Plutonium body burden in the Chelyabinsk region

Abstract

The analysis based on a generalization of the results of investigations, performed over a period of many years, of the dynamics of plutonium accumulation in the bodies of inhabitants of Ozersk who do not work with radionuclides indicates that in the rehabilitation of the population of the Chelyabinsk oblast' plutonium in the long-term future will be the most dangerous dose-forming factor of technogenic irradiation. A map of the levels of body-burden accumulation in Chelyabinsk region, according to data from autopsy investigations, shows that the plutonium body burden in people who have lived close to (less than 10 km) the Industrial Association “Mayak” is at the present time several tens of times greater than the global-plutonium content and exceeds 3.7 Bq. The effect of emissions from the Industrial Association “Mayak” extends to distances up to 80 km to the north and east, where the body burden of residents is reliably 3–5 times higher than the background level. Since the migration ability of plutonium can increase with time as a result of long-time residence in the external medium, it must be assumed that plutonium is likely to accumulate further in the body. In this connection, the accumulation of plutonium in people who do not have a professional contact with radioactivity requires further study in order to predict dose loads against the background of the general unfavorable radiation situation in the Ural region.