Reference: WIT’s World Ecology Report – Vol. 08, No. 1 – Critical Issues in Health and the Environment (WIT, 1996, 16 pages)
Title: Ecological lessons from the Chernobyl accident
Author: Bell, J N B / Shaw, G
Reference: Environment international, 31 (6), p.771-777, Aug 2005
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2005.05.026
Keywords: Chernobyl; Radiocaesium; Illite; Peat; Transfer factors; Vegetation; Upland UK ecosystems; Sheep; Radioactive contamination
Abstract: The Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986 not only caused serious ecological problems in both the Ukraine and Belarus, which continue to the present day, but also contaminated a large part of the higher latitudes of the northern hemisphere. In this paper an overview is given of the latter problems in upland UK, where ecological problems still remain some 17 years after initial contamination.
URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16005971?dopt=Abstract
Author: Moller, A. P. / Mousseau, T. A.
Reference: Biology Letters, 5 (3), p.356-359, Jun 2009
doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2008.0778
Keywords: dragonflies, ecosystem, grasshoppers, pollinators, spiders
Abstract: Effects of low-level radiation on abundance of animals are poorly known. We conducted standardized point counts and line transects of bumble-bees, butterflies, grasshoppers, dragonflies and spider webs at forest sites around Chernobyl differing in background radiation by over four orders of magnitude. Abundance of invertebrates decreased with increasing radiation, even after controlling for factors such as soil type, habitat and height of vegetation. These effects were stronger when comparing plots differing in radiation within rather than among sites, implying that the ecological effects of radiation from Chernobyl on animals are greater than previously assumed.
Title: Chapter III. Consequences of the Chernobyl Catastrophe for the Environment
Author: Yablokov, Alexey V. / Nesterenko, Vassily B. / Nesterenko, Alexey V.
Reference: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1181 (1), p.221-286, Nov 2009
doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04830.x
Keywords: Chernobyl; radionuclides; radiolysis; soil; water ecosystems; bioaccumulation; transition ratio; radiomorphosis
Abstract:
URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04830.x/abstract
Author: Møller AP, Bonisoli-Alquati A, Rudolfsen G, Mousseau TA
Reference: PLoS ONE 6(2), February 4, 2011
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0016862
Keywords:
Abstract: Animals living in areas contaminated by radioactive material from Chernobyl suffer from increased oxidative stress and low levels of antioxidants. Therefore, normal development of the nervous system is jeopardized as reflected by high frequencies of developmental errors, reduced brain size and impaired cognitive abilities in humans. Alternatively, associations between psychological effects and radiation have been attributed to post-traumatic stress in humans.
URL: http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0016862
Author: Anspaugh, Lynn R
Reference: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 96 (1-3), p.13-19, Jul 2007
doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2006.12.001
Keywords: Chernobyl; Radiation; Collective effective dose; Thyroid dose; Effects; Biota; Humans; Accident
Abstract: The Chernobyl Forum was organized by the United Nations to examine the health and environmental effects of the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station. This paper is concerned with the environmental effects, as determined by Expert Group Environment. The accident resulted in release of a large amount of radioactive materials over a period of 10 days. These materials were deposited throughout Europe with the three more affected countries being Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine.
URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0265931X06002104
Author: Alexakhin, R M / Sanzharova, N I / Fesenko, S V / Spiridonov, S I / Panov, A V
Reference: Health physics, 93 (5), p.418-426, Nov 2007
doi: 10.1098/rspb.2007.0005
Keywords:
Abstract: The distribution and migration of radionuclides released into the environment following the Chernobyl accident in 1986 are described. The Chernobyl disaster resulted in the consumption of farm products containing radionuclides as a source of irradiation of the population due to the prevalence of a rural type of human nutrition in the affected region. This analysis demonstrates that if radiation standards protect humans, then biota are also adequately protected against ionizing radiation.
URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18049218?dopt=Abstract
Title: Birds prefer to breed in sites with low radioactivity in Chernobyl
Author: Moller, A.P / Mousseau, T.A
Reference: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 274 (1616), p.1443-1448, Jun 2007
doi: 10.1098/rspb.2007.0005
Keywords: clutch size, dose rate, hatching success, laying date
Abstract: Low-level radioactive contamination may affect choice of breeding site and life-history decisions if (i) radioactivity directly affects body condition or (ii) it affects resource abundance that then secondarily influences reproductive decisions. We tested the effects of radioactive contamination on nest-site choice and reproduction in a community of hole nesting birds by putting up nest boxes in areas differing in levels of background radiation.
URL: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/274/1616/1443.full
Title: Ecological aspects of the chernobyl nuclear plant disaster
Author: Medvedev, Z A
Reference: Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Volume 1, Issue 1, 23-25, 1 July 1986
doi: 10.1016/0169-5347(86)90063-7
Keywords:
Abstract: The partial meltdown of the 1000MW reactor in Chernobyl and the massive release of radionuclides into the environment is the first large-scale contamination of a geographically significant area by a power-generating civilian nuclear plant. It will have a long term effect on the human population, agriculture and the environment. Previous cases of accidental contamination of the environment on such a scale were connected with the disposal of reprocessed nuclear waste or the release of radioactivity from atmospheric and underground tests of nuclear weapons. One such contamination, which provides important lessons in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster, was linked with the explosion of the nuclear waste storage facility near Kyshtym in the Cheliabinsk region of the Soviet Union in 1958. It resulted in the creation of a special ‘exclusion zone’, resettlement of local populations and special construction projects designed to prevent the distribution of radioactivity over even larger areas.
URL: https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/abstract/0169-5347(86)90063-7
Author: Robert J. Baker and Jeffrey K. Wickliffe
Reference: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 14 April 2011
doi:
Keywords:
Abstract: The Fukushima disaster certainly will be followed by studies of the biological effects of the power plant’s radiation releases. Many studies of wildlife living in the contaminated Chernobyl zones show no major statistical effect on population health.Better data gathering and an archive of biological samples should be retained in order to resolve debates and replicate studies on the environmental effects of radiation.