The Chernobyl accident led to radioactive contamination of large areas of Ukraine. The maximum number of radionuclides fell in the Ukrainian Polissya Zone. The areas of Zhytomyr, Rivne, Kyiv, Chernihiv and Volyn regions were especially polluted, with almost 40% of our country's forest areas concentrated, where significant volumes of timber harvesting occur. The forest, which is most contaminated with radioactive isotopes, grows on peat and sod-podzolic soils. These soils have varying degrees of moisture, high acidity (pH up to 3.2), low humus content, particles, exchangeable cations and clay minerals. Under these conditions, the 137 Cs and 90 Sr isotopes have high bioavailability. The research purpose is substantiating the possibility of using wood for fuel power plants from the territories of the forest that have been exposed to radioactive contamination due to the Chernobyl accident. The studies were conducted on the territory of forest areas in the northern parts of Zhytomyr (Naroditsky, Ovrutsky, Olevsky, Lugin and Malinsky areas) and Rivne regions (Sarninsky and Rokytnovsky areas). The levels of contamination of fuel wood were assessed by sampling soil and wood of the most common deciduous and coniferous tree species in these forests. At each sampling point, the GPSmap 78s (Garmin, USA) set geographic coordinates on the WGS84 and mapped them. The 137 Cs and 90 Sr activity were measured in the soil and wood samples selected. The 137 Cs content was determined using a gamma spectrometer with a semiconductor detector made of high purity germanium GEM-30185 by EG & ORTEC (USA). The content of 90 Sr in the samples was determined after its radiochemical isolation according to the activity of its 90 Y daughter radionuclide on the SEB-01 beta spectrometer (ACP, Ukraine). The specific activity of 137 Cs and 90 Sr in forest soils was 33¸675 Bq / kg and 1.5¸51 Bq / kg, respectively, which corresponds to a contamination density of 20-100 kBq / m 2 at 137 Cs and 0.2–4 kBq / m 2 at 90 Sr. Most samples showed a significant decrease in 90 Sr content relative to 137 Cs in the 20 cm layer of forest soil. On average, the content of 137 Cs in soil was 22 times the content of 90 Sr. The acidity of the soil extract varied within the pH = 4.0–7.4 and averaged pH = 6.4. The calcium content is very low and averages 0.7 mg-eq / 100 g of soil. The 137 Cs content in the wood was found to be ˂2.0 to 690 ± 83 Bq / kg. About 98% of the analyzed samples answered GNPAR-2005 with respect to 137 Cs content in the fuel wood (600 Bq / kg). The 90 Sr content in the samples ranged from 3 ± 0.3 to 473 ± 37 Bq / kg. The overdose of its acceptable level was recorded in 14.7% of samples. In the hardwood samples, the ratio of 137 Cs / 90 Sr was 1.4 ± 0.6. In conifer samples, this ratio has a wide amplitude of oscillation and averages 4.82 ± 2. According to the breed composition, the ratio 137 Cs / 90 Sr in wood is as follows: common pine˃ birch˃ oak˃ alder˃ hornbeam˃ aspen. A number of wood samples had a specific activity at 90 Sr over 100 Bq / kg. When burning this wood, the radioactivity of the ash will be ≥ 10 kBq / kg, which, according to the OSPU-2005, is radioactive waste and requires appropriate management of such ash. The analysis of the results revealed that even from radioactively contaminated forests with a contamination density of 90 Sr in the area below 4 kBq / m 2 , it is possible to obtain wood with a content of 90 Sr above the hygienic standard for fuel wood (GNPAR-2005), which requires a restriction onsite of fuel and wood from these territories. Hardwoods have been found to accumulate 90Sr much more intensively than pine. It was determined that 14.7% of wood samples with 90 Sr content and 1.1% with 137 Cs content exceed the hygienic standard for fuel and fuel wood firewood according to GNPAR-2005 (60 Bq / kg and 600 Bq / kg respectively). Contamination of the 90 Sr forest area with a density of 4 kBq / m 2 is possible to obtain wood with a content of 90 Sr above the hygienic standard for fuel and fuel beams (GNPAR-2005), which requires restrictions on the use of fuel and small wood from these territories. The specific radioactivity of the ash obtained by burning such wood exceeds 10 kBq / kg. The use of wood for radionuclide contaminated forests requires careful radiological monitoring and the introduction of appropriate permissible levels for fuel power plants.
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Jul 17, 2021
Konrad Tudyka + 7
Open Access
