Comparative estimations of 137Cs distribution in a boreal forest in northern Sweden using a traditional sampling approach and a portable NaI detector

Plamboeck, Agneta H.; Nylén, Torbjörn; Ågren, Göran I.

doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2006.06.011

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…According to the data of AMAP research, this parameter in the upper 3 cm of organic horizons of Finland soils at the latitude of KoNPP ranged within 50-100 Bq/kg [31]. Specific activity of 37 Cs in the upper part of organic layer in the northwestern part of Norway was 151 Bq/kg and decreased to 12.7-57.0 Bq/kg in the lower horizons [34]. These values were similar to those obtained in our work.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Migration of 137 Cs commonly proceeds relatively slowly in boreal forests. The data [37] demonstrated that in 2000, 6.2% of 137 Cs were accumulated in litter, 67% in humus layer (0-9 cm), and 27% in mineral part of soil at the depth of 9-21 cm in automorphic sites of coniferous forests in the northern part of Sweden subjected to pollution after Chernobyl NPP accident. Less than one third of 137 Cs contained in soil penetrated the mineral layer during 15 years from the moment of accident in 1986.…”

Section: Degradation Rehabilitation and Conservation Of Soilsmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Contents and Distribution of 137Cs in Podzols in the Area of the Kola Nuclear Power Plant

et al. 2020

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The content and profile distribution of 137 Cs in iron-illuvial dwarf and shallow-podzolic podzols (Albic Podzols) under bilberry-lichen and green-lichen-bilberry pine forests in the located near the Kola Nuclear Power Plant have been analyzed. The pollution density (reserve) of 137 Cs in the root-inhabited layer (0-30 cm) in the studied soils was significantly lower than the established control level of 37000 Bq/m 2 and amounts to 530-2459 Bq/m 2 . A significant part of 137 Cs (60 to 90%) was concentrated in mineral horizons. It has been shown that the pollution density of 137 Cs in the observation zone of a nuclear power plant was mainly due to global fallout. The greatest influence on 137 Cs accumulation in the studied soils was exerted by the organic matter reserve.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Degradation Rehabilitation and Conservation Of Soilsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Contents and Distribution of 137Cs in Podzols in the Area of the Kola Nuclear Power Plant

et al. 2020

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“…In general, much of the area is inaccessible by vehicle and can be considered as difficult terrain. In light of the above considerations, the development of a man portable gamma-ray spectrometry system capable of accurate high spatial resolution 137 Cs mapping of contamination patterns is paramount (Plamboeck et al, 2006). Within the PSRER, due to spatial hetergeneity 137 Cs activity the capability to map changes over metres to tens of metres would provide significant improvement in spatial resolution compared to current approaches.…”

Section: Figure 1 Spatial Distribution Of the Estimated 137 Cs Inventory (Kbq M 2 ) Across The Polessie State Radioecology Reservementioning

confidence: 99%

An in situ method for the high resolution mapping of 137Cs and estimation of vertical depth penetration in a highly contaminated environment

Varley

Tyler

Dowdall

et al. 2017

Science of The Total Environment

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The Chernobyl nuclear power plant meltdown has to date been the single largest release of radioactivity into the environment. As a result, radioactive contamination that poses a significant threat to human health still persists across much of Europe with the highest concentrations associated with Belarus, Ukraine, and western Russia. Of the radionuclides still prevalent with these territories Cs presents one of the most problematic remediation challenges. Principally, this is due to the localised spatial and vertical heterogeneity of contamination within the soil (~10's of meters), thus making it difficult to accurately characterise through conventional measurement techniques such as static in situ gamma-ray spectrometry or soil cores. Here, a practical solution has been explored, which utilises a large number of short-count time spectral measurements made using relatively inexpensive, lightweight, scintillators (sodium iodide and lanthanum bromide). This approach offers the added advantage of being able to estimate activity and burial depth ofCs contamination in much higher spatial resolution compared to traditional approaches. During the course of this work, detectors were calibrated using the Monte Carlo Simulations and depth distribution was estimated using the peak-to-valley ratio. Activity and depth estimates were then compared to five reference sites characterised using soil cores. Estimates were in good agreement with the reference sites, differences of ~25% and ~50% in total inventory were found for the three higher and two lower activity sites, respectively. It was concluded that slightly longer count times would be required for the lower activity (<1MBqm) sites. Modelling and reference site results suggest little advantage would be gained through the use of the substantially more expensive lanthanum bromide detector over the sodium iodide detector. Finally, the potential of the approach was demonstrated by mapping one of the sites and its surrounding area in high spatial resolution.

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“…Figure 1. Photograph of a handheld detection system alongside a schematic representation of the peak to valley ratio methodology used to account for burial depth of contamination Lightweight detection systems originally designed for nuclear security missions are now commonly being implemented in the field as backpack or handheld devices ( Figure 1) to characterise 137 Cs in relatively heavily contaminated environments (Cresswell et al, 2013;Kock and Samuelsson, 2011;Nilsson et al, 2014;Plamboeck et al, 2006;Sanderson et al, 2013). Typically, a large number of georeferenced spectra are taken during a survey and, conventionally, the count rate in the full energy peak is used to determine the amount of 137 Cs contamination in the soil.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconstructing the deposition environment and long-term fate of Chernobyl 137Cs at the floodplain scale through mobile gamma spectrometry

Varley

Tyler

Bondar

et al. 2018

Environmental Pollution

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Cs-137 is considered to be the most significant anthropogenic contributor to human dose and presents a particularly difficult remediation challenge after a dispersal following nuclear incident. The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant meltdown in April 1986 represents the largest nuclear accident in history and released over 80 PBq of Cs into the environment. As a result, much of the land in close proximity to Chernobyl, which includes the Polessie State Radioecology Reserve in Belarus, remains highly contaminated with Cs to such an extent they remain uninhabitable. Whilst there is a broad scale understanding of the depositional patterns within and beyond the exclusion zone, detailed mapping of the distribution is often limited. New developments in mobile gamma spectrometry provide the opportunity to map the fallout ofCs and begin to reconstruct the depositional environment and the long-term behaviour of Cs in the environment. Here, full gamma spectrum analysis using algorithms based on the peak-valley ratio derived from Monte Carlo simulations are used to estimate the totalCs deposition and its depth distribution in the soil. The results revealed a pattern of Cs distribution consistent with the deposition occurring at a time of flooding, which is validated by review of satellite imagery acquired at similar times of the year. The results were also consistent with systematic burial of the falloutCs by annual flooding events. These results were validated by sediment cores collected along a transect across the flood plain. The true merit of the approach was confirmed by exposing new insights into the spatial distribution and long term fate of Cs across the floodplain. Such systematic patterns of behaviour are likely to be fundamental to the understanding of the radioecological behaviour ofCs whilst also providing a tracer for quantifying the ecological controls on sediment movement and deposition at a landscape scale.

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Comparative estimations of 137Cs distribution in a boreal forest in northern Sweden using a traditional sampling approach and a portable NaI detector

Cited by 12 publications

References 9 publications

Contents and Distribution of 137Cs in Podzols in the Area of the Kola Nuclear Power Plant

Contents and Distribution of 137Cs in Podzols in the Area of the Kola Nuclear Power Plant

An in situ method for the high resolution mapping of 137Cs and estimation of vertical depth penetration in a highly contaminated environment

Reconstructing the deposition environment and long-term fate of Chernobyl 137Cs at the floodplain scale through mobile gamma spectrometry

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