The Allium cepa chromosome aberration test reliably measures genotoxicity of soils of inhabited areas in the Ukraine contaminated by the Chernobyl accident

Title: The Allium cepa chromosome aberration test reliably measures genotoxicity of soils of inhabited areas in the Ukraine contaminated by the Chernobyl accident

Author: Olga Kovalchuk, Igor Kovalchuk, Andrey Arkhipov, Polina Telyuk, Barbara Hohn, Larisa Kovalchuk

Reference: Mutation Research/Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis, Volume 415, Issues 1–2, 8 July 1998, Pages 47-57

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1383-5718(98)00053-9

Keywords: Allium test; Genotoxicity; Cytotoxicity; Chernobyl; Radiation

Abstract: The accident on the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant reactor IV in April 1986 led to the release of an enormous amount of radioactive material into the biosphere and to the formation of a complex pattern of nuclear contamination over a large area. As a consequence more than 5 million km² of the soil in the Ukraine became contaminated with more than 1 Ci/km²1 and 2. An assessment of the genetic consequences of the nuclear pollution is one of the most important problems. We applied the Allium cepa test to estimate the impact on plant chromosomes of nuclear pollution in the inhabited zones of the Ukraine. We tested soil from the obligatory resettlement zone (zone 2), where the mean density of pollution is 15–40 Ci/km²; zones of enhanced radiological control-zone 3, 5–15 Ci/km² and zone 4, 1–5 Ci/km². We found a dose-dependent increase in the fraction of aberrant mitoses from control values of 1.6±0.9% up to 23.8±5.0%, and a corresponding monotonous decrease of the mitotic index from 49.4±4.8% to a limiting value of 22.5±4.0% at pollution levels exceeding 35 Ci/km² (activity of the soil samples exceeding 6000 Bq/kg, respectively). We observed a strong, significant correlation of activity of soil samples with the percentage of chromosomal abnormalities, r=0.97 (P<0.05), and with the mitotic index, r=−0.93 (P<0.05), in the roots of A. cepa, respectively. The results showed high toxicity and genotoxicity of radioactively polluted soils and confirmed the efficiency of the A. cepa test as a quick and inexpensive biological test for ecological and genetic risk assessment in the `Chernobyl’ zones.

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1383571898000539

The effective source area of 90Sr for a stream near Chernobyl, Ukraine

Title: The effective source area of ⁹⁰Sr for a stream near Chernobyl, Ukraine

Author: Rina Freed, Leslie Smith, Dmitri Bugai

Reference: Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, Volume 71, Issues 1–4, July 2004, Pages 1-26

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jconhyd.2003.07.002

Keywords: Chernobyl; Hydrologic contaminant transport; Non-point source; Soil contamination; Strontium-90

Abstract: Remediation of streams impacted by non-point source contaminants requires an understanding of both the areas within a watershed that are contributing contamination to streams and the pathways of contaminant migration to streams. From 1998 to 2002, we studied the migration of ⁹⁰Sr in the Borschi watershed, a small (8.5 km²) catchment three km south of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, Ukraine. Fuel particles, distributed in a heterogeneous pattern across the watershed, are weathering and releasing ⁹⁰Sr from the fuel matrix. Depletion of ⁹⁰Sr, evaluated in comparison to the immobile fission product europium-154, is occurring in the channel and wetland sediment. Channel sediments are uniformly depleted in ⁹⁰Sr with depth. In wetland sediments, there is a zone of depletion in the top10 cm and a zone of accumulation at depths from 10 to 25 cm. Estimates of ⁹⁰Sr depletion are used to map the effective source area that has contributed ⁹⁰Sr loading to the main channel. The effective source area includes channel bottom sediments, a wetland in the central region of the watershed, and periodically flooded soils surrounding the wetland. The total depletion from the effective source area is estimated to be 36±7×10¹⁰ Bq. Based on observations of stream flow rate and water quality in 1999–2001, the annual ⁹⁰Sr removal rate from the watershed is estimated to be 1.4±0.2×10¹⁰ or 1.5% of the inventory per year. When extrapolated over a 15-year period following the Chernobyl accident, the last value is in reasonable agreement with the estimated depletion of the source area based on ⁹⁰Sr/¹⁵⁴Eu ratios. The ⁹⁰Sr yearly leaching rate considering the whole watershed is 0.2% while the ⁹⁰Sr leaching rate considering the effective source area is an order of magnitude higher. Most of the ⁹⁰Sr release in the watershed has originated from an effective source area of 0.62 km², or 7% of the watershed area.

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169772203002225

Fukushima set for epic clean-up

DOI: 10.1038/472146a

Keywords: RADIOISOTOPES ,MARINE pollution, CHERNOBYL,JAPAN, UKRAINE,FUKUSHIMA Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

Abstract: The article focuses on the clean-up strategies related to the damaged nuclear reactors of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. Environmental and radiological health expert at Colorado State University Ward Whicker suggest that sampling efforts in the locations of the nuclear accident are necessary to monitor radionuclides concentration in the marine environment. Moreover, similar strategy at Chernobyl Nuclear Accident in Ukraine in 1986 is being considered.

URL: http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110411/full/472146a.html

Hydrogeological influences on radionuclide migration from the major radioactive waste burial sites at Chernobyl (A review)

Title: Hydrogeological influences on radionuclide migration from the major radioactive waste burial sites at Chernobyl (A review)

Author: Dgepo, S.P. / Skalsky, A.S. / Bugai, D.A. / Marchuk, V.V. [Inst. of Geological Sciences, Kiev (Ukraine)] / Waters, R.D. [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)]

Reference: Mar 1994

doi: 10.2172/10135061

Keywords: Radioactive waste disposal, Ukraine, radionuclides, hydrogeology

Abstract: This paper summarizes the recent hydrogeological investigations of several research organizations on waste confinement at the major radioactive waste (RW) burial sites immediately adjacent to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (Ch. NPP). Hydrogeological conditions and radiologic ground-water contamination levels are described. Ongoing ground-water monitoring practices are evaluated. The chemical and physical characteristics of the radionuclides within the burial sites are considered. Ground water and radionuclide transport modeling studies related to problems of the RW disposal sites are also reviewed. Current concerns on future impacts of the RW burial sites on the hydrological environment and water resources of the Ch.NPP area are discussed.

URL: http://www.osti.gov/bridge/product.biblio.jsp?query_id=2&page=0&osti_id=10135061

THE IMPACTS OF THE CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR DISASTER ON THE FOREST VEGETATION OF THE POLISSYA REGION OF UKRAINE

Title: THE IMPACTS OF THE CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR DISASTER ON THE FOREST VEGETATION OF THE POLISSYA REGION OF UKRAINE

Author: Dr. Mykolai Kaletnik, Dr. Petro Pasternak, Dr. Serhei Hrisiuk, Yurij Bihun

Keywords:

Abstract: In the spring of 1986, the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear explosion left a substantial portion of the forested area of the Ukrainian Polissya region contaminated with radioactive fallout.  Although less than 14.5% of Ukraine is forested, nearly one-quarter (24.2%) of its woodlands (appox.2,371,600 ha) are located in the Polissya region.

URL: http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/hpg/envis/proceed/kaletnik.txt.html

Ecosystem remediation in radioactively polluted areas: the Chernobyl experience

Title: Ecosystem remediation in radioactively polluted areas: the Chernobyl experience

Author: Davydchuk, Vassili

Reference: Ecological Engineering, 8 (4), p.325-336, Aug 1997

DOI: 10.1016/S0925-8574(97)00026-8

Keywords: Nuclear accident; Radiation damage; Countermeasures; Ecosystem remediation; Maintenance;

Forestation; Self-restoration; Radionuclides redistribution; Stabilisation; Radioecological situation; Ukraine; Chernobyl; Forest restoration

Abstract: The ecosystems of Chernobyl nuclear accident zone, having been deeply transformed by normal long-term agricultural and forestry activity, have been damaged by irradiation after the nuclear accident of 1986 and then influenced by post-accident countermeasures. Ecosystem remediation is being undertaken in this area, including maintenance of the forests, artificial afforestation, and processes of spontaneous self-restoration of the natural coenoses. Both natural and artificial remediation of the landscapes and ecosystems at the abandoned territory improves their capacity to retain radionuclides and their ability to stabilise the processes of redistribution of radionuclides and their spread in the environment. The Chernobyl zone is a territory of great importance for studying ecosystem remediation processes and elaborating on ecological engineering technologies to correct serious environmental problems arising from radionuclides release.

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925857497000268

Iodine-129 in thyroid and urine in Ukraine and Denmark

Title: Iodine-129 in thyroid and urine in Ukraine and Denmark
Author: Hou, Xiaolin / Malencheko, A.F. / Kucera, J. / Dahlgaard, H. / Nielsen, S.P.

Reference: Science of The Total Environment, 302 (1-3), p.63-73, Jan 2003

doi: 10.1016/S0048-9697(02)00321-2

Keywords: Iodine-129; Thyroid; Urine; Ukraine; Denmark; Chernobyl accident

Abstract: Human thyroids collected from Gomel in Belarus, sheep thyroid from Jutland and human urine from Zealand in Denmark were analysed for 129I and 127I concentrations. The ratios of 129I/127I in human thyroid in Gomel are 2.65–11.0×10−9 with an average of 7.21×10−9, which is one order of magnitude higher than those from Asia and South America (10−10), but significantly lower than those observed in west Europe (10−8). A weak negative correlation (P<0.05) between 129I/127I ratio in human thyroid and the age of the subjects was observed in Gomel. The average ratio of 129I/127I in sheep thyroids from Jutland of Denmark is 1.81×10−7, which is two orders of magnitude higher than those in south hemisphere, and Asia. It is also significantly higher than those observed in other west European countries before 1984 and that in human thyroid in Gomel. The high thyroid 129I level in Jutland is attributed to the release of reprocessing plants in France and UK. The 129I/127I ratios in human urine in Zealand of Denmark are 0.86–2.86×10−8. The possibility of using urine 129I to evaluate the thyroid exposure to 129I is investigated.

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969702003212

Cancer in the Ukraine, post-Chernobyl

Title: Cancer in the Ukraine, post-Chernobyl

Author: Prisyazhiuk, Anatoly / Pjatak, O.A. / Buzanov, V.A. / Reeves, GillianK. / Beral, Valerie

Reference: The Lancet, 338 (8778), p.1334-1335, Nov 1991

doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(91)92632-C

Abstract: …leukaemia and thyroid cancer does not follow…living near Chernobyl, the increases…increase in cancer has yet occurred…result of the Chernobyl accident. The collection of cancer incidence data…in respect of thyroid cancer in children…

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/014067369192632C

Countermeasures used in the Ukraine to produce forage and animal food products with radionuclide levels below intervention limits after the Chernobyl accident

• Title: Countermeasures used in the Ukraine to produce forage and animal food products with radionuclide levels below intervention limits after the Chernobyl accident

Author: Prister, B.S. / Perepelyatnikov, G.P. / Perepelyatnikova, L.V. Reference: Science of The Total Environment, 137 (1-3), p.183-198, Sep 1993 doi: 10.1016/0048-9697(93)90387-L                                           

Keywords: countermeasures; forage; amelioration; fertilizer; Chernobyl accident; sapropeli

Abstract: Radionuclide levels in animal food products are determined by the contamination levels in both pasture vegetation and forage. The wide variety of different countermeasures used in areas of the Ukraine severely affected by the Chernobyl accident, to ensure that animals are provided with forage with sufficiently low contamination levels, are described and evaluated. URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/004896979390387L

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