Yablokov Chernobyl book

Yablokov & Nesterenko: Contamination through Time and Space 19TABLE 1.5. Some Estimates of the Amount of Primary Radionuclides Emitted from April 26 to May 20,1986, from the Fourth Chernobyl NPP Reactor (10 6 Ci)Radionuclide (half-life/full decay Nuclear Energy Devell Medvedev Guntaytime, hours, days, months, years) Agency (1995) et al. (1995) (1991) et al. (1996)I-135 (6.6 h/2.75 d) SeveralI-133 (20.8 h/8.7 d) ∼1.5 140–150La-140 (40.2 h/16.7 d)A lot ofNp-239 (2.36 d/23.6 d) 25.6 45.9Mo-99 (2.75 d/27.5 d) >4.6 4.5 5.67Te-132 (3.26 d/32.6 d) ∼37.1 31 A lot of 27.0Xe-133 (5.3 d/53 d) 175.7 180 170 175.5I-131 (8.04 d/2.7 mo) ∼47.6 48 >85 b 32.4–45.9Ba-140 (12.8 d/4.3 mo) 6.5 6.4 4.59Cs-136 (12.98 d/4.3 mo)0.644 aCe-141 (32.5 d/10.8 mo) 5.3 5.3 5.40Ru-103 (39.4 d/1 y 1 mo) >4.6 4.5 4.59Sr-89 (50.6 d/1.39 y) ∼3.1 3.1 2.19Zr-95 (64.0 d/1.75 y) 5.3 5.3 4.59Cm-242 (162.8 d/4.6 y) ∼0.024 0.024 0.025Ce-144 (284 d/7.8 y) ∼3.1 3.1 3.78Ru-106 (367 d/10 y) >1.97 2.0 0.81Cs-134 (2.06 y/20.6 y) ∼1.5 1.5 — 1.19–1.30Kr-85 (10.7 y/107 y) 0.89 — — 0.89Pu-241 (14.7 y/147 y) ∼0.16 0.16 0.078Sr-90 (28.5 y/285 y) ∼0.27 0.27 0.22Cs-137 (30.1 y/301 y) ∼2.3 l2.3 c 1.89–2.30Pu-238 (86.4 y/864 y) 0.001 0.001 — 0.0001Pu-240 (6,553 y/65,530 y) 0.001 0.001 0.001Pu-239 (24,100 y/241,000 y) 0.023 0.001 0.0001a Cort and Tsaturov (1998).b Nesterenko (1996)—more than 100.c Nesterenko (1996)—total emission of Cs-136 and Cs-137 is up to 420 ×10 15 Bq (1.14 × 10 6 Ci).1.4. Ecological Featuresof ContaminationThe three most important factors in connectionwith the Chernobyl contamination fornature and public health are: spotty/unevendeposits of contamination, the impact of “hotparticles,” and bioaccumulation of radionuclides(also see Chapter III).1.4.1. Uneven/Spotty ContaminationUntil now the uneven/spotty distribution ofthe Chernobyl radioactive fallout has attractedtoo little attention. Aerogamma studies, uponwhich most maps of contamination are based,give only average values of radioactivity for200–400 m of a route, so small, local, highlyradioactive “hot spots” can exist without beingmarked. The character of actual contaminationof an area is shown on Figure 1.15. As canbe seen, a distance of 10 m can make a sharpdifference in radionuclide concentrations.“Public health services of the French departmentVosges found out that a hog hit by one of localhunters ‘was glowing.’ Experts, armed with supermodernequipment, conveyed a message evenmore disturbing: practically the entire mountainwhere the dead animal had just run is radioactive ata level from 12,000 to 24,000 Bq/m 2 . For comparison,the European norm is 600 Bq/m 2 .Itwasrememberedthat radioactive mushrooms were found