Alpha activity measurements of biological samples from areas around the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster using the SSNTD technique

Abstract

A set a five human hair and lung samples from supposedly contaminated and non-contaminated regions around the site of the Chernobyl nuclear accident of April 1986 have been analysed using the SSNTD technique. Only one of the samples displayed an alpha activity significantly greater than what might be expected in a normal healthy specimen. The results, thus, support the conclusions of the IAEA International Chernobyl Project meeting, held at Vienna in May 1991, indicating that many of the ill effects found in the area are primarily due to factors other than high environmental radiation levels.