Taotao Zeng, Zhiyu Xiong, Yi Xiao, Jiayao Liu, Guohua Wang, Mingjuan Zhang, Shiyou Li
{"title":"Enrichment of uranium-resistant microbial flora for U(VI) removal and mechanism analysis.","authors":"Taotao Zeng, Zhiyu Xiong, Yi Xiao, Jiayao Liu, Guohua Wang, Mingjuan Zhang, Shiyou Li","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2026.108196","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2026.108196","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A community of uranium-tolerant microorganisms was isolated from a soil sample collected from the vicinity of a uranium tailing mine in South China to investigate the efficiency and mechanism of uranium removal. The maximum uranium (U(VI)) removal efficiency for microbes reached up to 90.9% at pH 6 and 35°C. Uranium can cause membrane lipid peroxidation to produce malondialdehyde, and activity levels of antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase and catalase, changed accordingly. Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed that oxygen-containing functional groups and amide groups were the main functional groups involved, and that H<sub>2</sub>(UO<sub>2</sub>)<sub>2</sub>(PO<sub>4</sub>)<sub>2</sub>·8H<sub>2</sub>O and HPUO<sub>6</sub>·4H<sub>2</sub>O were formed. The isolated uranium-resistant bacterial flora included Aeromonas, Acinetobacter, Stenotrophomonas, Unclassified f-Enterobacteriaceae, Shewanella and Pseudomonas. Microbial functional gene prediction revealed an increased abundance of genes associated with intracellular transport, lipid transport and metabolism, inorganic ion transport and metabolism. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis showed that mainly genes related to the tricarboxylic acid cycle and quorum-sensing-related enzymes in resistance to uranium toxicity. This comprehensive analysis of the mechanisms of uranium resistant by microbial communities offers novel perspectives on the defensive responses of microorganisms under such stress.</p>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":"300 ","pages":"108196"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149224150","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A spatiotemporally corrected radiological contamination mapping platform for multi-scenario nuclear and radiological emergencies.","authors":"Hyunsung Kim, Myeongsik Shin, Ku Kang","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2026.108185","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2026.108185","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Rapid, quantitative assessment of the environmental consequences of radioactive contamination (and protection of responders operating within it) requires reconstructing continuous contamination fields from heterogeneous reconnaissance measurements. We present an automated platform that converts geo-referenced dose-rate data from ground and airborne assets into hazard-consequence maps. This study presents the platform architecture and quantitatively validates its spatial-reconstruction and decision-support modules; the altitude-correction and temporal-normalization modules are formalized as architecture components whose empirical validation is identified as future work. Airborne measurements are first converted to ground-equivalent dose rates through an altitude-dependent air-to-ground correction factor (AGCF) modeled as a segmented broken power-law (SBPL), then normalized to a common reference time using radionuclide half-life decay for radiological accidents or the Kaufmann power law for nuclear detonations. Normalized data are reconstructed into continuous 2-D fields by interpolation. Five methods, namely inverse distance weighting (IDW), ordinary kriging (OK), universal kriging (UK), anisotropic OK, and thin-plate spline (TPS), were evaluated in two scenarios: a 2000 kT nuclear surface burst (HotSpot 3.1.2) and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident (JAEA airborne surveys, 2011-2025). Performance was strongly scenario-dependent: for the detonation, TPS and anisotropic OK far outperformed isotropic OK (R<sup>2</sup>=0.866 and 0.849 vs. 0.256), a gap robust across resampling (95% CIs non-overlapping), whereas all methods converged in the Fukushima field (mean R<sup>2</sup>=0.938-0.957) under random hold-out; under spatially-independent block cross-validation this convergence is weaker and accuracy is lower (R<sup>2</sup>≈0.70-0.75), yet the anisotropy-aware advantage in the detonation field is reinforced. No single method is universally optimal; scenario-adaptive selection is essential for consequence estimation, exclusion-zone delineation, and minimum-dose routing in operational platforms.</p>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":"300 ","pages":"108185"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149224145","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Machine learning for atmospheric radioxenon source discrimination based on isotopic activity concentrations.","authors":"Xiangrui Jiang, Ruiqin Zhang, Yungang Zhao, Qilong Guo, Shaohang An, Yazhou Niu, Yuhao Qin, Qi Li, Yuanqing Fan, Xinjun Zhang, Huaimao Jia, Shujiang Liu, Shilian Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2026.108199","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2026.108199","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Monitoring the activities of radioxenon isotopes (<sup>131m</sup>Xe, <sup>133</sup>Xe, <sup>133m</sup>Xe, <sup>135</sup>Xe) in the atmosphere is a key task of the International Monitoring System (IMS) under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Discriminating the source of radioxenon detected at monitoring stations is crucial and highly challenging. This paper investigates the performance of machine learning for radioxenon source discrimination. Based on simulated and measured data, a synthetic dataset of radioxenon isotopic activity concentrations was generated, comprising samples from nuclear explosion, reactor, and hybrid sources. This dataset was then used as training data for machine learning models. The performance of the trained models was evaluated on a series of randomly generated test datasets. Under an idealized low-MDC scenario, the radioxenon source discrimination accuracy reaches 88.6%, and the probability of correctly identifying nuclear explosion signals is as high as 94.2%, corresponding to a false negative rate of 5.8% and a false positive rate of 14.9%. A sensitivity analysis using more realistic MDC settings shows that the discrimination performance decreases substantially as the MDC increases.</p>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":"300 ","pages":"108199"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149224219","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Thomas L Bailey, David Lund, Griffin Mulcahy, Alistaer Zhou, Noah Cabanas, John P McDonaugh, Ruchi Rathod, William Von Seeger, Philippe Collon
{"title":"Calibration of the NDUSRM series and further measurements of <sup>236</sup>U/<sup>238</sup>U isotopic ratios in the Ewing collection.","authors":"Thomas L Bailey, David Lund, Griffin Mulcahy, Alistaer Zhou, Noah Cabanas, John P McDonaugh, Ruchi Rathod, William Von Seeger, Philippe Collon","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2026.108168","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2026.108168","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><sup>236</sup>U is one of the rarest isotopes of uranium, occurring in ores with an abundance below 1×10<sup>-9</sup>. Due to a wide variety of geological factors, the <sup>236</sup>U content in a given uranium ore body is considered to be a unique \"fingerprint\" like signature, with applications in nuclear forensics and geophysics. Its low abundance though is only detectable via Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS), capable of measuring <sup>236</sup>U/<sup>238</sup>U ratios below 1×10<sup>-11</sup>. Improvements to the AMS setup at the University of Notre Dame's Nuclear Science Laboratory, have greatly improved its detection limit, enabling measurements across the entire <sup>236</sup>U/<sup>238</sup>U ratio range found in natural ores. A description of the improvements is presented. A survey of the <sup>236</sup>U/<sup>238</sup>U ratio of various ores from North American and African mines was conducted with the improved setup, using in house reference standards to quantify the measurements. A new detection limit of 1×10<sup>-12</sup> was established.</p>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":" ","pages":"108168"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149148249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Katsumi Hirose, Pavel P. Povinec, Aya Sakaguchi, Daisuke Tsumune
{"title":"Temporal changes of 239,240Pu activity concentrations in overlying waters and sediments in the Far Eastern Seas: Partitioning of 239,240Pu between bottom waters and sediments","authors":"Katsumi Hirose, Pavel P. Povinec, Aya Sakaguchi, Daisuke Tsumune","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2026.108149","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2026.108149","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Temporal changes of <sup>239,240</sup>Pu activity concentrations in the overlying waters and sediments of the Far Eastern Seas (Sea of Japan: SOJ, and Okhotsk Sea: OS) were examined during the period 1994 to 2021 with the aim to better understand the biogeochemical behavior of plutonium in the ocean. The <sup>239,240</sup>Pu activity concentrations in the overlying waters and sediments did not show clear trends during the observed periods, in contrast to the <sup>137</sup>Cs decline trends, although a gradual decrease of <sup>239,240</sup>Pu occurred in the shallow layer waters of the SOJ, while slow increases appeared in deep waters. To elucidate the transfer processes of <sup>239,240</sup>Pu from seawater to sediment, we examined the temporal changes of the operational distribution coefficients (K<sub>d,o</sub>) of <sup>239,240</sup>Pu between the overlying water and the surface sediment. The K<sub>d,o</sub> values of <sup>239,240</sup>Pu in the Far Eastern Seas showed large spatial-temporal variability (<0.06 × 10<sup>3</sup> to 280 × 10<sup>3</sup> L kg<sup>−1</sup>). The K<sub>d,o</sub> values at eight SOJ sites were almost constant within the sampling periods, although large temporal changes occurred in two deep water sites. The K<sub>d,o</sub> values of <sup>239,240</sup>Pu decreased with increasing depth, in contrast to <sup>137</sup>Cs, which may reflect a pressure effect as a possible mechanism. This finding suggests that the return of <sup>239,240</sup>Pu to deep water from sinking and sediment particles may occur, instead of the accumulation of <sup>239,240</sup>Pu in deep sediment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":"299 ","pages":"Article 108149"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148880427","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Saulet Ydyrysheva, Makhabbat Kunarbekova, Svetlana Lennik, Jechan Lee, Seitkhan Azat
{"title":"Advances in sorbents for the removal of uranium from aqueous systems","authors":"Saulet Ydyrysheva, Makhabbat Kunarbekova, Svetlana Lennik, Jechan Lee, Seitkhan Azat","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2026.108153","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2026.108153","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Uranium is an element known for its notable chemical toxicity and relatively low radiation risk. It poses a danger to the environment and health, especially in countries such as Kazakhstan, where uranium mining is prevalent. These elements can leach into different water sources during mining, processing and waste management, which requires the use of effective disposal methods. Several treatment technologies have been developed for uranium remediation. Among these options, adsorption is particularly promising due to its high efficiency, straightforward operation, affordability and low risk of secondary pollution.</div><div>Recent years have seen a growing research focus on advanced nanosorbents as a new generation of adsorbents. MXenes, metal-organic frameworks, and covalent-organic frameworks are particularly prominent due to their large surface area, adjustable pore structures, numerous functional groups, and strong affinity for U(VI). These materials have improved adsorption capabilities even in complex aqueous environments. Ongoing research is crucial to developing effective, sustainable, and scalable uranium disposal solutions that protect water resources and enhance environmental safety in uranium-rich regions. This review article discusses the environmental challenges related to uranium and highlights advanced sorbents as essential materials for removing uranium from aqueous systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":"299 ","pages":"Article 108153"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148865066","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Michaela Achatz, Jörg Dilling, Jens Fohlmeister, Peggy Hofmann, Oliver Lindtner, Anna Jäger, Christian Jung
{"title":"Comparative dose assessment of natural radionuclides in food consumed by adults in Germany","authors":"Michaela Achatz, Jörg Dilling, Jens Fohlmeister, Peggy Hofmann, Oliver Lindtner, Anna Jäger, Christian Jung","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2026.108151","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2026.108151","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Between 2016 and 2021, Germany conducted its first Total Diet Study to assess dietary exposure to various substances, including natural radionuclides. Activity concentrations of Pb-210, U-234, U-238, Ra-226, and Ra-228 were determined in 163 food samples of the German diet. Po-210 was additionally included using inferred values because of its known high relative contribution to ingestion dose.</div><div>This study provides the first comprehensive assessment of ingestion doses from natural radionuclides in foods consumed in Germany. Two methodological approaches were applied. A conservative approach assigned 134 activity concentrations per radionuclide to the eight food groups defined in the German Radiation Protection Ordinance, resulting in a mean effective dose of 98 μSv·a<sup>−1</sup> (median: 58 μSv·a<sup>−1</sup>). A refined approach incorporating detailed food consumption data, consistent with current dietary exposure assessment practices, yielded a markedly lower mean annual effective dose of 26 μSv·a<sup>−1</sup> (median: 24 μSv·a<sup>−1</sup>). In both approaches, Po-210 and Ra-228 were the main contributors to the total dose, accounting for 39%/36% and 31%/34%, respectively (conservative/refined). Pb-210 is responsible for 22%/21%, while Ra-226 accounted for 7%/9%. Uranium isotopes contributed only marginally (<1%).</div><div>The results demonstrate the importance of refined consumption-based assessments for realistic dose estimation and highlight the relevance of Po-210 and Ra-228 in dietary exposure. In addition, the investigation successfully shows, that the conservative approach reliably provides an upper estimate for the ingestion dose as intended. These findings provide a robust basis for radiological risk assessment and support ongoing food safety evaluations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":"299 ","pages":"Article 108151"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148887247","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Natural particle dominance of radionuclide reservoirs in the presence of microplastics: A quantitative cross-compartment analysis for aquatic systems","authors":"S.K. Sahu, M. Tiwari, T.D. Rathod","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2026.108123","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2026.108123","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We introduce the Relative Reservoir Dominance Index (RRDI<sub>nat</sub>), a dimensionless metric integrating substrate-specific distribution coefficients (K<sub>d</sub>, L/kg) with field-measured particle mass concentrations to quantify what fraction of particle-associated radionuclide inventory is held by natural particles relative to microplastics (MP) in aquatic systems. Applying this framework across six aquatic compartments — open ocean, coastal marine, oligotrophic gyre, river flood, river baseflow, and lake — with Monte Carlo uncertainty propagation (10,000 iterations), we demonstrate that natural particles retain ≥98.0% of particle-associated radionuclide inventory in all scenarios evaluated. This critical review synthesizes over 180 peer-reviewed studies. The RRDI<sub>nat</sub> values approaching 1.00 indicate near-total natural particle dominance. A three-component extension is presented for radionuclides with high aqueous mobility (<sup>9</sup>°Sr, <sup>99</sup>Tc, <sup>3</sup>H). Our synthesis reveals a consistent K<sub>d</sub> hierarchy spanning five orders of magnitude, from ∼10 L/kg for pristine MP to ∼10<sup>6</sup> L/kg for Fe-(hydr)oxide-associated Pu. Monte Carlo uncertainty propagation yields RRDI<sub>nat</sub> ≥ 0.980 across all compartments (95% CI: 0.990–0.9999). The oligotrophic gyre represents the global minimum (RRDI<sub>nat</sub> = 0.980 under bounding conditions; salinity-corrected K<sub>d,MP</sub> applied); gyre RRDI is sensitive to the local C<sub>p,nat</sub>/C<sub>p,MP</sub> ratio rather than absolute C<sub>p,MP</sub>, rising to ≥ 0.999 under central concentration estimates. For non-sorbing radionuclides (<sup>3</sup>H, <sup>14</sup>C, <sup>99</sup>Tc, <sup>129</sup>I), dissolved-phase transport dominates; biofilm-coated MP may represent a novel <sup>129</sup>I retention pathway. Post-2023 ALPS-treated water discharge from Fukushima Daiichi introduces monitoring imperatives for <sup>3</sup>H, <sup>14</sup>C, <sup>9</sup>°Sr, and <sup>99</sup>Tc in coastal Pacific environments. We introduce the Microplastic Radionuclide Vector (MRV) framework, formally define and experimentally specify the Biofilm Substrate Convergence Hypothesis (BSCH), and provide six evidence-ranked research priorities structured as a predictive modelling and experimental roadmap for the radioecology community.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":"298 ","pages":"Article 108123"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148641855","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A unified analytical formula for indoor gamma dose assessment based on surface-density scaling","authors":"F. Gharbi","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2026.108117","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2026.108117","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Accurate estimation of indoor gamma dose rates from natural radionuclides in building materials is essential for radiation protection. In this work, a unified analytical formula is developed based on a scaling law involving the surface density <span><math><mrow><mi>ρ</mi><mi>d</mi></mrow></math></span>, defined as the product of the density and thickness of the structural building materials (walls, floor, and ceiling). The results show that the proposed formula reproduces independent Geant4 simulation data, not used in its derivation, with high accuracy across low, intermediate, and high attenuation regimes. In comparison, existing formulas exhibit noticeable differences, particularly at low surface densities.</div><div>The proposed approach provides a simple, robust, and accurate analytical representation of Geant4 results, offering a practical alternative to computationally intensive Monte Carlo simulations by reproducing their results with high fidelity through a compact analytical expression.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":"298 ","pages":"Article 108117"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148584541","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Functionalized metal organic frameworks for thorium (IV) adsorption: Mechanisms, speciation, and practical challenges","authors":"Kiruthika Manivannan, Meenakshi Sundaram Muthuraman","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2026.108116","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2026.108116","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Functionalized metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as a promising material for Th(IV) removal from nuclear wastewater and rare earth processing effluents because of their tunable pore structures and binding environments. In these systems, the adsorption behaviour of Th(IV) is strongly influenced by hydrolysis, colloidal speciation, and competing ions, which complicate mechanistic interpretation and often limit practical separation performance. This review critically evaluates recent advances in the functionalized MOFs for Th(IV) capture by correlating aqueous thorium speciation with reported adsorption mechanisms, framework functionalization strategies, and operational performance. Pre-synthetic functionalization, post-synthetic functionalization, and defect engineering are analysed with respect to their influence on adsorption capacity, selectivity, regeneration, and framework stability. The reliability of proposed adsorption mechanisms is critically evaluated using spectroscopic and computational approaches, including EXAFS, XPS, and DFT analyses. The review highlights that adsorption capacities alone cannot explain Th(IV) uptake without simultaneous consideration of aqueous speciation, coordination environment, and competing adsorption pathways. Current limitations in the field include the absence of standardized testing protocols, limited evaluation under realistic wastewater conditions, insufficient continuous-flow and column studies, and the poor understanding of radiation-induced framework degradation and self-irradiation effects. In addition, techno-economic challenges associated with solvent-intensive synthesis, material shaping, regeneration chemistry, and scale-up feasibility are critically discussed. Future research should prioritize the integration of thorium speciation analysis, rigorous mechanistic validation, radiation stability assessment, and scalable process design to improve the practical applicability of MOF-based separation systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":"298 ","pages":"Article 108116"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148591453","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}