Radioactive contamination of pine (Pinus sylvestris) in Krasnoyarsk (Russia) following fallout from the Fukushima accident

Following the Fukushima accident in March 2011, samples of pine trees (Pinus sylvestris) were collected from three sites near the city of Krasnoyarsk (Siberia, Russia) during 2011–2012 and analyzed for artificial radionuclides. Concentrations of Fukushima-derived radionuclides in the samples of pine...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of environmental radioactivity 2014-12, Vol.138, p.87-91
Main Authors: Bolsunovsky, A., Dementyev, D.
Format: Article
Language:eng ; rus
Subjects:
Accidental contamination
Accidents
Air Pollutants, Radioactive - metabolism
Cesium isotopes
Contamination
Fukushima accident
Fukushima Nuclear Accident
Needles
Nuclear accidents
Pine
Pine samples
Pinus sylvestris
Pinus sylvestris - growth & development
Pinus sylvestris - metabolism
Radiation Monitoring
Radiocesium activity ratio
Radionuclides
Russia
Seasons
Siberia
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Summary:Following the Fukushima accident in March 2011, samples of pine trees (Pinus sylvestris) were collected from three sites near the city of Krasnoyarsk (Siberia, Russia) during 2011–2012 and analyzed for artificial radionuclides. Concentrations of Fukushima-derived radionuclides in the samples of pine needles in April 2011 reached 5.51 ± 0.52 Bq kg−1131I, 0.92 ± 0.04 Bq kg−1134Cs, and 1.51 ± 0.07 Bq kg−1137Cs. An important finding was the detection of 134Cs from the Fukushima accident not only in the pine needles and branches but also in the new shoots in 2012, which suggested a transfer of Fukushima cesium isotopes from branches to shoots. In 2011 and 2012, the 137Cs/134Cs ratio for pine needles and branches collected in sampling areas Krasnoyarsk-1 and Krasnoyarsk-2 was greater than 1 (varying within a range of 1.2–2.6), suggesting the presence of “older”, pre-Fukushima accident 137Cs. Calculations showed that for pine samples growing in areas of the Krasnoyarskii Krai unaffected by contamination from the nuclear facility, the activity of the Fukushima-derived cesium isotopes was two–three times higher than the activity of the pre-accident 137Cs. •137Cs, 134Cs and 131I were detected in samples of pine trees near Krasnoyarsk (Russia).•134Cs was transferred from old tree parts to the new (2012) shoots of pine trees.•The 137Cstotal/134Cs activity ratio for pine samples was greater than 1 due to the presence of pre-accident 137Cs.•The accident 137Cs activity in pine samples was higher than the pre-accident 137Cs activity.
ISSN:0265-931X
1879-1700
DOI:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2014.08.003