In April and August 2015, two major fires in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ) caused concerns about the secondary radioactive contamination that might have spread over Europe. The present paper assessed, for the first time, the impact of these fires over Europe. About 10.9 TBq of 137Cs, 1.5 TBq of 90Sr, 7.8 GBq of 238Pu, 6.3 GBq of 239Pu, 9.4 GBq of 240Pu and 29.7 GBq of 241Am were released from both fire events corresponding to a serious event. The more labile elements escaped easier from the CEZ, whereas the larger refractory particles were removed more efficiently from the atmosphere mainly affecting the CEZ and its vicinity. During the spring 2015 fires, about 93% of the labile and 97% of the refractory particles ended in Eastern European countries. Similarly, during the summer 2015 fires, about 75% of the labile and 59% of the refractory radionuclides were exported from the CEZ with the majority depositing in Belarus and Russia. Effective doses were above 1 mSv y−1 in the CEZ, but much lower in the rest of Europe contributing an additional dose to the Eastern European population, which is far below a dose from a medical X-ray.

Abstract. The data set "Spatial datasets of radionuclide contamination in the Ukrainian Chernobyl Exclusion Zone" was developed to enable data collected by the Ukrainian Institute of Agricultural Radiology after the Chernobyl accident to be made publicly available. Data for samples collected between May 1986 (immediately after Chernobyl) to 2014 are presented. The dataset includes, results from comprehensive soil sampling across the Exclusion Zone (includes 137Cs, 90Sr and soil property data), Pu-isotopes activity concentrations in soils (including distribution in the soil profile), analyses of "hot" (or fuel) particles from the CEZ (data from across Europe are also included), results of monitoring in the Ivankov region adjacent to the Exclusion Zone. Recently, the CEZ was suggested as a "Radioecological Observatory" i.e., a radioactively contaminated site that will provide a focus for joint, long-term, radioecological research which will help address challenges identified for the field of radioecology. For this to be successful, relevant data for the CEZ need to be made openly available; indeed the deficiency of open data has been highlighted as one of the causes for the lack of scientific consensus with regard to published studies from within the CEZ and more recently areas affected by the 2011 Fukushima accident. The data presented here are a first step in this process. The data and supporting documentation are freely available from the Environmental Information Data Centre under the terms and conditions of the Open Government Licence: https://doi.org/10.5285/782ec845-2135-4698-8881-b38823e533bf.

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Abstract. The dataset "Spatial datasets of radionuclide contamination in the Ukrainian Chernobyl Exclusion Zone" was developed to enable data collected between May 1986 (immediately after Chernobyl) and 2014 by the Ukrainian Institute of Agricultural Radiology (UIAR) after the Chernobyl accident to be made publicly available. The dataset includes results from comprehensive soil sampling across the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ). Analyses include radiocaesium ( 134 Cs and 134 Cs) 90 Sr, 154 Eu and soil property data; plutonium isotope activity concentrations in soil (including distribution in the soil profile); analyses of "hot" (or fuel) particles from the CEZ (data from Poland and across Europe are also included); and results of monitoring in the Ivankov district, a region adjacent to the exclusion zone.The purpose of this paper is to describe the available data and methodology used to obtain them. The data will be valuable to those conducting studies within the CEZ in a number of ways, for instance (i) for helping to perform robust exposure estimates to wildlife, (ii) for predicting comparative activity concentrations of different key radionuclides, (iii) for providing a baseline against which future surveys in the CEZ can be compared, (iv) as a source of information on the behaviour of fuel particles (FPs), (v) for performing retrospective dose assessments and (vi) for assessing natural background dose rates in the CEZ.The CEZ has been proposed as a "radioecological observatory" (i.e. a radioactively contaminated site that will provide a focus for long-term, radioecological collaborative international research).

На основании данных о площади и типах пожара в чернобыльской зоне отчуждения 27-29 апреля 2015 г., уровнях радионуклидного загрязнения территории и горючего материала оценены ожидаемые эффективные дозы для участников пожаротушения, которые за 1 ч работы не превышали 0,64 от внешнего и 0,37 мкЗв от внутреннего облучения. Показано, что ожидаемая эффективная доза от внутреннего облучения чернобыльских радионуклидов была ниже доз от внешнего облучения. Во время лесных и луговых пожаров в чернобыльской зоне в настоящее время 90 Sr и 241 Pu, наряду с 238-240 Pu и 241 Am, могут вносить значимый вклад в формирование суммарной дозы внутреннего облучения. Ключевые слова: 90 Sr, 137 Сs, плутоний, америций, радиоэкология, радионуклидное загрязнение, Чернобыльская авария, зона отчуждения, лесная радиоэкология, лесные пожары, луговые пожары, дозы облучения. Вступление После Чернобыльской аварии в 1986 г. наибольшему долговременному радионуклидному загрязнению 90 Sr, 137 Cs, 238-240 Pu и 241 Am (табл. 1) подверглась чернобыльская зона отчуждения и зона безусловного (обязательного) отселения (далее-зона отчуждения (ЗО)). Основная масса 90 Sr, 238-241 Pu и 241 Am во время аварийного выброса находилась в матрице частиц облученного ядерного топлива, так называемой топливной

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Abstract. The dataset “Spatial radionuclide deposition data from the 60 km area around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant: results from a sampling survey in 1987” is the latest in a series of data to be published by the Environmental Information Data Centre (EIDC) describing samples collected and analysed following the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident in 1986. The data result from a survey carried out by the Ukrainian Institute of Agricultural Radiology (UIAR) in April and May 1987 and include information on sample sites, dose rate, radionuclide (zirconium-95, niobium-95, ruthenium-106, caesium-134, caesium-137 and cerium-144) deposition, and exchangeable caesium-134 and 137. The purpose of this paper is to describe the available data and methodology used to obtain them. The data will be useful in the reconstruction of doses to human and wildlife populations, answering the current lack of scientific consensus on the effects of radiation on wildlife in the Chernobyl Exclusion zone and in evaluating future management options for Chernobyl impacted area of Ukraine and Belarus. The data and supporting documentation are freely available from the Environmental Information Data Centre (EIDC) under the terms and conditions of the Open Government Licence (Kashparov et al., 2019, https://doi.org/10.5285/a408ac9d-763e-4f4c-ba72-73bc2d1f596d).

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