- Title: GIS and Geostatistics: Spatial Analysis of Chernobyl Consequences in Belarus
Author: Konstantin Krivoruchko
Reference: Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, California, Dec 2004
doi:
Keywords:
Abstract: A large amount of data concerning the ecological state of Belarus after the Chernobyl accident was analyzed using geostatistics. This data included soil contamination by long-lived radioisotopes 137Cs, 90Sr, 238-240Pu, and 241Am; dose load estimates on the population during the first days after the Chernobyl accident; 137Cs food contamination and estimation of the internal dose in 1993; and thyroid cancer morbidity among adults and children based on data collected from 1986 to 1995. This paper highlights the advantages of using geostatistical methods for processing environmental data. The following geostatistical approaches are used for mapping: simple, ordinary, indicator, probability, and disjunctive krigings, as well as ordinary and indicator kriging modifications for binomial data. The applicability of the different data processing methods is discussed. The data and the visualization techniques presented in this paper can help reveal powerful patterns for decision making and policy planning.
URL: http://www.ncgia.ucsb.edu/conf/sa_workshop/papers/krivoruchko_old.html
- Title: Ecosystems effects 25 years after Chernobyl: pollinators, fruit set and recruitment
Author: Møller, Anders Pape / Barnier, Florian / Mousseau, Timothy A.
Reference: Oecologia, 170 (4), p.1155-1165, Dec 2012
doi: 10.1007/s00442-012-2374-0
Keywords: Chernobyl, Ecosystem functioning, Fruits, Plant recruitment, Radiation
Abstract: Animals are assumed to play a key role in ecosystem functioning through their effects on seed set, seed consumption, seed dispersal, and maintenance of plant communities. However, there are no studies investigating the consequences of animal scarcity on seed set, seed consumption and seed dispersal at large geographical scales. We exploited the unprecedented scarcity of pollinating bumblebees and butterflies in the vicinity of Chernobyl, Ukraine, linked to the effects of radiation on pollinator abundance, to test for effects of pollinator abundance on the ecosystem. This study provides the first large-scale study of the effects of a suppressed pollinator community on ecosystem functioning.
URL: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00442-012-2374-0
- Title: Strontium-90 and caesium-137 activity concentrations in bats in the Chernobyl exclusion zoneAuthor: Gashchak, Sergey / Beresford, Nicholas Anthony / Maksimenko, Andrey / Vlaschenko, Anton S
Reference: Radiation and environmental biophysics, 49 (4), p.635-644, Nov 2010
doi: 10.1007/s00411-010-0322-0
Keywords:
Abstract: Bats are a protected species and as such may be an object of protection in radiological assessments of the environment. However, there have previously been only few radioecological studies of species of bats. In this paper, results for >140 measurements of (90)Sr and (137)Cs in 10 species of bats collected within the Chernobyl zone are presented. There was some indication of a decreasing transfer of (90)Sr with increasing deposition, although this was inconsistent across species and explained little of the observed variability. There was no difference between male and female bats in the transfer (expressed as the ratio of whole-body activity concentrations to those in soil) of either radionuclide. There was considerable variability in transfer across all species groups. At two sites where there were sufficient data, Eptesicus serotinus was found to have higher transfer than other species.
URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20714905?dopt=Abstract
- Title: The Follow-up Study of Chromosomal aberrations in Chernobyl Clean-up Workers
Author: Natalia M. SLOZINA and Elizaveta G. NERONOVA
Reference: All-Russian Center of Emergency and Radiation Medicine, EMERCOM of Russia, Aug 2002
doi:
Keywords:
Abstract: A cytogenetic study was carried out on 359 clean-up workers who worked at the Chernobyl station in 1986-1989. The investigation was performed 6-12 years after irradiation. Chromosome type damages, i.e. double fragments, dicentrics and rings were significantly increased in the cleanup workers compared to the control.
URL: http://www.rri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/NSRG/reports/kr79/kr79pdf/Slozina.pdf
- Title: Does radioactive contamination affect the shell morphology of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis in the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl NPP (Ukraine)?
Author: Michael Zuykov • Dmitry Gudkov , Maxim Vinarski • Emilien Pelletier, David A. T. Harper • Serge Demers
Reference: Environmentalist (2011) 31:369–375
doi: 10.1007/s10669-011-9347-4
Keywords: Shell abnormality _ Lymnaea stagnalis , Radioactive contamination ,Environment ,Chernobyl NPP , PA ‘‘Mayak’’
Abstract: A distinct external shell abnormality, coarse seam, was found in a high percentage of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis (L.) collected near Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), Ukraine. The negative cytogenetical and hematological effects of long-term irradiation on pond snails in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone have been repeatedly reported; consequently, it has been assumed that radioactivity may also affect shell morphology. However, due to the absence of this shell abnormality in pond snails collected from two radioactive sites in Russia, it can be concluded that the appearance of abnormal shells in snail population near Chernobyl NPP cannot directly be explained by the radioactive contamination.
URL: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10669-011-9347-4
- Title: FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS OF 90SR AND 137CS CONCENTRATIONS IN AN ECOSYSTEM OF THE ‘RED FOREST’ AREA IN THE CHERNOBYL EXCLUSION ZONE
Author: Gaschak, Sergey P / Makliuk, Yulia A / Maksimenko, Andrey M / Bondarkov, Mikhail D / Chizhevsky, Igor / Caldwell, Eric F / Jannik, G Timothy / Farfán, Eduardo B
Reference:Health physics, 101 (4), p.409-415, Oct 2011
doi:
Keywords: Chernobyl, bioaccumulation factor, 90Sr, 137Cs
Abstract: In the most highly contaminated region of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone: the ‘Red Forest’ site, the accumulation of the major dose-affecting radionuclides (90Sr and 137Cs) within the components of an ecological system encompassing 3,000 m2 were characterized. The sampled components included soils (top 0-10 cm depth), Molina caerulea (blue moor grass), Camponotus vagus (carpenter ants) and Pelobates fuscus (spade-footed toad).
URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21878766?dopt=Abstract
Title: METHOD FOR SIMULTANEOUS 90SR AND 137CS IN-VIVO MEASUREMENTS OF SMALL ANIMALS AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL MEDIA DEVELOPED FOR THE CONDITIONS OF THE CHERNOBYL EXCLUSION ZONE
Author: Bondarkov, Mikhail D / Maksimenko, Andrey M / Gaschak, Sergey P / Zheltonozhsky, Viktor A / Jannik, G Timothy / Farfán, Eduardo B
Reference: Health physics, 101 (4), p.383-392, Oct 2011
doi:
Keywords: Chernobyl, 90Sr, 137Cs, whole body counting
Abstract: To perform in vivo simultaneous measurements of the 90Sr and 137Cs content in the bodies of animals living in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (ChEZ), an appropriate method and equipment were developed and installed in a mobile gamma beta spectrometry laboratory. This technique was designed for animals of relatively small sizes (up to 50 g).
URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21878764?dopt=Abstract
- Title: OVERVIEW OF THE COOPERATION BETWEEN THE CHERNOBYL CENTER’S INTERNATIONAL RADIOECOLOGY LABORATORY IN SLAVUTYCH, UKRAINE AND U.S. RESEARCH CENTERS BETWEEN 2000-2010
Author: Farfan, E. / Jannik, T.
Reference: HEALTH PHYSICS JOURNAL, 2011 Oct 01
doi:
Keywords: Chernobyl, radioecology, radiobiology, international cooperation
Abstract: The International Radioecology Laboratory (IRL) located in Slavutych, Ukraine was created in
1999 under the initiative of the United States Government and the Government of Ukraine in the framework of international cooperation on evaluation and minimization of consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (ChNPP) accident. This article provides a brief overview of the major achievements resulting from this cooperation between the IRL and U.S. research centers.
URL: http://www.osti.gov/bridge/product.biblio.jsp?query_id=2&page=0&osti_id=1024188
- Title: Chapter II. Consequences of the Chernobyl Catastrophe for Public Health
Author: Nesterenko, Alexey B. / Nesterenko, Vassily B. / Yablokov, Alexey V.
Reference: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1181 (1), p.31-220, Nov 2009
doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04822.x
Keywords: Chernobyl; secrecy; irradiation; health statistics
Abstract: A detailed study reveals that 3.8–4.0% of all deaths in the contaminated territories of Ukraine and Russia from 1990 to 2004 were caused by the Chernobyl catastrophe. The lack of evidence of increased mortality in other affected countries is not proof of the absence of effects from the radioactive fallout. Since 1990, mortality among liquidators has exceeded the mortality rate in corresponding population groups. From 112,000 to 125,000 liquidators died before 2005—that is, some 15% of the 830,000 members of the Chernobyl cleanup teams. The calculations suggest that the Chernobyl catastrophe has already killed several hundred thousand human beings in a population of several hundred million that was unfortunate enough to live in territories affected by the fallout. The number of Chernobyl victims will continue to grow over many future generations.
URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04822.x/pdf
- Title: Health Effects of the Chernobyl Accident and Special Health Care Programmes
Author: Burton Bennett, Michael Repacholi, Zhanat Carr
Reference: World Health Organization report, Geneva, 2006.
doi:
Keywords:
Abstract: This report presents an updated review and evaluation of the health consequences of the accident
that can be identified as caused by the radiation exposures from the accident in workers and the populations of the most affected regions of the former Soviet Union that are now the countries of Belarus, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine
URL:http://www.who.int/ionizing_radiation/chernobyl/who_chernobyl_report_2006.pdf
