Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 13834-13848 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Environmental Science and Technology |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue number | 20 |
| Early online date | 29 Sept 2021 |
| Publication status | Published - 19 Oct 2021 |
Abstract
From early April 2020, wildfires raged in the highly contaminated areas around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (CNPP), Ukraine. For about 4 weeks, the fires spread around and into the Chernobyl exclusion zone (CEZ) and came within a few kilometers of both the CNPP and radioactive waste storage facilities. Wildfires occurred on several occasions throughout the month of April. They were extinguished, but weather conditions and the spread of fires by airborne embers and smoldering fires led to new fires starting at different locations of the CEZ. The forest fires were only completely under control at the beginning of May, thanks to the tireless and incessant work of the firefighters and a period of sustained precipitation. In total, 0.7-1.2 TBq 137Cs were released into the atmosphere. Smoke plumes partly spread south and west and contributed to the detection of airborne 137Cs over the Ukrainian territory and as far away as Western Europe. The increase in airborne 137Cs ranged from several hundred μBq·m-3 in northern Ukraine to trace levels of a few μBq·m-3 or even within the usual background level in other European countries. Dispersion modeling determined the plume arrival time and was helpful in the assessment of the possible increase in airborne 137Cs concentrations in Europe. Detections of airborne 90Sr (emission estimate 345-612 GBq) and Pu (up to 75 GBq, mostly 241Pu) were reported from the CEZ. Americium-241 represented only 1.4% of the total source term corresponding to the studied anthropogenic radionuclides but would have contributed up to 80% of the inhalation dose.
Keywords
- chernobyl, dose assessment, firefighters, radionuclides, wildfire
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Chemistry(all)
- General Chemistry
- Environmental Science(all)
- Environmental Chemistry
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In: Environmental Science and Technology, Vol. 55, No. 20, 19.10.2021, p. 13834-13848.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Europe-Wide Atmospheric Radionuclide Dispersion by Unprecedented Wildfires in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, April 2020
AU - Masson, Olivier
AU - Romanenko, Oleksandr
AU - Saunier, Olivier
AU - Kirieiev, Serhii
AU - Protsak, Valentin
AU - Laptev, Gennady
AU - Voitsekhovych, Oleg
AU - Durand, Vanessa
AU - Coppin, Frédéric
AU - Steinhauser, Georg
AU - De Vismes Ott, Anne
AU - Renaud, Philippe
AU - Didier, Damien
AU - Boulet, Béatrice
AU - Morin, Maxime
AU - Hýža, Miroslav
AU - Camps, Johan
AU - Belyaeva, Olga
AU - Dalheimer, Axel
AU - Eleftheriadis, Konstantinos
AU - Gascó-Leonarte, Catalina
AU - Ioannidou, Alexandra
AU - Isajenko, Krzysztof
AU - Karhunen, Tero
AU - Kastlander, Johan
AU - Katzlberger, Christian
AU - Kierepko, Renata
AU - Knetsch, Gert Jan
AU - Kónyi, Júlia Kövendiné
AU - Mietelski, Jerzy Wojciech
AU - Mirsch, Michael
AU - Møller, Bredo
AU - Nikolić, Jelena Krneta
AU - Rusconi, Rosella
AU - Samsonov, Vladimir
AU - Simion, Elena
AU - Steinmann, Philipp
AU - Stoulos, Stylianos
AU - Suarez-Navarro, José Antonio
AU - Wershofen, Herbert
AU - Zapata-García, Daniel
AU - Zorko, Benjamin
PY - 2021/10/19
Y1 - 2021/10/19
N2 - From early April 2020, wildfires raged in the highly contaminated areas around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (CNPP), Ukraine. For about 4 weeks, the fires spread around and into the Chernobyl exclusion zone (CEZ) and came within a few kilometers of both the CNPP and radioactive waste storage facilities. Wildfires occurred on several occasions throughout the month of April. They were extinguished, but weather conditions and the spread of fires by airborne embers and smoldering fires led to new fires starting at different locations of the CEZ. The forest fires were only completely under control at the beginning of May, thanks to the tireless and incessant work of the firefighters and a period of sustained precipitation. In total, 0.7-1.2 TBq 137Cs were released into the atmosphere. Smoke plumes partly spread south and west and contributed to the detection of airborne 137Cs over the Ukrainian territory and as far away as Western Europe. The increase in airborne 137Cs ranged from several hundred μBq·m-3 in northern Ukraine to trace levels of a few μBq·m-3 or even within the usual background level in other European countries. Dispersion modeling determined the plume arrival time and was helpful in the assessment of the possible increase in airborne 137Cs concentrations in Europe. Detections of airborne 90Sr (emission estimate 345-612 GBq) and Pu (up to 75 GBq, mostly 241Pu) were reported from the CEZ. Americium-241 represented only 1.4% of the total source term corresponding to the studied anthropogenic radionuclides but would have contributed up to 80% of the inhalation dose.
AB - From early April 2020, wildfires raged in the highly contaminated areas around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (CNPP), Ukraine. For about 4 weeks, the fires spread around and into the Chernobyl exclusion zone (CEZ) and came within a few kilometers of both the CNPP and radioactive waste storage facilities. Wildfires occurred on several occasions throughout the month of April. They were extinguished, but weather conditions and the spread of fires by airborne embers and smoldering fires led to new fires starting at different locations of the CEZ. The forest fires were only completely under control at the beginning of May, thanks to the tireless and incessant work of the firefighters and a period of sustained precipitation. In total, 0.7-1.2 TBq 137Cs were released into the atmosphere. Smoke plumes partly spread south and west and contributed to the detection of airborne 137Cs over the Ukrainian territory and as far away as Western Europe. The increase in airborne 137Cs ranged from several hundred μBq·m-3 in northern Ukraine to trace levels of a few μBq·m-3 or even within the usual background level in other European countries. Dispersion modeling determined the plume arrival time and was helpful in the assessment of the possible increase in airborne 137Cs concentrations in Europe. Detections of airborne 90Sr (emission estimate 345-612 GBq) and Pu (up to 75 GBq, mostly 241Pu) were reported from the CEZ. Americium-241 represented only 1.4% of the total source term corresponding to the studied anthropogenic radionuclides but would have contributed up to 80% of the inhalation dose.
KW - chernobyl
KW - dose assessment
KW - firefighters
KW - radionuclides
KW - wildfire
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85117075200&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acs.est.1c03314
DO - 10.1021/acs.est.1c03314
M3 - Article
C2 - 34585576
AN - SCOPUS:85117075200
VL - 55
SP - 13834
EP - 13848
JO - Environmental Science and Technology
JF - Environmental Science and Technology
SN - 0013-936X
IS - 20
ER -