Assessment of annual effective dose from external exposure in forests of the south-western districts of the Bryansk region of Russia: 2015–2021

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This study presents results of radiation-hygienic surveys of the Bryansk Oblast settlements bordering the Republic of Belarus. The data were obtained in the course of implementation of measures of the “Program of joint activities of Russia and Belarus within the framework of the Union State for the protection of the population and rehabilitation of the territories affected by the Chernobyl NPP accident” in 2019–2022. The first part of the study presents a general characteristic of the current state of the problem of returning the residents of radioactively contaminated territories to normal living conditions and provides information on the settlements of the surveyed region. The modern demographic composition of the population is considered; the structure of private subsidiary plots is investigated. The results described in this part of the study indicate the main ways, which are relevant for the formation of the internal exposure dose of the public at the current stage of the radiation accident.

Section: современные пути формирования доз внутреннего облучения насе...unclassified

Results of modern radiation-hygienic surveys of settlements of Bryansk Oblast of the Russian Federation bordering the Republic of Belarus. Part 1: Characteristics of the settlements

Romanovich,

Bazyukin,

Barkovsk

et al. 2023

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Radiological situation in the young pine forest that grew after the Chernobyl accident

Рамзаев

Barkovsky

Варфоломеева

et al. 2023

After the Chernobyl accident, a certain proportion of agricultural land was withdrawn from normal use due to significant radioactive contamination. Forestry is one of the options currently under consideration to return the abandoned agricultural land to economic circulation in Russia. When using former agricultural land for forestry in radioactively contaminated areas, it is important to have an assessment of the potential radiation doses for forestry workers and the public. The aim of this study was to assess the radiological situation in a young pine forest planted and grown after the Chernobyl accident in the resettlement zone on a former arable field. A nearby old pine forest, which had grown before the Chernobyl accident, was taken for comparison. The study of the radiological situation was performed in the period 1998–2022. In the young forest, 137Cs was fairly evenly distributed in the upper 20 cm soil layer; further with depth, the activity concentration of 137Cs sharply decreased. In the old forest, the maximum activity concentration of 137Cs in the soil was in the top 0–2 cm layer. The activity concentration of 137Cs decreased with depth. In 1998, the average value of the absorbed dose rate in the air from 137Cs+134Cs was lower by a factor of 3 in the young forest compared to the old forest. The difference was associated with differences in the vertical distributions of 137Cs in the soil. Over time, the absorbed dose rate in air from 137Cs+134Cs decreased at both sites with the same effective halftime period of 21.7 year. The activity concentration of 137Cs in the biota (pine trees, edible mushrooms) in the young forest was lower by a factor of 4–30 compared to the old forest. The “forest” component of the external effective dose to adults from the 137Cs source in the young forest was lower by a factor of 3 compared to the old forest. The “forest” component of the internal effective dose from 137Cs was lower by a factor of 10 when eating edible mushrooms from the young forest compared to the old one. In general, the performed study shows that the use of radioactively contaminated abandoned arable land for forestry can be expedient and justified from a radiological point of view.

Analysis of forest fire dangers of the Bryansk region in the zones of radioactive contamination and beyond

Radin,

Marchenko,

Razdaivodin

2024

The purpose of the study is to analyze the forest fire dangers of the Bryansk region forests, taking into account their radioactive contamination and potential risks for forestry workers involved in forest fires extinguishing. Significant areas of radioactive contamination of forests with a predominance of sites belonging to the classes of high and very high natural fire danger, restrictions on economic activity and a long fire-hazardous period contribute to the occurrence of radioactive forest fires. The analysis of the combined data on forest fires and radioactive contamination of forest areas showed that most forest fires occur outside the zones of radioactive contamination and are not radioactive. The largest number of fires occurs at the beginning of the fire season. Radioactive forest fires in most cases arise from the burning of dry grassy vegetation, as a result of the transition from lands of other categories and through the fault of the population. The average effective dose of additional radiation per a workday can be estimated at 1.96 μSv, and the maximum at ~ 15.4 μSv. Most fires are extinguished in the early stages and do not have time to cover large areas. It indicates the effective work of the forest fire service