Transfer of radionuclides to plants of natural ecosystems at the Semipalatinsk Test Site

Publication date: Available online 6 October 2017
Source:Journal of Environmental Radioactivity
Author(s): N.V. Larionova, S.N. Lukashenko, A.M. Kabdyrakova, A.Ye. Kunduzbayeva, A.V. Panitskiy, A.R. Ivanova
A systematic study devoted to ¹³⁷Cs, ⁹⁰Sr, ²⁴¹Am, ^239+240Pu radionuclides in vegetation cover from several spots of the Semipalatinsk test site (STS) is summarised in this paper, highlighting the main findings obtained. The analysed spots are characterized by various types of radioactive contamination.Transfer factors (Tf) required for the quantitative description of the radionuclides transition from the soil to aboveground plant parts were determined, being found that, on average, the minimum Tf for all the radionuclides concerned were determined on the "Experimental Field" ground, followed by the determined ones in the "plumes" of radioactive fallout and in the conditionally "background" territories analysed. The highest transfer factors were characteristic of zones of radioactive streamflows and places of warfare radioactive agent (WRA) tests.On the other hand, ordering the radionuclide transferring factors in descending order, the following sequence was obtained: ⁹⁰Sr Tf > Cs Tf > ^239+240Pu Tf > ²⁴¹Am Tf, with the ⁹⁰Sr Tf, on the average, exceeding the ¹³⁷Cs Tf by 8 times and exceeding the ^239+240Pu Tf by up 16 times. ^239+240Pu Tf values were up to 3 times higher than the ²⁴¹Am Tf. The exception to the indicated radionuclide Tf descending order corresponded to places of WRA tests where Tf of radionuclides of interest by plants follows the sequence ⁹⁰Sr > ^239+240Pu > ¹³⁷Cs.



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