Abstract
External exposure to gamma-photon irradiation from soil contamination due to nuclear power plant (NPP) accidents has significant contribution to human radiation exposure in the proximity of the NPP. Detailed absorbed doses in human organs are rarely reported in the literature. We applied the Monte Carlo Neutron Particle (MCNP) transport code to calculate and compare the absorbed doses in different human organs. The absorbed doses by gamma-photon radiation were from cesium-137 (137Cs) in soil contaminated by the two major NPP accidents. More serious and wide-spread impacts of the Chernobyl NPP accident on soil contamination in Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and countries as far as Sweden and Greece were due to the inland location, radiative plume transport pathway and high 137Cs emission strength (9 times the Fukushima emission). Based on our MCNP calculations, the largest absorbed dose was found in skin. The maximum calculated external 137Cs annual effective dose received from the Chernobyl accident was 10 times higher relative to the Fukushima accident. Our calculated effective doses at various influenced areas were comparable to those available in the literature. The calculated annual effective doses at areas near the Fukushima and Chernobyl NPPs exceeded the ICRP recommendation of 1 mSv yr−1.
Highlights
External exposure to gamma-photon irradiation from soil contamination due to nuclear power plant (NPP) accidents has significant contribution to human radiation exposure in the proximity of the NPP
The data of 137Cs soil concentrations influenced by the CNPP accident were difficult to obtain since the available data in the literature were reported in kBq m−2
Within 100 km from the CNPP, the concentration was more than 20 kBq kg−1 but the contamination pattern was highly irregular and anisotropic
Summary
External exposure to gamma-photon irradiation from soil contamination due to nuclear power plant (NPP) accidents has significant contribution to human radiation exposure in the proximity of the NPP. A study was carried out which focused on recent external doses in Minsk and Gomel, Belarus and Chernobyl, Ukraine in 201230 It reported the estimated effective doses around CNPP to be still over the public dose limit of 1 mSv yr−1 recommended by the ICRP31 26 years after the accident. A large-scale or country-scale comparative study on the soil distribution of 137Cs and associated absorbed doses in the human organs between different impacted areas are rarely available in the literature, despite the fact that the determination of organ doses is important for cancer risk assessment[32,33]. The external gamma-photon absorbed doses in different human organs due to derived 137Cs concentrations in contaminated soil in these areas were calculated by the MCNP code. The CNPP accident results were considered for the time immediately after the accident in order to have a meaningful comparison
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