Temporal and spatial changes in the concentrations of radiocaesium and radiostrontium in the Vltava river basin affected by the operation of the nuclear power plant at Temelín

Abstract

Concentrations of radiocaesium and radiostrontium were assessed in surface water, sediment, fish and aquatic flora affected and notaffected by waste water discharges from the Temelín Nuclear Power Plant. The assessment included residual contamination originatingfrom nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere over the last century and the accident at Chernobyl in 1986. Results of long-term monitoring(since 1990) were used to derive effective ecological half-lives of these radionuclides in the hydrosphere. Possible effect of waste waterdischarged from Temelín power plant on the concentrations of radiocaesium and radiostrontium in the Vltava River was assessed by usingdata recorded in the period 2001–2010.