Abdul-Wali Ajlouni, Osama Abu-Haija, Manal Abdelsalam and Hussam Al-Rabai’ah, 2008. Nuclear Fission Products Behavior in the Environment. 109 Journal of Applied Sciences in Environmental Sanitation, 3 (2): 109-116. Theoretical Paper NUCLEAR FISSION PRODUCTS BEHAVIOR IN THE ENVIRONMENT ABDUL-WALI AJLOUNI 1* , OSAMA ABU-HAIJA 1 , MANAL ABDELSALAM 1 and HUSSAM AL- RABAI’AH 2 1 Applied Physics Department, 2 Mathematics Department, Tafila Technical University, P.O. Box 179 66110 Tafila-Jordan *Corresponding Author: Phone: +962-3-2250326; Fax: +962-3-2250002; E-mail: awajlouni@hotmail.com Received: 29 th July 2008; Revised: 12 th August 2008; Accepted: 13 th August 2008 Abstract: The movement of radionuclides from its source, inside reactor containment, and in the environment has been studied with the principal objective of tracing the routes by which they accumulate in the food chain and become available for human consumption. A large number of studies and models were established to explain the fission products behavior within terrestrial and water ecosystems, but a number of behaviors were non understandable, which always attributed to unknown reasons. Deep Atomic Binding (DAB) hypothesis suggested that almost all fission products behaviors in terrestrial and water ecosystems could be interpreted in wide coincidence. The gap between former models predictions and field behavior of fission products after accidents like Chernobyl has been explained. DAB represents a tool to reduce radio-phobia as well as radiation protection expenses. Keywords: Deep Atomic Binding, fission products, radionuclides in the environmental INTRODUCTION The artificial creation of radionuclides may result from physical processes involving nuclear fission, nuclear fusion and neutron activation. The most important source of artificially created radionuclides is neutron – induced nuclear fission. The chemical and physical forms of the active species determine deposition, migration and uptake of radioactivity by living organisms. A variety of systems and processes may introduce radioactivity into the environment. Human activities involving nuclear weapons and the nuclear fuel cycle (including mining, milling, fuel enrichment and fabrication, reactor operation, spent fuel storage and reprocessing, and waste storage), leading to significant creation and release of radioactivity. Human technology also releases pre- existing natural radionuclides, which would otherwise remain trapped in the earth’s crust [1-2]. The physical and chemical form of radionuclides may vary depending on the release and transport conditions in addition to the element properties. A general distinction can be made ISSN 0126-2807 Volume 3, Number 2: 109-116, May-August, 2008 © T2008 Department of Environmental Engineering Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology, Surabaya & Indonesian Society of Sanitary and Environmental Engineers, Jakarta Open Access http://www.trisanita.org