Radioecology: dissecting complexities of radionuclide transfer under climate change

Abstract Radionuclides have now become part and parcel of our lives, and there does not seem any escape from them. Radionuclides have shown immense application potential in various fields of science and medicine, and thus, their management acquires utmost priority. Radioisotopes also command natural existence in almost all the excavated mineral ores and fossil fuels besides fertilizer and industrial waste that is generated following burning of fossil fuels. Widespread acceptability of nuclear power plants as the most potent, viable, and practical alternative to produce power to meet huge electricity demand of the domestic and industrial sectors further reveals how the nuclear technology has entered our lives. Add to it the demolishing power of the nuclear technology which is also muscled several times in the past by the developing and developed countries alike. Enrichment of water bodies with radioactive uranium of geological origin is also a concern. Add to it the challenge of climate change that we greatly impede or hasten the geological transition of radionuclides from the nonmobile or immobilized moieties into the mobile forms to contaminate soil and water bodies across a larger region, thus also risking the contamination of food chain. This chapter collates information available on changes in soil and plant attributes that may take place under the climate change scenario to alter the transfer of radioactivity in the environment particularly the soil to plant continuum. The triggers, challenges, and likely adaptation opportunities are discussed.