Radioecological problems of transuranic elements of Chernobyl origin

L.I. Lukina, D.V. Moiseev

Sevastopol State University, RF, Sevastopol, Universitetskaya St., 33

DOI: 10.33075/2220-5861-2024-3-71-78

UDC 504.5:546.798.2                                               

EDN: https://elibrary.ru/ovidel

Abstract:

In this work it’s shown that currently most of the short−lived β–emitter 241Pu of Chernobyl origin has passed into the long-lived α-emitter 241Am. In the 38 years since the Chernobyl accident, the study of its radioecological consequences continues. Extensive scientific and practical experience has been accumulated, which is necessary to ensure the environmental safety of nuclear energy in the future. However, there are radioecological problems that cause concern to scientists and the public. Due to the high migration activity of Americium in ecosystems, this process presents a radioecological problem. The resulting americium-241 poses the main radiological danger in plutonium-contaminated areas. The aim of the work is to study the dynamics of the natural decay of 241Pu, which is a β-emitter with a relatively short half-life T1/2 = 14.4 years and the formation of its daughter product 241Am – a-emitter with T1/2 = 432.6 years and compare their physico-chemical and toxicological properties. In conclusion, the work concludes that at present 241Am, along with the isotope of plutonium 238Pu, has actually become the main dose-converting radionuclide among the isotopes of transuranic elements. Taking into account the increase in the activity of 241Am due to the decay of 241Pu, long (hundreds and thousands of years) half-lives of other plutonium isotopes, territories contaminated with TUE of Chernobyl origin will be unsuitable for national economic activity for many thousands of years.

Keywords: Chernobyl accident, transuranic elements, plutonium, americium, radio-ecological problems.

Full text in PDF(RUS)

REFERENCES

  1. Bondar’ Yu.I., Zabrodskij V.N., Sadchikov V.I., and Kalinin V.N. Nakoplenie izotopov plutoniya v organah i tkanyah kabana (sus scrofa) na territorii Polesskogo gosudarstvennogo Radiaci-onno-ekologicheskogo zapovednika (Accumulation of plutonium isotopes in the organs and tissues of the wild boar (sus scrofa) on the territory of the Polesie State Radiation and Ecological Reserve). Izvestiya Nacional’noj akademii nauk Belarusi, Seriya biologicheskih nauk. 2014, No. 3, pp. 94–100.
  2. Lukina L.I. and Moiseev D.V. Uroki Chernobylja (Lessons from Chernobyl). Sistemy kontrolya okruzhayushchej sredy, 2021, No. 2 (44), pp. 106–118.
  3. Flyorko O.V., Lukina L.I., Moiseev D.V., Bezhina N.A., and Lyamina N.V. Ocenka posledstvij radioekologicheskogo zagryazneniya okruzhayushchej sredy transuranovymi elementami chernobyl’skogo proiskhozhdeniya (Assessment of the consequences of radioecological pollution of the environment by transuranic elements of Chernobyl origin). Mezhdunarodnaya nauchno-prakticheskaya konferenciya “Ekologicheskaya, promyshlennaya i energeticheskaya bezopasnost’–2018” (International scientific and practical conference “Ecological, industrial and energy safety–2018”), Sevastopol, 24–27 September 2018, pp. 731–735.
  4. Bazhenov V.A., Buldakov L.A., Vasilenko I.Ya., and et al. Vrednye himicheskie veshchestva. Radioaktivnye veshchestva (Harmful chemicals. Radioactive substances). Leningrad: Himija, 1990, 464 p.
  5. Ponomarenko P.A., Frolova M.A., and Lukina L.I. Spravochnik yaderno-fizicheskih i biologicheskih constant (Directory of nuclear physical and biological constants). Sevastopol’: SNUYAEiP, 2016, 212 p.
  6. Atlas. Ukraina. Radioaktivnoe zagrjaznenie (Atlas. Ukraine. Radioactive contamination). Minchernobyl’ Ukrainy, Kyiv, 2001, 39 p.
  7. Sanzharova N.I. and Fesenko S.V. Radioekologicheskie posledstviya avarii na Chernobyl’skoj AES: biologicheskie effekty, migraciya, reabilitaciya zagryaznennyh territorij (Radioecological consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant: biological effects, migration, rehabilitation of contaminated areas). Moscow: RAN, 2018, 278 p.
  8. Lukina L.I., Moiseev D.V., Bezhina N.A., and Lyamina N.V. Ekologicheskie problemy plutoniya chernobyl’skogo proiskhozhdeniya (Environmental issues of Chernobyl-origin plutonium). Mezhdunarodnaya nauchno-prakticheskaya konferenciya “Ekologicheskaya, promyshlennaya i energeticheskaya bezopasnost’–2018” (International scientific and practical conference “Ecological, industrial and energy safety–2018”), Proc. Conf., Sevastopol’: SevGU, 24–27 September, 2018, pp. 731–735.

Loading