Vertical distribution of radionuclides in soil of a grassland site in Chernobyl exclusion zone

Title: Vertical distribution of radionuclides in soil of a grassland site in Chernobyl exclusion zone

Author: Peter Bossew, Michael Gastberger, Herbert Gohla, Peter Hofer, Alexander Hubmer

Keywords: Chernobyl; Radionuclides; Vertical migration in soil

Abstract: Five soil profiles from a site about 8 km SE of the Chernobyl NPP were investigated for the vertical distribution of radionuclides. The average ¹³⁷Cs-inventory at the site is about 2.6 MBq/m² (reference date 1 May 1986). Apart from ¹³⁷Cs, the following radionuclides have been identified (their activity ratios to ¹³⁷Cs in brackets): ¹³⁴Cs (0.537), ¹²⁵Sb (0.068), ⁶⁰Co (0.0022), ¹⁵⁴Eu (0.016), ¹⁵⁵Eu (0.020), ^94gNb (9.5E-5), ^239/240Pu (0.0088), ²³⁸Pu (0.040), ⁹⁰Sr (0.30) and ²⁴¹Am (0.011). Apparent vertical migration velocities are between 0.14 and 0.26 cm/a, apparent dispersion coefficients range from 0.02 to 0.13 cm²/a. The rankings of the velocities v for different radionuclides are (Sr, Cs, Sb, Co, Pu)<AmD, the following rankings have been found: (Nb, Sr, Cs)<Am<Eu, Csp=0.1 level).

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0265931X03002364

Radioactive waste management and environmental contamination issues at the Chernobyl site.

Title: Radioactive waste management and environmental contamination issues at the Chernobyl site.

Author: Napier, B A / Schmieman, E A / Voitsekovitch, O

Reference: Health physics, 93 (5), p.441-451, Nov 2007

doi:　10.1097/01.HP.0000279602.34009.e3

Keywords:　contamination, Radioactive waste management, Chernobyl exclusion zone

Abstract: The destruction of the Unit 4 reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant resulted in the generation of radioactive contamination and radioactive waste at the site and in the surrounding area (referred to as the Exclusion Zone). In the course of remediation activities, large volumes of radioactive waste were generated and placed in temporary near-surface waste storage and disposal facilities. Trench and landfill type facilities were created from 1986-1987 in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone at distances 0.5-15 km from the nuclear power plant site. This large number of facilities was established without proper design documentation, engineered barriers, or hydrogeological investigations and they do not meet contemporary waste-safety requirements. Immediately following the accident, a Shelter was constructed over the destroyed reactor; in addition to uncertainties in stability at the time of its construction, structural elements of the Shelter have degraded as a result of corrosion. The main potential hazard of the Shelter is a possible collapse of its top structures and release of radioactive dust into the environment. A New Safe Confinement (NSC) with a 100 y service life is planned to be built as a cover over the existing Shelter as a longer-term solution. The construction of the NSC will enable the dismantlement of the current Shelter, removal of highly radioactive, fuel-containing materials from Unit 4, and eventual decommissioning of the damaged reactor. More radioactive waste will be generated during NSC construction, possible Shelter dismantling, removal of fuel-containing materials, and decommissioning of Unit 4. The future development of the Exclusion Zone depends on the future strategy for converting Unit 4 into an ecologically safe system, i.e., the development of the NSC, the dismantlement of the current Shelter, removal of fuel-containing material, and eventual decommissioning of the accident site. To date, a broadly accepted strategy for radioactive waste management at the reactor site and in the Exclusion Zone, and especially for high level and long-lived waste, has not been developed.

URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18049220?dopt=Abstract

[The regulation of the oxidative processes in the tissues of Muridae like rodents caught in the Chernobyl accident zone].

Title: [The regulation of the oxidative processes in the tissues of Muridae like rodents caught in the Chernobyl accident zone].

Author: Shishkina, L N / Kudiasheva, A G / Zagorskaia, N G / Taskaev, A I

Reference: Radiatsionnaia biologiia, radioecologiia / Rossiĭskaia akademiia nauk, 46 (2), p.216-232, Mar 2006

Keywords: Radioactive contamination, Chernobyl exclusion zone, wild rodents, lipid peroxidation

Abstract: The results of the investigations of the radioactive contamination consequences on the lipid peroxidation (LPO) processes in organs and tissues of wild rodents which were caught in the Chernobyl NPP accident 30-km zone during 1986-1993 are generalized. The behaviors of the technogenic contamination effect on dynamic of changes of the LPO physico-chemical regulatory system parameters and the generalized parameters of the phospholipid composition in organs of the different radioresistance wild rodents are revealed in dependence on the radioactive contamination level and the duration of the radiation factor exposure. Different sensitivity of the LPO regulatory system parameters in wild rodent tissues to the radioactive contamination of their environment and the unequal ability to normalization of the antioxidant status and the energy exchange in tissues result in the change of the scale and character of interrelations between the reciprocal parameters in norm and have an influence on the development of qualitatively new subpopulations of wild rodents due to the transition of the cell regulatory system to the another level of the function.

URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16756119?dopt=Abstract

Dynamics of 137Cs in the forests of the 30-km zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

• Title: Dynamics of 137Cs in the forests of the 30-km zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Author: Mamikhin, S V / Tikhomirov, F A / Shcheglov, A I

Reference: The Science of the total environment, 193 (3), p.169-177, Jan 1997

doi:

Keywords: Radionuclides; Forest; Dynamics

Abstract: Dynamics of the 137Cs content in the components of the forests in the 30-km zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) in 1986-1994 are associated mainly with such factors as the size of radioactive particles in the fallout, ecosystem humidification and soil type, tree age. The influence of particle size was especially noticeable between 1986-1987 and was displayed by low biological availability of radionuclides in the near part of the zone (within the 10-km radius circle around the NPP) in comparison with more distant regions (within the 30-km radius circle).

URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9092076?dopt=Abstract

The transfer of 137Cs and 90Sr to dairy cattle fed fresh herbage collected 3.5 km from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant

• Title: The transfer of ¹³⁷Cs and ⁹⁰Sr to dairy cattle fed fresh herbage collected 3.5 km from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant

Author: Beresford, N.A. / Gashchak, S. / Lasarev, N / Arkhipov, A. / Chyorny, Y. / Astasheva, N. / Arkhipov, N. / (…) / Burov, N.

Reference: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 47 (2), p.157-170, Jan 2000

doi: 10.1016/S0265-931X(99)00037-5

Keywords: Milk; Cattle; Radiocaesium; Radiostrontium; Bioavailability; Chernobyl exclusion zone

Abstract: A study conducted during summer 1993 to determine the bioavailability and transfer of ¹³⁷Cs and ⁹⁰Sr to dairy cattle from herbage collected from a pasture contaminated by particulate fallout is described. The study pasture was located 3.5 km from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The true absorption coefficient (A_t) determined for ¹³⁷Cs (0.23) was considerably lower than previous estimates for radiocaesium incorporated into vegetation by root uptake.

URL:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0265931X99000375

Predicting radionuclide transfer to wild animals: an application of a proposed environmental impact assessment framework to the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

• Title: Predicting radionuclide transfer to wild animals: an application of a proposed environmental impact assessment framework to the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

Author: Beresford, Nicholas A / Wright, Simon M / Barnett, Catherine L / Wood, Michael D / Gaschak, Sergey / Arkhipov, Andrey / Sazykina, Tatiana G / Howard, Brenda J

Reference: Radiation and environmental biophysics, 44 (3), p.161-168, Dec 2005

doi:

Keywords:

Abstract: A number of assessment frameworks have been proposed to provide a mechanism to demonstrate protection of the environment from ionising radiation. Whilst some of these are being used for assessment purposes they have largely not been validated against field measurements.

URL: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00411-005-0018-z

Exopolysaccharide production by nitrogen-fixing bacteria within nodules of Medicago plants exposed to chronic radiation in the Chernobyl exclusion zone

• Title: Exopolysaccharide production by nitrogen-fixing bacteria within nodules of Medicago plants exposed to chronic radiation in the Chernobyl exclusion zone

Author: Pawlicki-Jullian, Nathalie / Courtois, Bernard / Pillon, Michelle / Lesur, David / Le Flèche-Mateos, Anne / Laberche, Jean-Claude / Goncharova, Nadia / Courtois, Josiane

Reference: Research in Microbiology, 161 (2), p.101-108, Mar 2010

doi: 10.1016/j.resmic.2009.12.009

Keywords: Chernobyl exclusion zone; Exopolysaccharides; Nitrogen-fixing bacteria; Enterobacteriaceae; Medicago; Diversity

Abstract: Nitrogen-fixing bacteria isolated from root nodules of Medicago plants growing in the 10 km zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant were screened for the production of new water-soluble acidic exopolysaccharides (EPSs).

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0923250810000045

Are radiosensitivity data derived from natural field conditions consistent with data from controlled exposures? A case study of Chernobyl wildlife chronically exposed to low dose rates

• Title: Are radiosensitivity data derived from natural field conditions consistent with data from controlled exposures? A case study of Chernobyl wildlife chronically exposed to low dose rates

Author: Garnier-Laplace, J. / Geras’kin, S. / Della-Vedova, C. / Beaugelin-Seiller, K. / Hinton, T.G. / Real, A. / Oudalova, A.

Reference: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, In Press, Corrected Proof, Feb 2012

doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2012.01.013

Keywords: Wildlife; Chernobyl Exclusion Zone; Chronic exposure; Species sensitivity distribution; Ecological risk assessment; Ionising radiation

Abstract: ► Discrepancy between controlled tests and Chernobyl effects data on wildlife was examined. ► We proposed a method to correct the dosimetry used for Chernobyl wildlife. ► Wildlife from the Chernobyl zone is more radiosensitive than in controlled situations. ► Field data sets outcoming from robust strategy are still needed to validate derived from controlled tests benchmarks.

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0265931X12000240