Environmental impact of radionuclide release during the Kyshtym, Windscale, and Chernobyl accidents

• Title: Environmental impact of radionuclide release during the Kyshtym, Windscale, and Chernobyl accidents

Author: Trabalka, J.R.

Reference: Oct 1990

doi: 10.2172/6346264

Keywords:

Abstract: The traveler attended the conference, Comparative Assessment of the Environmental Impact of Radionuclides Released During Three Major Nuclear Accidents: Kyshtym, Windscale, and Chernobyl and presented an invited paper giving a western perspective of the Kyshtym (Chelyabinsk-40) high-level waste explosion that took place in 1957. Papers of interest to several ORNL and DOE programs were presented. These covered the topics of accident source terms, atmospheric dispersion, resuspension, chemical and physical forms of contamination (e.g., hot” particles), environmental contamination and transfer, radiological effects on humans and the environment, and countermeasures.

URL: http://www.osti.gov/bridge/product.biblio.jsp?query_id=2&page=0&osti_id=6346264

Aquatic radioecology post Chernobyl—a review of the past and a look to the future

• Title: Aquatic radioecology post Chernobyl—a review of the past and a look to the future

Author: Hilton, J.

Reference: Studies in Environmental Science, 68, p.47-73, Jan 1997

doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0166-1116(09)70082-2

Keywords:

Abstract: The dynamic nature of environmental pollution following the Chernobyl accident has highlighted a number of limitations to the models of radionuclide transport in aquatic systems which were developed under the pseudo-equilibrium conditions following the atmospheric testing of atomic weapons. Much of the work has concentrated on caesium and has highlighted the importance of specifying the chemical form of the caesium and the rate of transfer between different physico-chemical forms.

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166111609700822

Mobility of radionuclides in undisturbed and cultivated soils in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia six years after the Chernobyl fallout

• Title: Mobility of radionuclides in undisturbed and cultivated soils in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia six years after the Chernobyl fallout

Author: Askbrant, S. / Melin, J. / Sandalls, J. / Rauret, G. / Vallejo, R. / Hinton, T. / Cremers, A. / (…) / Alexakhin, R.M.

Reference: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 31 (3), p.287-312, Jan 1996                 

doi: 10.1016/0265-931X(95)00054-E

Keywords:

Abstract: Six years after the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, the behaviour of radionuclides in soils in rural areas of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia has been studied. Measurements were made to determine the total radioactive contamination, the fuel particle contribution, and the distribution and extractability of the radionuclides ¹³⁷Cs and ⁹⁰Sr. Inside the 30 km restriction zone around the plant, particles of highly irradiated fuel accounted for most of the radioactive contamination.

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0265931X9500054E

Integrative measures of consumption rates in salmon: expansion and application of a trace element approach

• Title: Integrative measures of consumption rates in salmon: expansion and application of a trace element approach

 Author: BRIAN P. KENNEDY, BJOERN KLAUE, JOEL D. BLUM and CAROL L. FOLT

Reference: Journal of Applied, Ecology 200441 , 1009–1020            

doi:

Keywords: assimilation, bioenergetics, caesium (Cs), critical period, Atlantic salmon

Abstract: ► Establishing reliable estimates of consumption is necessary for understanding the physiology, bioenergetics and trophic relationships of organisms. For fish, the inability to measure consumption directly prevents a mechanistic understanding of habitat– foraging relationships. Building upon established models for 137caesium (Cs) mass balance in fish, we used natural abundances of a stable geologically derived isotope of Cs to estimate consumption rates over the first growing season for Atlantic salmon Salmo salar and to derive a general model that provides integrative estimates of consumption rates for individuals of all sizes.

URL: http://www.uiweb.uidaho.edu/cifees/publications/kennedy_jae2004.pdf

Radiation-induced impacts on the degradation of 2,4-D and the microbial population in soil microcosms

Title: Radiation-induced impacts on the degradation of 2,4-D and the microbial population in soil microcosms

Author: Niedrée, Bastian / Vereecken, Harry / Burauel, Peter

Reference: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 115, p.168-174, Jan 2013                

doi: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2012.08.008

Keywords: Mineralization; 2,4-D, Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid; ¹³⁷Cs, ⁹⁰Sr, ¹⁴C; Chernobyl

Abstract: ► We observed the impact of contamination with Cs-137 and Sr-90 on soil functions. ► The contamination went up to 30-fold of that in the 30 km Chernobyl zone. ► The radioactive contamination inhibited the 2,4-D mineralization temporary. ► The bacterial and fungal community structure was also affected.

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0265931X12002159

Radiocaesium removal from European lakes and reservoirs: key processes determined from 16 Chernobyl-contaminated lakes

• Title: Radiocaesium removal from European lakes and reservoirs: key processes determined from 16 Chernobyl-contaminated lakes

Author: Smith, J.T. / Comans, R.N.J. / Elder, D.G.

Reference: Water Research, 33 (18), p.3762-3774, Dec 1999               

doi: 10.1016/S0043-1354(99)00087-1

Keywords: Chernobyl; radiocaesium; lake; distribution coefficient

Abstract: A study based on information from the scientific literature was carried out to identify the key processes which determine the initial radiocaesium activity concentration and its rate of removal in 16 different European lakes after the Chernobyl accident. Analysis and modelling of these data showed that a simple model, incorporating only dilution, lake flushing and settling of suspended particles, can explain 97% of the variation in initial activity concentrations in lakewater and 79% of the variation in ¹³⁷Cs removal rates.

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043135499000871

Practical improvement of the radiological quality of milk produced by peasant farmers in the territories of Belarus contaminated by the Chernobyl accident: The ETHOS project

• Title: Practical improvement of the radiological quality of milk produced by peasant farmers in the territories of Belarus contaminated by the Chernobyl accident: The ETHOS project

Author: Lepicard, S. / Hériard Dubreuil, G.

Reference: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 56 (1-2), p.241-253, Jan 2001              

doi: 10.1016/S0265-931X(01)00056-X

Keywords: Consequences of the Chernobyl accident; Improvement of living conditions; Radiological quality of milk; Stakeholder involvement

Abstract: The Chernobyl post-accident situation has highlighted how the sudden emergence of persistent radioactive contamination in the environment is severely affecting the quality of life of the inhabitants in the concerned territories. The management of this situation is complex, mainly conditioned by the ability of the inhabitants themselves to be directly involved in the process of improving their living conditions.

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0265931X0100056X

Radiocesium in brown trout (Salmo trutta) from a subalpine Lake ecosystem after the chernobyl reactor accident

• Title: Radiocesium in brown trout (Salmo trutta) from a subalpine Lake ecosystem after the chernobyl reactor accident

Author: Brittain, John E. / Storruste, Anders / Larsen, Elena

Reference: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 14 (3), p.181-191, Jan 1991             

doi: 10.1016/0265-931X(91)90027-D

Keywords:

Abstract: After Chernobyl in April 1986, radioactive cesium has been measured in Øvre Heidalsvatn, a Norwegian subalpine lake, situated in an area of high fallout. The lake is an important reference site and has been the subject of extensive ecosystem studies since the 1950s. Emphasis has been given to measuring long-term trends in the activity content of radioactive cesium in the Brown trout (Salmo trutta) population.

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0265931X9190027D

Levels of cesium, mercury and lead in fish, and cesium in pond sediments in an inhabited region of the Ukraine near Chernobyl

• Title: Levels of cesium, mercury and lead in fish, and cesium in pond sediments in an inhabited region of the Ukraine near Chernobyl

Author: Jagoe, Charles H / Chesser, Ronald K / Smith, Michael H / Lomakin, Michael D / Lingenfelser, Susan K / Dallas, Cham E

Reference: Environmental Pollution, 98 (2), p.223-232, Nov 1997            

doi: 10.1016/S0269-7491(97)00135-8

Keywords: Radiocesium; mercury; lead; crucian carp; Chernobyl

Abstract: Samples of crucian carp (Carassius carassius) and sediments collected from 14 ponds within and outside the 30 km exclusion zone southeast of Chernobyl were analyzed for radiocesium; major anions and cations in water were determined for each pond, and other atmospherically- transported pollutants (Pb and Hg) were measured in fish muscle.

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749197001358

Estimation of the influence of the Chernobyl accident on the Baikal drainage basin

• Title: Estimation of the influence of the Chernobyl accident on the Baikal drainage basin

Author: Politov, S.V / Anokhin, Yu.A

Reference: Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management, 3 (2), p.227-228, Jul 2000           

doi: 10.1016/S1463-4988(00)00018-X

Keywords: Cesium; Contamination

Abstract: For the first time, contamination levels of cesium due to the Chernobyl accident in water of highland lakes (and soils from their watersheds) of the Lake Baikal drainage basin, have been measured. The reason for this study was that the main long-range transportation of Chernobyl accident products in an easterly direction took place at high altitudes (above 2 km).

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S146349880000018X