Study of fallouts in the bottom sediments of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant cooling pond

25 Sept 2021, 16:45
25m
Oral report Section 3. Modern nuclear physics methods and technologies. Section 3. Modern nuclear physics methods and technologies

Speaker

Marina Zheltonozhskaya (Lomonosov Moscow State University)

Description

This work reports studies of fuel fallouts from bottom sediments of the Chernobyl NPP cooling pond. We took samples to a 30 cm depth at cooling pond different locations for gamma spectrometrical and radiochemical study. The measurement results show that over 80% of the radionuclide activity is located at a depth of 10-20 cm. The Am-241 activity is 6-8% compared to Cs-137, while in usual Chernobyl fuel fallouts, this value is 2-3%. The Sr-90 activity is 40-50% compared to Cs-137 in studied samples. The fixed activities Eu-155 and Eu-154 allow us to determine the burnout of fuel depositions in cooling pond bottom sediments. Activation radionuclides Co-60 and Nb-94 were detected in studied samples. Analysis of the Co-60 and Nb-94 ratios showed that, most likely, these are fallouts from the first accident explosion of the 4th unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Precipitation at a depth of 0-10 cm is mainly associated with the deposition of aerosol fallout in subsequent years. Radionuclide ratios in the cooling pond bottom sediments at the 10-20 cm depth correlate with radionuclide ratios in soils near the Shelter after the installation of Second Confinement. The fallout of the cooling pond also contains a component associated with the fallout in the post-variance period. Moreover, its vertical migration correlates with the vertical migration of aerosol fallout in 30-km zone Chernobyl NPP soils. The following results show the ​​studied radioisotope activities at a depth of 10-15 cm: Am-241 684 Bq/sample, Am-243 1.6 Bq/sample, Eu-154 28.5 Bq/sample, Eu-155 4.31 Bq/sample, Cs-137 10260 Bq/sample, Nb-94 2.0 Bq/sample, Co-60 1.75 Bq/sample, Sr-90 4500 Bq/sample. The obtained results are discussed. Acknowledgments: The reported study was funded by RFBR, project number 19-05-50095.

Primary author

Marina Zheltonozhskaya (Lomonosov Moscow State University)

Co-authors

Dr Nadezhda Kulich (Institute for Nuclear Research of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine ) Mr Leonid Sadovnikov (Institute for Nuclear Research of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine ) Prof. Alla Lipska (Institute for Nuclear Research of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine )

Presentation materials