- Title: Monitoring of large scale contamination of the environment: The learning of Chernobyl
Author: Mascanzoni, D.
Reference: Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry Articles, 194 (2), p.253-257, Jul 1995
doi: 10.1007/BF02038421
Keywords:
Abstract: The Chernobyl fallout offered the possibility to test new monitoring methods and better understand the behaviour of radionuclides in natural and semi-natural environments. The research started after the Chernobyl accident confirmed previous knowledge, yet producing new information on the radioecology of forested ecosystems. Biological indicators were used with success to establish a relationship between ground deposition and radioactive transfer to wildlife and to evaluate the biological effects of ionizing radiations at low doses.
URL: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF02038421
- Title: Autoradiographic investigation of radionuclide alpha-activity in soil and plant samples from Chernobyl zone
Author: Akopova, A.B. / Magradze, N.V. / Moiseenko, A.A. / Chalabian, T.S. / Viktorova, N.V. / Garger, E.K.
Reference: International Journal of Radiation Applications and Instrumentation. Part D. Nuclear Tracks and Radiation Measurements, 19 (1-4), p.733-738, Jan 1991
doi: 10.1016/1359-0189(91)90302-X
Keywords: nuclear emulsion; radionuclide; autoradiography; hot particle; activity; Chernobyl
Abstract: Alpha-active “hot particles” in soil and plant samples collected in Chernobyl zone have been investigated by the radiographic method. The size and activity of “hot particles” were measured allowing to calculate their contribution into the radiation dose. Correlation between the measured particle parameters was established. The method of the particle size measuring with the help of low sensitive BYa-2 type photoemulsion is described. The measured mean diameter of hot particles varies from 10 to 200 μm and their activity is 10−1−10−5 Bq. The most active particles (10−1− 10−2Bq) were found only in soil. The leaf samples after the same exposure contained particles with activity not higher than 10−3 Bq.
URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/135901899190302X
- Title: Scavenging of Chernobyl137Cs and natural210Pb in Lake Sempach, Switzerland
Author: Wieland, E. / Santschi, P.H. / Höhener, P. / Sturm, M.
Reference: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 57 (13), p.2959-2979, Jul 1993
doi: 10.1016/0016-7037(93)90286-6
Keywords: Chernobyl; transport; dispersion; fallout
Abstract: Radioactive fallout from the burning Chernobyl nuclear reactor provided a pulsed release of137Cs to Lake Sempach at the beginning of May 1986. The time-dependent removal of137Cs from the water column into the sediments has been investigated by analyzing water samples, settling particles and sediment cores. A flux balance has been established to determine and to quantify the removal processes in the epilimnion and hypolimnion of Lake Sempach.
URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0016703793902866#
- Title: Atmospheric dispersal and deposition of radioactive material from Chernobyl
Author: Wheeler, Dennis A.
Reference: Atmospheric Environment (1967), 22 (5), p.853-863, Jan 1988
doi: 10.1016/0004-6981(88)90262-4
Keywords: Chernobyl; transport; dispersion; fallout
Abstract: This paper reports on the results of studies undertaken in the wake of the fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power station. Published upper air charts and the findings of scientists engaged in monitoring the fallout are used to reconstruct the clouds’ trajectories. The results reveal the role of the various features of weather systems in determining the dispersal, transportation and ultimate fallout of radioactive matter. Most importantly, the situation over Europe at the time of the fire was such as to disperse the radioactive clouds northwards to Scandinavia and later westwards to Britain; directions counter to the dominant westerlies of these latitudes. However, eastwards global dispersal took place rapidly in the weeks following the fire. The paper also emphasizes the importance of rainfall in explaining the geographical variation in the deposition of radioactive material.
URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0004698188902624
- Title: Mobility of Chernobyl-derived 137Cs in a peatbog system within the catchment of the Pripyat River, Belarus
Author: Kudelsky, A.V. / Smith, J.T. / Ovsiannikova, S.V. / Hilton, J.
Reference: Science of The Total Environment, 188 (2-3), p.101-113, Oct 1996
doi: 10.1016/0048-9697(96)05162-5
Keywords: Chernobyl; Peatbog system; Radiocaesium (137Cs); Pore water; Distribution coefficient (Kd)
Abstract: The behaviour of Chernobyl-derived 137Cs in a hydrologically isolated bog system in the catchment of the Pripyat River, Belarus was investigated. Measurements were made of 137Cs activities in the solids and pore waters of the bog soils, as well as the variability in activity in water draining from the bog. It was found that the radiocaesium activity of the pore water, and hence the measured distribution coefficient, Kd, was dependent upon the pressure at which the water was removed from the soil.
URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0048969796051625
- Title: ASSESSMENT OF 90SR AND 137CS PENETRATION INTO REINFORCED CONCRETE (EXTENT OF ‘DEEPENING’) UNDER NATURAL ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS
Author: Farfan, E. / Jannik, T.
Reference: HEALTH PHYSICS JOURNAL; Journal Volume: 101; Journal Issue: 3, Oct 2011
doi: 10.1097/HP.0b013e3182103242
Keywords: Chernobyl, decontamination, reinforced concrete, Pripyat, 90Sr, 137Cs
Abstract: When assessing the feasibility of remediation following the detonation of a radiological dispersion device or improvised nuclear device in a large city, several issues should be considered including the levels and characteristics of the radioactive contamination, the availability of resources required for decontamination, and the planned future use of the city’s structures and buildings. Currently, little is known about radionuclide penetration into construction materials in an urban environment. Knowledge in this area would be useful when considering costs of a thorough decontamination of buildings, artificial structures, and roads in an affected urban environment. Pripyat, a city substantially contaminated by the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident in April 1986, may provide some answers.
URL: http://www.osti.gov/bridge/product.biblio.jsp?query_id=2&page=0&osti_id=1024198
- Title: Cs-134/137 contamination and root uptake of different forest trees before and after the Chernobyl accident
Author: Ertel, J. / Ziegler, H.
Reference: Radiation and Environmental Biophysics, 30 (2), p.147-157, Jun 1991
doi: 10.1007/BF01219349
Keywords: Mineralization; Wheat straw; Cs-137; Sr-90; C-14; Chernobyl
Abstract: The Cs-134/137 activities were measured from different tree organs of spruce, larch and sycamore maple. Two locations in South Bavaria were monitored during a period of 2.5 years following the Chernobyl accident. Samples taken in 1985 allow to determine the Cs-137 contamination before the accident. Increasing Cs-137 activities from older to younger needle years ofPicea abies caused by root-uptake of the global weapons’ fallout are due to the high phloem mobility of this element and the remaining of the needles at the tree for about 6–7 years.
URL: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF01219349
- Title: Effects of low-level radioactive soil contamination and sterilization on the degradation of radiolabeled wheat straw
Author: Niedrée, Bastian / Vereecken, Harry / Burauel, Peter
Reference: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 109, p.29-35, Jul 2012
doi: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2011.12.018
Keywords: Mineralization; Wheat straw; Cs-137; Sr-90; C-14; Chernobyl
Abstract: ► We observed the impact of contamination with Cs-137 and Sr-90 on soil functions. ► Microbial community was altered slightly. ► Mineralization of wheat straw was not affected. ► Microbes growing on applied straw compete for nutrients with soil microbes.
URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0265931X11003134
- Title: Using a bank of predatory fish samples for bioindication of radioactive contamination of aquatic food chains in the area affected by the Chernobyl accident
Author: Kryshev, I.I. / Ryabov, I.N. / Sazykina, T.G.
Reference: Science of The Total Environment, 139-140, p.279-285, Nov 1993
doi: 10.1016/0048-9697(93)90027-4
Keywords: fish; data bank; radioactive contamination; doses
Abstract: From the analysis of experimental data on radioactive contamination of various fish, it is suggested that predatory fish specimens can be used as bioindicators of radionuclide accumulation in reservoir food chains of the Chernobyl emergency area. The increased content of cesium radionuclides were detected in the muscle tissue of predatory fish collected in various regions of the Chernobyl emergency area. In most of the water bodies studied, maximum contamination levels of predatory fish by radionuclides of cesium occured in 1987–1988, whereas in ‘nonpredatory’ fish the concentration of cesium was maximum, as a rule, in the first year following the accident.
URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0048969793900274
- Title: Dynamics of 137Cs bioavailability in a soil-plant system in areas of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident zone with a different physico-chemical composition of radioactive fallout
Author: Fesenko, S.V. / Spiridonov, S.I. / Sanzharova, N.I. / Alexakhin, R.M.
Reference: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 34 (3), p.287-313, Jan 1997
doi: 10.1016/0265-931X(96)00044-6
Keywords:
Abstract: A quantitative analysis of the dynamics of 137Cs bioavailability in soils contaminated following the Chernobyl NPP accident, based on a 6-year (1987–1992) observation period, and a dynamic model describing the behaviour of radiocaesium in meadow ecosystems are presented. It has been shown that the type of deposition and soil characteristics are main factors that significantly affect (up to five times) the changes in bioavailability of this radionuclide in the soil-plant system.
URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0265931X96000446
