Distribution pattern of artificial radionuclides in the Baltic Sea in the special event of the Chernobyl fallout

Abstract

Extensive investigations on radioactive contamination and on its spatial and temporal changes in the Baltic Sea have been carried out by the National Board for Atomic Safety and Radiation Protection since 1986. The results were compared with data obtained in the years prior to the Chernobyl accident. Due to the composition of the accidental releases and the physical half-life of the released radionuclides, special emphasis was laid on Cs-134 and Cs-137. Other radionuclides, such as H-3, Sr-90, Ru-103 and Ru-106 turned out to be insignificant compared with the caesium isotopes. The radionuclides Cs-134 and Cs-137 accounting for the highest percentage of the released long-lived radionuclides were deposited on the sea surface with an initial ratio of 0.5. Their distribution pattern on the sea surface was affected by the meteorological conditions prevailing during the release period. The horizontal dislocation of higher contaminated water masses and the vertical penetration of radioactive caesium resulted in a prolonged uniformity of the contamination level of the Baltic Sea.

Keywords:

• Baltic Sea
• caesium-134
• caesium-137
• dispersion
• North Sea
• strontium-90
• radioactive nuclides
• Chernobyl

Notes

^†Original version published in Proceedings of the 5th Working Meeting Isotopes in Nature Leipzig, September 1989, pp. 651–670.