Radiation-hygienic monitoring and assessment of the doses of the public residing on the radioactively contaminated territories of the Tula region

Aim of the study: analysis of the results of the radiation-hygienic monitoring of the territories of the Tula region, contaminated due to the Chernobyl NPP accident; concentration of 137Cs and 90Sr in the locally produced food products and analysis of the annual effective dose of the public. Materials and methods: the study was performed in the Tula region in 1997-2018. It included the evaluation of the indicators of the radiation safety of more than 50 thousand samples of the main food products, sampled in the areas of the radioactive “Chernobyl” contamination of the region with the simultaneous measurement of the external gamma-radiation dose rate in the stationary control points. Additionally, it included the assessment of the dynamics of concentration of 137Cs and 90Sr in food products, maximal values of mean annual effective doses of the public and contribution of the collective dose from medical exposure into the structure of the annual collective dose of the public. Results: The study allowed estimating the concentration of 137Cs and 90Sr in the main local food products. Estimated values of gamma radiation dose rate were stable and laid in the range of normal variations specific to the middle latitudes of the European part of Russia. The values of maximal mean annual effective doses of the public indicate the stable radiation environment and do not exceed 1 mSv. It should be mentioned that the contribution of collective dose from medical exposure into the annual collective dose of the public as well as the values of mean individual effective doses from medical exposure are reducing with the increase in the number of X-ray examinations. Conclusions: The lack of exceedances of the permissible levels of 137Cs and 90Sr in the locally produced food products and the reduction of the mean annual effective dose of the public indicates the possibility of the transfer of the settlements affected by the Chernobyl NPP accident into the normal living conditions within the program of the transfer of the settlements from the “Chernobyl” zone.

1. Lomovtsev A.E., Khozhainov A.Yu., Chichura T.M. Radiationhygienic monitoring and assessment of the doses of the public residing on the radioactively contaminated territories of the Tula region. Chernobyl 30 years later. Radiationhygienic aspects of the negotiation of the consequences of the Chernobyl NPP accident: Proceedings of the international scientific-practical conference. St-Petersburg, 2016, pp. 114-116 (In Russian).

2. Boldyreva V.V., Ovcharova V.N. Radiation monitoring of the food products on the radioactively contaminated territory of the Tula region on the modern stage. Chernobyl 30 years later. Radiation-hygienic aspects of the negotiation of the consequences of the Chernobyl NPP accident: Proceedings of the international scientific-practical conference. StPetersburg, 2016, pp. 21 – 23 (In Russian).

3. Onischenko G.G. Radiation-hygienic and medical consequences of the Chernobyl accident: results and prognosis. Radiatsionnaya Gygiena = Radiation Hygiene. 2011;4(2):23- 30. (In Russian). 4.

4. Bruk G.Ya., Bazyukin A.B., Barkovsky A.N., Bratilova A.A., Vlasov A.Yu., Goncharova Yu.N., Gromov A.V., Zhesko T.V., Ivanov S.A., Kaduka M.V., Kravtsova O.S., Kuchumov V.V., Romanovich I.K., Saprykin K.A., Titov N.V., Travnikova I.G., Yakovlev V.A. The exposure for populations of the Russian Federation due to the Chernobyl accident and main directions of further work in the coming period. Radiatsionnaya Gygiena = Radiation Hygiene. 2014;7(4):72-83. (In Russian).

5. Bruk G.Ya., Bazyukin A.B., Bratilova A.A., Vlasov A.Yu., Goncharova Yu.N., Gromov A.V., Zhesko T.V., Kaduka M.V., Kravtsova O.S., Romanovich I.K., Saprykin K.A., Stepanov V.S., Titov N.V., Travnikova I.G., Tutelyan O.E., Yakovlev V.A. The average annual effective doses for the population of the settlements of the Russian Federation attributed to zones of radioactive contamination due to the Chernobyl accident (for the zonation purposes), 2017. Radiatsionnaya Gygiena = Radiation Hygiene. 2017;10(4):73-78. (In Russian).

6. Romanovich I.K., Bruk G.Ya., Barkovsky A.N., Bratilova A.A., Gromov A.V., Kaduka M.V. Substantiation of the concept of transfer to conditions of normal population activity of the settlements considered to be zones of radioactive contamination after the Chernobyl NPP accident. Radiatsionnaya Gygiena = Radiation Hygiene. 2016;9(1):6-18. (In Russian).

7. Results of the radiation-hygienic passportisation in the subjects of the Russian Federation in 2018: Radiation-hygienic passport of the Russian Federation. Moscow, Federal center of the epidemiology and hygiene of Rospotrebnadzor, 2019, 237 p. (In Russian).

8. Repin V.S., Baryshkov N.K., Bratilova A.A., Varfolomeeva K.V., Goncharova Yu.N., Kononenko D.V., Kormanovskaya T.A., Kuvshinnikov S.I., Repin L.V., Romanovich I.K., Svetovidov A.V., Stamat I.P., Tutelyan O.E. The outcomes of functioning of unified system of individual dose control of Russian Federation citizens based on 2014 data. Radiatsionnaya Gygiena = Radiation Hygiene. 2015;8(3):86-115. (In Russian).

9. Lomovtsev A.E., Shishikina L.I., Grigoryev Yu.I. Population diagnostic of health condition of the public of the Tula region: monography. Ed. by academic of MAS and MANEB, prof. Yu. I. Grigoryev. Tula State Univercity, Center of state epidemiological surveillance in Tula region. Tula, 2002, 125 p. (In Russian).

10. Radiation-hygienic aspects of the negotiation of the consequences of the Chernobyl NPP accident / Ed. by academic of RAS Onischenko G.G. and prof. Popova A. Yu. – StPetersburg, NIIRG after P.V. Ramzaev, 2016, Vol. 1, 448 p. (In Russian).