Faculty of Mathematics, Physics
and Informatics
Comenius University Bratislava

Nuclear Seminar - Sergiy Dubchak (15.11.2017)

Wednesday 15.11.2017 at 14:00, Lecture room F1/364


09. 11. 2017 13.07 hod.
By: Jaroslav Staníček

Dr. Sergiy Dubchak (State Ecological Academy of Postgraduate Education and Management Kyiv, Ukraine):
Study of Am and Pu isotopes migration in forest ecosystems of Chernobyl exclusion zone

Abstract: 
Three decades after the Chernobyl accident, the transuranium elements contribute significantly to radioactive contamination of the environment, especially within 30-km exclusion zone around ChNPP. Nowadays 241Am has become the most important alpha-emitting pollutant in this area. Owing to 241Am formation from 241Pu decay, the permanent growth of the forest biomass in uncultivated areas within Chernobyl zone and enhancement of mobility in contaminated soils with time, the steady increase of 241Am accumulation by plants of forest ecosystems is expected till 2050th – 2060th.

Accordingly, the research task was to study distribution of americium and plutonium isotopes in components of forest biogeocenoses and processes of radionuclide incorporation in biogeochemical cycles of migration.

It was shown that vertical migration rate of americium and plutonium in soil profiles of the forest ecosystem is relatively low. However the fraction of exchangeable species of americium in soil exceeded significantly that of plutonium isotopes. It confirms higher migration ability of americium and its potential for the long-time intake into the trophic chains.