A comparison of measured and calculated values of air kerma rates from 137Cs in soil
Abstract
In 2010, a study was conducted to determine the air gamma dose rate from 137Cs deposited in soil. The gamma dose rate measurements and soil sampling were performed at 30 reference plots from the south-west districts of the Bryansk region (Russia) that had been heavily contaminated as a result of the Chernobyl accident. The 137Cs inventory in the top 20 cm of soil ranged from 260 kBq m–2 to 2800 kBq m–2. Vertical distributions of 137Cs in soil cores (6 samples per a plot) were determined after their sectioning into ten horizontal layers of 2 cm thickness. The vertical distributions of 137Cs in soil were employed to calculate air kerma rates, K, using two independent methods proposed by Saito and Jacob [Radiat. Prot. Dosimetry, 1995, Vol. 58, P. 29–45] and Golikov et al. [Contaminated Forests– Recent Developments in Risk Identification and Future Perspective. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1999. – P. 333–341]. A very good coincidence between the methods was observed (Spearman’s rank coefficient of correlation = 0.952; P<0.01); on average, a difference between the kerma rates calculated with two methods did not exceed 3%. The calculated air kerma rates agreed with the measured dose rates in air very well (Spearman’s coefficient of correlation = 0.952; P<0.01). For large grassland plots (n=19), the measured dose rates were on average 6% less than the calculated kerma rates. The tested methods for calculating the air dose rate from 137Cs in soil can be recommended for practical studies in radiology and radioecology.
About the Authors
V. P. Ramzaev
Saint-Petersburg Research Institute of Radiation Hygiene after Professor P.V. Ramzaev, Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection
and Human Well-Being
Russian Federation
Candidate of Medical Sciences, Leading Researcher
Russian Federation
Candidate of Medical Sciences, Leading Researcher
V. Yu. Golikov
Saint-Petersburg Research Institute of Radiation Hygiene after Professor P.V. Ramzaev, Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-Being
Russian Federation
Senior Researcher
Russian Federation
Senior Researcher
References
1. Golikov, V.Yu., Balonov, M.I., Ponomarev, A.V. Estimation of external gamma radiation doses to the population after the Chernobyl accident. In: Merwin, S.E., Balonov, M.I. (Eds.), Chernobyl Papers, Doses to the Soviet Population and Early Health Effects Studies, Vol. 1. Research Enterprises, Richland, 1993. P. 247–288.
2. Mück, K. [et al.]. A consistent radionuclide vector after the Chernobyl accident. Health Phys., 2002, Vol. 82, P. 141–156.
3. Bailiff, I.K. [et al.]. Comparison of retrospective luminescence dosimetry with computational modelling in two highly contaminated settlements downwind of the Chernobyl NPP. Health Phys., 2004, Vol. 86, P. 25–41.
4. Ramzaev, V. [et al.]. Gamma-dose rates from terrestrial and Chernobyl radionuclides inside and outside settlements in the Bryansk Region, Russia in 1996–2003. J. Environ. Radioact., 2006, Vol. 85, No. 2–3, P. 205–227.
5. Punt, A. [et al.] Measurement and Assessment of External Radiation Dose Rates to People on Houseboats and using Riverbanks – using the Ribble Estuary as a Case Study. Science Report: SC060080/SR. Environment Agency, Bristol and London, 2011. – 84 P.
6. Roed, J. [et al.]. Decontamination in a Russian settlement. RISØ National Laboratory report Riso-R-870 (EN). RISØ National Laboratory, Roskilde, Denmark, 1996. – 102 P. Available at: http://www.iaea.org/inis/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/27/053/27053487.pdf. (accessed 09.03.2015 г.)
7. Radiacionnyj monitoring doz obluchenija naselenija territorij, podvergshihsja radioaktivnomu zagrjazneniju vsledstvie avarii na Chernobyl’skoj AES. Metodicheskie rekomendacii: utv. 27.12.07, vved. v dejstvie s 27.12.07 [Radiation monitoring of the exposure doses of population at the territories radioactively contaminated due to the accident at the Chernobyl NPP. Recommended Practice. Adopted 27.12.2007, implemented 27.12.2007], Federal Center of Hygiene and Epidemiology of Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-Being, Moscow, 2007. – 70 P. Available at: http://meganorm.ru/ Data2/1/4293835/4293835611.pdf. (accessed 09.03.2015).
8. Grigorev, A.I., Pankratov, L.V. Problemy vichitania fona pri individualnom dosimetricheskom kontrole [Problems of subtraction of the background in the process of the individual radiation control and radiating control on open air]. Radiacionnaja gigiena – Radiation Hygiene, 2011, Vol. 4, No. 4, P. 42–48.
9. Barkovskiy, A.N. [et al.]. Dosy vneshnego obluchenia ziteley g. Novozybkova Bryanskoy oblasti v 1995 g. [Doses of external exposure fot the citisens of the Novozybkov town, the Bryansk region, in 1995]. Materialy Vserossiiskoy nauchno-practicheskoy Conferencii “Chernobyl: 10 let spustia. Itogi I perspektivy” Chast 1. – Bryansk, 1996. – P. 47–48.
10. Schimmack, W., Steindl, H., Bunzl, K., 1998. Variability of water content and of depth profiles of global fallout 137Cs in grassland soils and the resulting external gamma-dose rates. Radiat. Environ. Biophys., 1998, Vol. 37, P. 27–33.
11. Golikov, V. [et al.] Gamma ray exposure due to sources in the contaminated forest. In: I. Linkov and W.R. Schell (Eds.), Contaminated Forests – Recent Developments in Risk Identification and Future Perspective. Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Contaminated Forests, Kiev, Ukraine 27-30 June 1998. – Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1999. – P. 333–341.
12. Sakamoto, R. [et al.]. Relationships between dose rates measured 1m above ground level and the 137Cs depth distribution in the Chernobyl grounds. Proceedings of the 10th International Congress of the International Radiation Protection Association, Hiroshima, 14–19 May, 2000. Available at: http://www.irpa.net/irpa10/cdrom/00656.pdf. (accessed 10.01.2015).
13. Romanovich, I.K. [et al.]. Avaria na AES “Fukusima-1”: organizacia profilakticheskih meropriatiy, napravlennyh na sohranenie zdorovia naselenia Rossiyskoy Federacii [The accident at the “Fukushima-1” NPP: prophylactic countermeasures for health safety of the population of the Russian Federation]. Saint-Petersburg, Federal Scientific Organization «Saint-Petersburg Research Institute of Radiation Hygiene after professor P.V. Ramzaev», 2012.– 336 P.
14. Golikov, V., Balonov, M.I., Jacob, P. External exposure of the population living in areas of Russia contaminated due to the Chernobyl accident. Radiat. Environ. Biophys., 2002, Vol. 41, No. 3, P. 185–193.
15. Spektrometry-dozimetry gamma i rentgenovskogo izluchenija MKS-SK1 «SKIF». Opisanie tipa [MKS-SK1 «SKIF» x-ray and gamma radiation spectrometer-dosimeters. Description of the type] Available at: http://www.kip-guide.ru/info/19630- 00. (accessed 29.01.2015).
16. Ramzaev, V.P., Barkovsky, A.N. K voprosu o svjazi mezhdu ambientnym jekvivalentom dozy i pogloshhennoj dozoj v vozduhe v uslovijah zagrjaznenija okruzhajushhej sredy radioaktivnym ceziem [On the relationship between ambient
17. dose equivalent and absorbed dose in air in the case of large-scale contamination of the environment by radioactive cesium]. Radiacionnaja gigiena – Radiation Hygiene, 2015, Vol. 8, No. 3, P. 6–20.
18. Ramzaev, V. [et al.]. Radiological investigations at the “Taiga” nuclear explosion site, part II: man-made g-ray emitting radionuclides in the ground and the resultant kerma rate in air. J. Environ. Radioact., 2012, Vol. 109, P. 1–12.
19. Tyler, A.N., Sanderson, D.C.W., Scott, E.M. Estimating and accounting for 137Cs source burial through in-situ gamma spectrometry in salt marsh environments. J. Environ. Radioact., 1996, Vol. 33, P. 195–212.
20. Tyler, A.N. Monitoring anthropogenic radioactivity in salt marsh environments through in situ gamma-ray spectrometry. J. Environ. Radioact., 1999, Vol. 45, P. 235–252. 20. Saito, K., Jacob, P. Gamma ray fields in the air due to sources in the ground. Radiat. Prot. Dosimetry, 1995, Vol. 58, P. 29–45.
21. Centr sovremennyh psihotehnologij. Skripty matematicheskih raschetov [Center of modern pshychotechnologies. Codes for the Automatic Calculations]. Available at: http://psytechcenter. ru/lib/scriptstat/. (accessed 22.02.2015).
22. Laedermann, J.-P., Byrde, F., Murith, C. In-situ gamma-ray spectrometry: the influence of topography on the accuracy of activity determination. J. Environ. Radioact., 1998, Vol. 38, P. 1–16.
23. Gering, F., Kiefer, P., Fesenko, S., Voigt, G. In situ gamma-ray spectrometry in forests: determination of kerma rate in air from 137Cs. J. Environ. Radioact., 2002, Vol. 61, P. 75–89.
24. Roed, J. [et al.]. Triple digging –– a simple method for restoration of radioactively contaminated urban soil areas. J. Environ. Radioact., 1999, Vol. 45, P. 173–183.
25. Helfer, I. K., Miller, K.M. Calibration factors for Ge detectors used for field spectrometry. Health Phys., 1988, Vol. 55, P. 15–29.
26. Ramzaev, V. [et al.]. Radiocesium fallout in the grasslands on Sakhalin, Kunashir and Shikotan Islands due to Fukushima accident: the radioactive contamination of soil and plants in 2011. J. Environ. Radioact., 2013, Vol. 118, P. 128–142.
Review
For citations:
Ramzaev V.P., Golikov V.Yu. A comparison of measured and calculated values of air kerma rates from 137Cs in soil. Radiatsionnaya Gygiena = Radiation Hygiene. 2015;8(4):42-51. (In Russ.)
Views:
1006
Email this article 