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Technogenic Radionuclides in Soils and Plants of Terrestrial Ecosystems in the Zone of Impact from Nuclear Enterprises

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Abstract—

Two closely located major sources of radioactive contamination are operating in the Middle Urals: the Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) and Institute of Reactor Materials (IRM). The contamination density of automorphic soils with 239,240Pu is at the global background level, and that with 90Sr and 137Cs, at the level of regional background formed by radionuclides of different genesis deposited from the atmosphere. The front of radioactive contamination has shifted to deeper parts of the soil profile during the past 35 years. Based on the results of our research, the area of deposition of the BNPP and IRM emission plume has been delimited for the first time. The contribution of these sources to its contamination with 137Cs reaches 2.7 kBq/m2. Agreggated transfer coefficients for plants in the BNPP zone are higher than in the East Ural Radioactive Trace, where 90Sr and 137Cs contamination levels are three to four orders of magnitude higher than the background levels. These coefficients depend on the properties of radionuclides and taxonomic identity of plants and decrease with time. This temporal trend is explained by decrease in atmospheric fallout, vertical migration of radionuclides, and increasingly tight 137Cs fixation in soils.

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Funding

This study was performed under state contract of the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences and supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project no. 19-05-00469.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 620144, Yekaterinburg, Russia

    L. N. Mikhailovskaya, V. P. Guseva, O. V. Rukavishnikova & Z. B. Mikhailovskaya

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  1. L. N. Mikhailovskaya
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  2. V. P. Guseva
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  3. O. V. Rukavishnikova
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  4. Z. B. Mikhailovskaya
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Correspondence to L. N. Mikhailovskaya.

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Translated by N. Gorgolyuk

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Mikhailovskaya, L.N., Guseva, V.P., Rukavishnikova, O.V. et al. Technogenic Radionuclides in Soils and Plants of Terrestrial Ecosystems in the Zone of Impact from Nuclear Enterprises. Russ J Ecol 51, 127–135 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1067413620020095

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