This study presents results of radiation-hygienic surveys of the Bryansk Oblast settlements bordering the Republic of Belarus. The data were obtained in the course of implementation of measures of the “Program of joint activities of Russia and Belarus within the framework of the Union State for the protection of the population and rehabilitation of the territories affected by the Chernobyl NPP accident” in 2019–2022. The second part of the study presents structure of population’s food preferences (diet). A general description of the diets of residents is given and the main types of local food products at the present stage of the radiation accident are identified. The current levels of consumption of locally produced food (and products of local origin) by residents of different age categories have been assessed. The obtained results of assessing the levels of food consumption have been compared with our own results of earlier studies and with the results of studies on the population of Russia and Belarus. Similarly with previous years, among agricultural food products the most consumed products are milk and potatoes and among natural food products are mushrooms. The established levels of consumption of local dairy products and beef have decreased over the past ten years and the resident consumptions of mushrooms and potatoes are in the same levels as before.

This paper describes the preconditions of creation and the process of development of the Automated System for Radiation Risk Analysis. Three main objectives for the development of an automated system for radiation risk analysis were identified: creation of a tool for the development and scientific justification of hygienic standards and other protective quantities in the field of ionizing radiation application; practical implementation of the principles of justification and optimization in radiation protection on the basis of monetary assessment of radiation health risks; and comparative analysis of risks of different nature on the basis of comparable indicators of population health. The Russian software platform 1C: Enterprise was chosen as the development platform for the Automatized System for Radiation Risk Analysis. The choice of this platform was related to simplification of integration with other computer systems being developed at the Research Institute of Radiation Hygiene after Prof. P.V. Ramzaev, such as the Automated System for Radiation Exposure Control of Rospotrebnadzor. Before the practical development of the system in accordance with the terms of reference, the main parameters in view of its interaction with the user were determined: arrangement of the user interface elements, main input parameters, primary calculated indicators and output calculation results, etc. The estimation of annual increase in the probability of radiation-induced malignant neoplasms depending on the organ dose, sex and age of the exposed person and other parameters according to the models of the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Publications 103 and 152 of the International Commission on Radiological Protection was implemented in the system. The capabilities of the system include calculation of a number of modern lifetime radiation risk indicators used for risk characterization in various scientific publications over the last 35 years, including calculation of population risks based on national medical and demographic data of several dozen states published over the last 50 years.

Interventional examinations are associated with high levels of patient exposure per examination, which makes it particularly important to monitor individual patient doses and to assess radiation risks. The aim of this study was the assessment of effective doses for fluoroscopy-guided balloon dilatation of benign esophageal strictures, whichwasperformedonpediatricpatientsaged 1 to 2 yearsatthe Departmentof Radiosurgical Methodsof Diagnosis and Treatment of St. Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University. Patient exposure patterns were basedonourowndatacollection.    Thecalculationofeffectiveandorgandosesofpatientsnormalizedbythevalue of the dose area product measured during the study was carried out using PCXMC 2.0 software. The conversion coefficients from the dose area product to the effective dose were calculated using tissue weighting coefficients from the ICRP Publications 60 and 103 their values were 10.7 and 11.7 µSv/cGy cm2, respectively. The results of verification of the method indicated that the use of inappropriate conversion coefficients leads to an almost double underestimation of children’s effective doses. Differences in the values of conversion coefficients are significant and are explained by differences in voltage, source to image distance, and irradiation field size. A simplified model of patient exposure was proposed, which is described by a single irradiation field. The assessment of effective doses using multi-field and single-field irradiation model shows comparable results, which allows using the differentiated approach to the assessment of radiation doses of patients.

The purpose of the study is to identify differences in the content of ¹³⁷Cs in the phytomass of coastal aquatic vegetation of the Vetka and Chechersk districts of the Gomel region for the period 2012–2022. The description and identification of ecological groups of coastal aquatic vegetation and the sampling of soil and plants to determine the content of radiocesium in the growing seasons of 2012 and 2022 were carried out according to generally accepted methods. It was found that the content of ¹³⁷Cs in water samples from the objects of Vetka district did not exceed the normative value for drinking water (10 Bq/kg). The average specific activity of radiocesium in the soil for the studied objects was 807±125 and 586±84 Bq/kg in 2012 and 2022, respectively; and for soil was 549±85 and 395±46 Bq/kg respectively. Over time, there was a decrease in the amount of radiocesium in soil and in ground by 1.3–1.4 times. The average content of the isotope in the plants in 2012 and 2022 was 93–917 and 59–578 Bq/kg, respectively. The amplitude of variation in the average values of accumulation coefficient in the soil-plant system was 1.03 and 0.11 Bq/kg:Bq/kg in 2012 and 2022, respectively. In the ground-plant system it was 3.08 and 0.01 Bq/kg:Bq/kg, respectively. The specific activity of ¹³⁷Cs in the water of objects in the Chechersk region did not exceed 3 Bq/l. The average content of ¹³⁷Cs in the ground was 316 and 231 Bq/kg in 2012 and 2022, respectively. The same parameters for the soil were within the limits of 471 and 340 Bq/kg, respectively. The average content of ¹³⁷Cs in phytomass varied from 149 to 483 Bq/kg in 2012. After 10 years, the amount of radionuclide was 115–288 Bq/kg. The average values of accumulation coefficient in the soil-plant system in 2012 and 2022 were 1.44 and 1.01 Bq/kg:Bq/kg, and in the soil-plant system were 1.70 and 1.10 Bq/kg:Bq/kg, respectively. As a result of the study, similar dominant groups of coastal aquatic plants were not identified in terms of the accumulation of radiocesium in the objects of the Vetka and Chechersk regions.

The article presents results of the study of consumption levels of different types of forest mushrooms by residents of the most contaminated south-western territories of the Bryansk region in the remote period after the Chernobyl accident. To collect and analyze the data, the method of face-to-face questionnaire survey of adult population was applied according to individual questionnaires developed by the staff of Federal Funded Institution of Science «Saint-Petersburg Research Institute of Radiation Hygiene after Professor P.V. Ramzaev». In addition to general information, the questionnaires included questions about the species composition of the mushroom basket, the volume and proportion of consumption of each type of mushrooms by the respondent and his/her family members (both in the current and previous seasons). In the period from 2019 to 2022, within the framework of the “Program of joint activities of Russia and Belarus in the framework of the Union State for the protection of the population and rehabilitation of the territories affected by the Chernobyl NPP disaster”, the staff of the Saint-Petersburg Research Institute of Radiation Hygiene after Professor P.V. Ramzaev conducted the questionnaire survey of the respondents. Based on the analysis of data from individual interviews with 1 756 adult respondents, the group (61% of respondents) that could potentially receive an additional contribution to internal dose from mushroom consumption was identified. According to the research, the average consumption of mushrooms by the local population (including those who excluded mushrooms from their diet) is 4,7 kg/year per person, while the average consumption of mushrooms by the group of respondents whose diet includes mushrooms is 7,9 kg/year per person. The structure of the mushroom diet for respondents who eat mushrooms is as follows: cep /boletus edulis (28%), chanterelles / cantharellus cibarius (19%), annulated boletus / suillus luteus (14%), orange-cup boletus / leccinium aurantiacum (11%), rough boletus / leccinium scabrum (10%), honey fungus / armilaria mellea (9%), whitish russula /russila delica and orange milkcap / lactarius deterrimus (5%), yellow knight / tricholoma equestre(3%), russules / russula (0,3%) and various rarely consumed mushrooms (oyster mushrooms, coral milkcaps, paxils, morels, stitches, bay bolete and champignons – 1%).

Official data on radiation doses for flaw detectors do not take into account working conditions. In the reporting forms, there is no division between personnel performing flaw detection in stationary conditions and in situ, which roughly averages the values of effective doses towards underestimating the values for personnel working in site radiography. In this work, comparison of our own data on radiation doses of flaw detectors was performed. It has been shown that the difference in the mean and median values of effective doses reaches 10 times. When performing flaw detection in stationary conditions, the personnel are at a sufficient distance from the source of ionizing radiation and are well shielded by engineering protective equipment, so the exposure is fairly uniform. In such cases, one individual thermoluminescent dosimeter located at chest level is sufficient to estimate the effective dose. The average annual effective dose for personnel conducting flaw detection in stationary conditions is 0.87 mSv (median – 0.88 mSv, maximum value – 0.99 mSv). During individual radiation monitoring of personnel performing flaw detection in situ using portable roentgen flaw detectors, cases of neglect in the use of individual dosimeters were identified, which requires more stringent measures to comply with existing requirements for ensuring radiation safety and operating rules for individual dosimeters. The average annual effective dose for flaw detectors working with portable roentgen flaw detectors is 9.03 mSv (median – 8.85 mSv, maximum value – 12.37 mSv).

This review provides information on the radiation situation in mining and energy production facilities. Mining activities are considered as one of the significant sources of radioactivity. Many radionuclides and metals that are transported by surface and ground waters, air flows over significant distances, contaminating soils, subsoil and bottom sediments of the adjacent territory, forming geochemically specific naturaltechnogenic areas. In this work is given an overview of radiation conditions in the territories of potassium phosphate, hydrocarbon and coal deposits. Developed potassium ores are the source of ⁴⁰K emission into the environment. According to the results obtained, the migration of investigated radionuclides is limited to the zone of 2 km. Only an insignificant part of the investigated samples (8%) exceeds the world average activity of ⁴⁰K for soils. In bottom sediments, the average activity of ⁴⁰K does not exceed the values for other territories with anthropogenic impact. More than 30 million tonnes of phosphate fertilizers are consumed worldwide each year, and their use increases crop production. However, a possible negative effect of these fertilisers is the contamination of cultivated land with some natural radionuclides. Uranium concentrations in phosphate vary from 37 to 4900 Bq/kg for ²³⁸U and from 100 to 10 000 Bq/kg for ²²⁶Ra. The amount of radioactivity in oil, gas and formation water is estimated through determination of ⁴⁰K, ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th. According to the published data, increased radiation background is observed near wellheads, in the places of oil sludge accumulation, near the flares at oil and gas enterprises, as a result of bringing a number of natural and man-made radionuclides (²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, ⁴⁰K, ¹³⁷Cs, 90Sr, etc.) to the day surface. Coal mines are sources of radioactive contamination. This results from the extraction of large amounts of natural radionuclides from the subsoil together with the coal. This paper presents the average natural radionuclides content in coals from some of the world’s coal mines. With the development of mining and fuel-energy complexes, there is an active export to the surface together with minerals of natural radionuclides ⁴⁰K, ²³²Th, ²²⁶Ra, ²³⁸U, which leads to an increase in the radiation load on the environment. In this connection, the problems of ensuring radiation safety at the facilities of mining and fuel and energy industry require the closest attention. 

Significant temporal variations in radon are observed in any buildings, including unoccupied buildings with limited ventilation. This fact causes serious difficulties in radiation monitoring to assess the compliance of premises with the requirements of the normative, which limits the annual average level of radon in buildings. Therefore, neither at the national nor at the international level has yet been solved the problem of standardizing the indoor radon measurement if the test duration is less than a year. An analysis of approaches to radon measurement, including an assessment of the effectiveness of regulation, shows very significant differences between practices established in different countries. For example, in Russia, rapid (no more than 20 min) measurements are mainly used and mitigation measures to protect existing buildings from radon are practically not carried out. In European countries, mainly long-term (at least two months) measurements are used, while mitigation measures are still relatively rare, with the exception of the UK and Sweden. In the USA, short-term (2–7 days) measurements are widely used, which are not only carried out, but also paid for by residents themselves, including mitigation measures. However, despite the established approaches to indoor radon monitoring in Russia and the USA, there is a persistent distrust among specialists in the results of shortterm and, especially, rapid measurements. In this regard, a compromise approach is proposed to standardize radon measurements based on a rational criterion by applying fundamental ISO/IEC concepts such as “measurement uncertainty” and “conformity assessment”. The rational criterion for conformity assessment allows using measurements of different durations, providing a given reliability when making a decision. It also proposes a rationale for optimizing indoor radon monitoring through the participation of not only professional inspectors, but also the population itself due to the possibility of introducing simple methods and inexpensive radon devices within the rational criterion.

The paper presents results of analysis of information on doses from medical exposure of the public in the Russian Federation in 2022, submitted via Federal Statistical Surveillance Form No. 3-DOZ “Information on doses to patients from medical X-ray examinations” to the Federal Databank on medical exposure doses, which operates on the base of Institute of Radiation Hygiene after P.V. Ramzaev, as well as received as part of radiation-hygienic passportization from the Federal Medical and Biological Agency of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, and the Federal Service for the Execution of Punishments of the Russian Federation. The data on the structure of doses from medical exposure of the public in the regions of the Russian Federation and Russia as a whole in 2022, as well as on the dynamics of these indicators for the last 5 years are presented. The average dose from medical exposure of the public of the Russian Federation in 2022 amounted to 0.86 mSv/year per one inhabitant and 0.43 mSv per one procedure. The highest values of the average dose per inhabitant in 2022 were in Moscow (1.71 mSv), in the Republic of Karelia (1.5 mSv), in the Nenetsk Autonomous District (1.32 mSv), in the Khabarovsk Krai (1.26 mSv), in the Murmansk Region (1.23 mSv) and in the Magadan region (1.20 mSv). In another 15 regions of the Russian Federation, annual effective doses from medical radiation exposure exceeded 1 mSv per inhabitant on average in 2022. The highest values of the average dose per procedure in 2022 were observed in the Republic of Adygea (0.96 mSv), in Moscow (0.74 mSv) and in the Republic of Ingushetia (0.73 mSv). The highest values of average doses were observed: for fluorography in the Republics of North Ossetia (0.18 mSv), Crimea (0.18 mSv) and Adygea (0.15 mSv), with an average value for the Russian Federation being 0.05 mSv; for radiography in the Kaliningrad (0.11 mSv) and Tver (0.11 mSv) regions, with the average value for the Russian Federation being 0.06 mSv; for fluoroscopy in Sevastopol (7.59 mSv), in the Udmurt Republic (5.97 mSv) and in the Republic of Crimea (5.75 mSv), with the average value for the Russian Federation being 2.35 mSv; for computer tomography in the Nenetsk Autonomous District (6.25 mSv), in the Republics of Karelia (5.92 mSv) and Adygea (5.43 mSv), with the average value for the Russian Federation being 3.86 mSv; for interventional examinations in the Omsk Region (16.5 mSv), in the Republic of Karelia (16.4 mSv) and in the Vladimir Region (13.7 mSv), with the average value for the Russian Federation being 4.89 mSv; for diagnostic nuclear medicine in the Vladimir region (30.1 mSv), Ivanovo region (23.2 mSv) and Rostov region (19.5 mSv), with the average value for the Russian Federation being 8.07 mSv; for other radiology procedures in the Republic of Bashkortostan (8.53 mSv), Nizhny Novgorod (7.90 mSv) and Vologda (7.40 mSv) regions, with the average value for the Russian Federation being 1.04 mSv. The maximum average dose from medical exposure per procedure exceeds the average for the Russian Federation by a factor of 2.2, and per inhabitant – by a factor of 2, which can be considered quite a satisfactory result considering the significant difference in the structure of their X-ray diagnostics.

We have summarized, analyzed and assessed data on radiation accidents and incidents that occurred on the territory of the Russian Federation for the period from 2010 to 2022. The data are presented in the Data bank of radiation accidents and incidents of the Information and Analytical Center of Rospotrebnadzor on radiation safety, in the form of federal statistical observation No. 18 “Information on the sanitary condition of the subject of the Russian Federation”, and in radiation-hygienic passports of territories. The objective of the study was to conduct a comparative analysis of information on radiation accidents for the period from 2010 to 2022 contained in the above-mentioned sources. The objective of the study was to perform a comparative analysis of information on radiation accidents for the period from 2010 to 2022 contained in the above-mentioned sources. Comparison of the number of radiation accidents in dynamics has shown the presence of discrepancies between the studied data sources, lack of systematicity of these discrepancies, and multidirectional trends in the number of radiation accidents. From 2010 to 2022, in the Data bank of radiation accidents and incidents of the Information and Analytical Center of Rospotrebnadzor on radiation safety were registered 2,690 cases of radiation accidents in 71 subjects of the Russian Federation, in Forms No. 18 – 2,469 cases in 67 subjects, in radiation-hygienic passports of territories – 2,457 cases in 76 subjects. Differences in the structure of data provision have been established: in the data bank and Form No. 18 radiation accidents are classified, but at the same time the principles of classification coincide partially; there is no classification in the radiation-hygienic passport of territories. The analysis showed that no information on radiation accidents was received from four regions during the study period. Among the subjects that provided information, only six regions have coincidence of data on all sources. Some regions were identified where information was provided to some data bases but not to others. In five regions, a range of more than 50 cases was detected; the coefficient of variation in the number of radiation accidents between sources exceeded 33% in 53 subjects. The identified discrepancies demonstrate the lack of a systematic approach to the procedure for providing information on radiation accidents, which may be related to the failure to fully comply with the requirements for providing information to Rospotrebnadzor and the St. Petersburg Research Institute of Radiation Hygiene after Prof. P.V. Ramzaev, contradictions in the list of information to be provided in Rospotrebnadzor’s offices, and difficulties in determining by Rospotrebnadzor’s offices in the subjects of the Russian Federation what information is to be reported in this or that form of statistical observation.

The designation of peaceful nuclear explosions as special radioactive waste imposes serious requirements to the territory of the explosion, its boundaries, and stakeholders informing about the prohibition of economic activities within these boundaries. The acting Sanitary Norms and Rules SanPiN 2.6.1.2819–10 “Ensuring radiation safety of the population living in areas where nuclear explosions were conducted (1965–1988) for peaceful purposes” do not define the size of the boundaries of protected zones. The aim of this paper is to analyze the scientific literature on the structure of deformation changes in the Earth’s interior due to peaceful nuclear explosions and to justify quantitative ratios on the basis of which the size of protected zones can be estimated. The quantitative ratios were selected on the basis of a comparative analysis of the literature data. Using the ratios values made it possible to calculate the radii of deformation changes (cavities, crushing zones, fracturing zones, and zones of residual deformations) in various rocks. It is shown that the maximum values of fracturing radii for peaceful nuclear explosions carried out on the territory of the Russian Federation in hard rocks and in plastic rocks do not exceed 200 m and 250 m, respectively.

The purpose of the study was an experimental assessment of the conditions for the formation and values of equivalent doses of irradiation of the lenses of the eyes, as well as the effective doses of irradiation of personnel in X-ray operating rooms of a cardiological profile. Particular attention to the control of eye lens irradiation is due to the need to harmonize domestic regulatory documents with the new IAEA safety standard GSR Part 3. The study was performed using a complex phantom, including an anthropomorphic phantom of a human head and a water phantom imitating the torso of an X-ray surgical team member. The results of assessments of individual eye lens irradiation doses, obtained both on the basis of integrated measurements by thermoluminescent dosimetry methods, and by calculation based on measurements of the ambient dose equivalent rate at the personnel workplaces, showed that at the maximum operating parameters of the X-ray tube (high voltage and a large number of frames per second), annual doses to the lenses of the eyes, even for assisting personnel, may exceed the new recommended dose limit of 20 mSv. The assessment of the ratio between the doses of irradiation of the whole body (chest), neck and lenses of the eyes showed the possibility of estimating the doses of irradiation of the lenses of the eyes of the assisting personnel of X-ray surgical teams using a thermoluminescent dosimeter placed over a protective apron in the neck area. For the category of personnel under consideration, the priority is to control the irradiation of the lenses of the eyes, and not the whole body.