Assessment of the radiation safety of the rural population of the Central Forest-Steppe of Ukraine in the remote period after the Chernobyl catastrophe

Viktor Herasymenko,Oleksandr Rozputnyi,Ivan Pertsovyi

doi:10.21303/2585-6847.2018.00768

Abstract

In Ukraine, as a result of the Chernobyl disaster, 2,218 villages and cities with a population of about 2.4 million residents were in the zone of radioactive contamination. Pollution has undergone almost the entire territory of Polesia and a significant part of the Forest-Steppe. The population living in radioactively contaminated areas receives an additional more natural dose level of external and internal exposure. External irradiation is due to the high content of 137Cs in soils, with the decay of which increases the power of gamma radiation on the ground. Internal exposure is caused by the ingestion of 137Cs and 90Sr during the consumption of food products. The rural population with the consumption of products grown in household plots, receives significantly higher doses of radiation than the city. The activity of 137Cs and 90Sr in milk, meat, potatoes and other vegetable products is grown on the backyards of residents of the villages Osypivka and Tarasivka of the Bila Tserkva district of the Kyiv region, who have been subjected to radioactive contamination due to the Chernobyl disaster. The research results show that milk, meat and vegetable products grown in radioactively contaminated areas of the forest-steppe zone meet the radiation safety criteria for 137Cs and 90Sr. The internal exposure dose of the residents of the Osypivka village with the consumption of food products is 0.065 mSv/year, and that of the Tarasivka village - 0.028 mSv/year. Consumption of milk and potatoes makes the greatest contribution to the dose of internal exposure. The external radiation dose due to pollution of the territory of the settlement of 137Cs residents of the Osypivka village is 0.72 mSv/year, and that of the Tarasivka village â€“ 0.27 mSv/year. The annual effective dose to residents of the Osypivka village â€“ 0.78 mSv/year, and the residents of the Tarasivka village - 0.30 mSv/year, which does not exceed the dose of radiation established by current legislation at 1 mSv/year

Highlights

The Chernobyl disaster, the largest technogenic accident in the entire history of mankind, led to pollution of more than 145 thou-PERIOD AFTER THE CHERNOBYL southern part of the Kyiv region in the remote period after the Chernobyl disaster.The aim of the research is estimation of the annual efsand km2 of the territory of Uk-CATASTROPHE fective dose of radiation to the raine, the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation, where the 137Cs pollution density exceeded 37 kBq/m2
Research results of the specific activity of 137Cs and 90Sr in vegetable crops grown in the household plots of Osypivka and Tarasivka villages showed that the lowest activity of 137Cs compared to other vegetables was in potatoes, onions and cucumbers, in squash and sweet peppers it was twice as high, carrots and tomatoes almost 4 times, beets – almost 8, and beans – 10 times (Table 1)
The study of the activity of 137Cs and 90Sr in the soils showed that the contamination of the household plots of Osypivka and Tarasivka villages is uneven, patchy both in terms of the level of contamination and radionuclide composition

Summary

Introduction

The Chernobyl disaster, the largest technogenic accident in the entire history of mankind, led to pollution of more than 145 thou-PERIOD AFTER THE CHERNOBYL southern part of the Kyiv region in the remote period after the Chernobyl disaster.The aim of the research is estimation of the annual efsand km of the territory of Uk-CATASTROPHE fective dose of radiation to the raine, the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation, where the 137Cs pollution density exceeded 37 kBq/m2. The Chernobyl disaster, the largest technogenic accident in the entire history of mankind, led to pollution of more than 145 thou-. PERIOD AFTER THE CHERNOBYL southern part of the Kyiv region in the remote period after the Chernobyl disaster. The aim of the research is estimation of the annual efsand km of the territory of Uk-. Of the Chernobyl disaster was felt by Sweden, Norway, Poland, the United Kingdom and other European countries [1]. Pollution has undergone almost the entire territory of Polesia and a significant part. 8/1 Sobornа sq., Bila Tserkva, Kyiv region, Ukraine, 09117 tatoes and other vegetable products, milk, meat and to calculate the doses of external and internal exposure of the population

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