Association of Chernobyl-derived 239 + 240Pu, 241Am, 90Sr and 137Cs with organic matter in the soil solution

Cesium, americium and plutonium isotopes in ground level air of vilnius

“…However, it is rather difficult to explain the origin of organically bound cesium because the formation of com- plexes between cesium and organic ligands is very weak. Nevertheless, the association of 137 Cs with organic substances of the molecular weight of 800 was found in soil solutions of the samples collected within the 10 km Chernobyl zone in 1994 [7]. Our results obtained during the forest fire sampling indicated that during fires a great amount of submicronic (<0.2 µm) aerosol carriers of 137 Cs was formed.…”

Modelling multiple dispersion of radionuclides through the environment

“…The behaviour of radioactive pollutants in soil is controlled by many chemical, physical and biological processes that were the object of several studies based on laboratory experiments and on the environmental contamination from the worldwide fallout and nuclear accidents. In particular, following the Chernobyl accident, investigations were carried out (Agapkina et al, 1995;Arapis et al, 1997;Askbrant et al, 1996;Bunzl et al, 1998;Desmet et al, 1991;Ivanov et al, 1997;Krouglov et al, 1997;Lee and Lee, 2000;Ollui Mboulou et al, 1998;Rafferty et al, 2000;Ramsey, 1988;Rosen et al, 1999) in order to develop reliable modelling approaches (Isaksson and Erlandsson, 1998;Bossew and Kirchner, 2004;Kirchner, 1998a,b;Kirchner et al, 2009). The suggested models are prevailingly based on the transport-diffusion equation.…”

Rapid Determination of 90Sr by Electrothermal Vaporization-Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ETV-ICP-MS)

“…Since it is a pure /^-emitter it is difficult to determine by radiometric methods [9], Due to the low concentrations, 90 Sr cannot be determined by ICP-MS in environmental samples without preconcentration. Even in contaminated samples from areas near Chernobyl with 90 Sr-concentrations as high as 2000 Bq/g soil (0.4 ng/g) [10] reliable quantitative analyses cannot be performed directly after digestion. In highly active waste and some nuclear plant effluents, the 90 Sr-concentrations are much higher so that no pretreatment other than digestion or dilution is necessary.…”