The aim of this work is to make an assessment of the dynamics of the radioecological conditions in the 30-km zone of influence of the Beloyarsk NPP after the commissioning of the BN-800 power-generating unit. Based on the established network of terrestrial ecosystems, it is shown that the operation of BN-800 did not increase the content of 90Sr, 137Cs, and 239+240Pu in the soil and vegetation. The 137Cs contamination density of the soil, as a rule, fluctuates in the range 5–8 kBq/m2. Exceptions are individual sections situated 3–10 km to the south-east of the NPP, where a gas-aerosol emission plume is dispersing. Here the 137Cs contamination density is 2–3 times greater but these sections of the contamination were formed before BN-800 startup. The 90Sr and 239+240Pu contamination density ranges are, respectively, 1.1–2.5 and 0.08–0.16 kBq/m2, which fall within the limits of the fluctuations of the regional background level irrespective of BN-800 startup and distance from the reactor. It is shown that BN-800 emissions had no effect on the concentration of technogenic radionuclides in plants – the 137Cs content is equal to 0.5–12 Bq/kg and 90Sr to 1.4–19 Bq/kg.
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Translated from Atomnaya Énergiya, Vol. 129, No. 5, pp. 287–295, November, 2020.
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Panov, A.V., Kuznetsov, V.K., Isamov, N.N. et al. Assessment of the Influence of BN-800 Operation on the Radioecological Situation in the Vicinity of Beloyarsk NPP. At Energy 129, 297–304 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-021-00751-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-021-00751-6