RADIATION & RISK
Bulletin of the National Radiation and Epidemiological Registry
since 1992

The content of plutonium isotopes in the environmental objects of the Polesie State Radioecological Reserve

«Radiation and Risk», 2023, vol. 32, No. 3, pp.76-83

DOI: 0.21870/0131-3878-2023-32-3-76-83

Authors

Edomskaya M.A. – Researcher. Contacts: 109 km, Kievskoe sh., Obninsk, Kaluga region, Russia, 249032. Tel.: +7 910 5148614; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Lukashenko S.N. – Chief Researcher, D. Sc., Biol.
Shupik A.A. – Chief Specialist
Geras'kin S.A. – Chief Researcher, D. Sc., Biol. RIRAE.
Russian Institute of Radiology and Agroecology, Obninsk

Abstract

The study was carried out in the territory of the Polesie State Radioecological Reserve. For the study of long-term environmental effects of the Chernobyl accident in the territory of Belarus, the Polesie State Radioecological Reserve was established in 1988. It is located in the Belarus sector of the Chernobyl exclusion zone. The objective of the study was to estimate the content of plutonium iso-topes in the environmental samples inside and outside of the Reserve area. Determination of plutonium isotopes was carried out by alpha spectrometry. The method includes complete decomposition of samples, radiochemical purification, preparation of alpha sources, alpha spectrometric analysis. The content of 239+240Pu and 238Pu in soil samples is in the range of 1.8-141 and <0.82-55 Bq/kg, respectively. The concentration of 239+240Pu was at the level of n·100 Bq/kg in areas of the Kozeluga branch of the Khoiniki forestry, located outside the Reserve. Plutonium isotopes concentration outside the Reserve was an order of magnitude higher than it was in global fallout. The concentration of 239+240Pu in pine cones in the study areas was <0.001-0.0041 Bq/kg. The 239+240Pu transfer factor in Scots pine cones grown in the Reserve territory was at the level of n·10-4. The obtained value of the plutonium transfer factors for pine cones was comparable with the plutonium transfer factor for pine needles grown in the Reserve territory.

Key words
Pu, plutonium isotopes, Chernobyl fallout, soil contamination, migration, pine cone, transfer factor, isotope ratio, alpha spectrometry.

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Full-text article (in Russian)