regulations, particularly within the European Union, there is an urgent need to implement new, sustainable materials derived from recycling processes. This study investigates the potential for modifying and predicting the mechanical properties of composites made from recycled high-density polyethylene (rHDPE) and recycled glass fiber-reinforced polymer (rGFRP). Specifically, it examines tensile strength parameters and structure changes in rHDPE/rGFRP treated with three different chemical additives, including a silica-based agent (S) and maleic-anhydride polyethylene (MAH) compatibilizers; and a thermal stabilizer dedicated for the recycled polyolefins. The findings reveal that these additives do not significantly change the mechanical properties of the composite. All additives increase elastic modulus (compared to rHDPE/rGFRP for max. 3% - S), tensile strength (max. for 14%, MAH), and offset yield strength (max. 16%, MAH). Moreover, the strength of the composite can be enhanced through γ-irradiation, which was found to affect the stress-strain characteristics of the rHDPE/rGFRP blend. Notable differences were observed in the strength and elongation behavior of the composite (for rHDPE increased to 0.58 for 40 kGy and decreased for 100 kGy dose to 0.35, which is very close to the non-irradiated sample), suggesting that irradiation could be a viable method for modifying the properties of recycled composites for specific applications.