International Journal of Marine Science, 2024, Vol.14, No.2, 66-73 http://www.aquapublisher.com/index.php/ijms 72 Human activities contribute significantly to nuclear pollution, with major sources including nuclear facilities, nuclear waste management, nuclear weapons usage, and nuclear waste disposal. Unsafe management of nuclear facilities, accidents, or leaks can lead to the release of radioactive substances, exemplified by the Chernobyl nuclear accident (Figure 5). The use of nuclear weapons and nuclear explosions generates a large amount of nuclear radiation and pollution, causing long-term effects on the global environment, as observed in the nuclear explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Improper disposal and storage of nuclear waste also constitute significant contributors to nuclear pollution, illustrated by facilities such as the Hanford Nuclear Waste Storage Site in the United States. Figure 5 Chernobyl Fukushima nuclear waste discharge Ecological factors encompass ecosystem types, biological accumulation and ecological chain transmission, as well as the restorative capacity of ecosystems. Different types of ecosystems exhibit varying responses to nuclear pollution; wetlands and coastal ecosystems may be more adept at absorbing and storing nuclear pollutants (Li et al., 2022), while forests and mountain ecosystems may have distinct diffusion patterns in the nuclear pollution process. Organisms within ecosystems absorb and accumulate nuclear pollutants, transferring them up the food chain, resulting in cascading effects. The resilience of ecosystems plays a potential role in addressing nuclear pollution, with some ecosystems possessing inherent self-repairing potential. 4 Summary and Outlook Research on nuclear pollution contributes to revealing the accumulation and enrichment processes of radioactive substances in the environment on organisms. This helps researchers better understand which marine organisms are more susceptible to nuclear pollution and how they transfer nuclear pollutants into the food chain, ultimately affecting human food safety. Understanding the physiological responses of marine organisms is more helpful in predicting the long-term effects of nuclear pollution, including potential threats to biodiversity, ecosystem health, and the entire marine ecosystem. This review systematically explores the physiological responses of marine organisms to nuclear pollution, emphasizing the analysis of the sources and types of nuclear pollution, the physiological response mechanisms of marine organisms, and the various factors influencing nuclear pollution. As a serious global environmental issue, nuclear pollution has profound effects on marine organisms and the entire ecosystem. In-depth research into the effects of nuclear pollution on marine organisms enhances our understanding of marine ecosystems. Future research directions should delve deeper into nuclear pollution to comprehensively understand its additional impacts. Firstly, research should focus on biodiversity in different ecosystems, gaining insights into the adaptability and resistance mechanisms of different species, habitats, and ecosystems to nuclear pollution. Long-term monitoring and trend analysis are necessary to understand the evolution process of nuclear pollution and the long-term recovery capacity of ecosystems. Ecological risk assessment is also a crucial future research direction, enabling researchers to delve into the potential threats of nuclear pollution to ecosystem health and biodiversity, in order to mitigate the adverse impacts of nuclear pollution (Davis and Conroy, 2018).
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