Abstract
The Chernobyl NPP accident resulted, due to the western atmospheric transfer, in the formation of a pattern crossing the Central Russian Upland and its surroundings in the latitudinal direction. A volatile long–lived dose-forming radionuclide 137Cs prevailed in the fallout. A peculiar character of the Central Russian Upland division by valleys and balkas could result in a 20–year period in radioactivity displacement down the slop to valleys. This article is devoted to checking the significance of such changes. The issue on revealing the differences between the measured contamination density values 21 years after the depositions and the expected values (calculated with the correction for 137Cs decay) is also under consideration.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
1. Atlas of Radioactive Contamination of European Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, Res. Adv. Yu. A. Izrael (IGKE Roshydromet, Roscartography, 1998) [in Russian].
V. N. Golosov, Erosion-accumulation Processes in River Basins of Developed Plains (GEOS, Moscow, 2006) [in Russian].
Yu. A. Izrael, S. M. Vakulovskii, V. A. Vetrov, et al., Chernobyl: Radioactive Contamination of Natural Environments, Ed. by Yu. A. Izrael (Gidrometeoizdat, Leningrad, 1990) [in Russian].
E. V. Kvasnikova, “Transformation of the Field of Radionuclide Contamination with Artificial Radionuclides,” in Problems of Ecomonitoring and Ecosystem Modeling (Trans. of IGCE) (Gidrometeoizdat, St. Petersburg, 2002) [in Russian].
E. V. Kvasnikova, O. M. Zhukova, E. D. Stukin, et al., “The Role of Landscape Factors in a Changing of the Field of Radioactive Contamination by 137Cs in the Bryansk Polesie,” Meteorol. Gidrol., No. 6 (2005) [Russ. Meteorol. Hydrol., No. 6 (2005)].
R. M. Kogan, I. M. Nazarov, and Sh. D. Fridman, Foundations of Gamma-Spectrometry of Natural Environments, 3rd ed. (Energoatomizdat, Moscow, 1991) [in Russian].
G. A. Larionov, Erosion and Deflation of Soils: Principal Regularities and Quantitative Estimates (Mosk. Gos. Univ., Moscow, 1993) [in Russian].
V. G. Linnik, A. P. Govorun, and F. V. Moiseenko, “Landscape-hydrological Peculiarities of Formation of Radionuclide Contamination in the Floodplains of the Rivers in the Bryansk Oblast,” in Radiation after Nuclear Explosions and Accidents (Gidrometeoizdat, St. Petersburg, 2006) [in Russian].
A. V. Nosov and V. A. Alekseenko, “Studying Radioactive Contamination of Rivers and Small Reservoirs in the Area of the Tula “Cesium Spot” in 1992,” Meteorol. Gidrol., No. 4 (1996) [Russ. Meteorol. Hydrol., No. 4 (1996)].
A. N. Pegoev, Practical Procedures of Data-processing in the Applied Gamma-spectrometry (Gidrometeoizdat, Leningrad, 1980) [in Russian].
Sh. D. Fridman, E. V. Kvasnikova, O. V. Glushko, et al., “Cesium-137 Migration in Conjugate Geocomplexes of the Central Russian Upland,” Meteorol. Gidrol., No. 5 (1997) [Russ. Meteorol. Hydrol., No. 5 (1997)].
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Original Russian Text © E.V. Kvasnikova, S.K. Gordeev, O.M. Zhukova, S.S. Kirov, S.V. Konstantinov, A.V. Lysak, D.A. Manzon, 2009, published in Meteorologiya i Gidrologiya, 2009, No. 11, pp. 48–58.
About this article
Cite this article
Kvasnikova, E.V., Gordeev, S.K., Zhukova, O.M. et al. Radioactive contamination of the Central Russian Upland and its surroundings 21 years after the Chernobyl NPP accident. Russ. Meteorol. Hydrol. 34, 732–740 (2009). https://doi.org/10.3103/S1068373909110053
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3103/S1068373909110053