RADIATION & RISK
Bulletin of the National Radiation and Epidemiological Registry
since 1992
About the Journal : 2014 : vol. 23, No. 2 : Radiation doses received by the workers involved in agricultural operations on the territories contaminated by radionuclides Cs-137, Am-241 and Pu-238,239+240

Radiation doses received by the workers involved in agricultural operations on the territories contaminated by radionuclides Cs-137, Am-241 and Pu-238,239+240

«Radiation and Risk», 2014, vol. 23, No. 2, pp.85-94

Authors

Podolyak A.G. – Deputy Director, Associate Professor, C. Sc., Agr., Institute of Radiology, Ministry for Emergency Situations of the Republic of Belarus, Gomel, Republic of Belarus
Tagai S.A. – Researcher, Institute of Radiology, Ministry for Emergency Situations of the Republic of Belarus, Gomel, Republic of Belarus. Contacts: 16 Fediuninsky St., Gomel, Belarus, 246000. Tel.: 8 10 (375 44) 724-19-42; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Averin V.S. – Director, Associate Professor, D. Sc., Biol., Institute of Radiology, Ministry for Emergency Situations of the Republic of Belarus, Gomel, Republic of Belarus.
Buzdalkin K.N. – Head of Lab., C. Sc., Tech., Institute of Radiology, Ministry for Emergency Situations of the Republic of Belarus, Gomel, Republic of Belarus.
Nilova E.K. – Researcher, C. Sc., Biol., Institute of Radiology, Ministry for Emergency Situations of the Republic of Belarus, Gomel, Republic of Belarus.

Abstract

The article presents the data on radioactive contamination of soil and air within operational field area in the period of the main dust-rising agricultural operations (disking, plowing, sowing and harvesting). The data were obtained in the field experiment implemented on the lands of Gomel region in Belarus 42 km from Chernobyl. The comparative estimation was performed in relation to effective external doses and committed effective doses of internal exposure due to inhalation of 137Cs, 241Am and 238,239+240Pu by agricultural workers. According to calculations, maximum effective doses of internal exposure due to inhalation of 137Cs, and transuranic 241Am and 238,239+240Pu are likely to be received in machinery operator’s cabin not equipped with the air conditioning system. The most dust-making agricultural operations lead to the committed effective dose of internal exposure of workers due to 137Cs and both transuranic elements (241Am + 238,239+240Pu) which 2 orders of magnitude less than effective dose of their external exposure. Assuming that the annual field working time is 70 hours, the total dose of internal and external exposures of workers is 3% of the basic exposure limit for population which is 1 mSv/year.

Key words
River biota, radioecological impact, radiation dose, the Krasnoyarsk Mining and Chemical Industrial Complex, exposure limit.

References

1. Aleksakhin R.M. Radioaktivnoe zagriaznenie pochv kak tip ikh degradatsii [Radioactive contamination as a type of soil degradation]. Pochvovedenie – Soil Science, 2009, no. 12, pp. 1487-1498.

2. Harvester combine «Lida-1300». Available at http://www.lidagro.by/index.php?option=com_content&view= article&id=2%3Alida1300&catid=2%3Agrainharvesters&Itemid=17&lang=ru (accessed 20.01.2014). (In Russian).

3. Criteria for estimating radiation exposure: Hygienic standard. Registered at the National register of legal acts of the Republic of Belarus, registration number 2013/8/2650. (In Russian).

4. Complex for fodder preservation K-G-6. Available at http://www.gomselmash.by/production/pr/ kom-pleks_dlya_zagotovki_kormov_k-g-6_palesse_k-g-6.html (accessed 20.01.2014). (In Russian).

5. Konoplia E.F., Kudriashov V.P., Mironov V.P. Radiatsiia i Chernobyl': Transuranovye elementy na territorii Belarusi [Radiation and Chernobyl: Transuranic elements on the Belarus territory]. Gomel, RNIUP «Institut Radiologii» Publ., 2007. 128 p.

6. Kudriashov V.P. Zagriaznenie territorii Respubliki Belarus' transuranovymi elementami v rezul'tate glob-al'nykh vypadenii i katastrofy na Chernobyl'skoi AES, vkliuchenie ikh v troficheskie tsepi i formirovanie dozovykh nagruzok. Diss. kand. biol. nauk [Contamination of the territory of the Republic of Belarus with transuranic elements as a result of the global fallout and the accident at the Chernobyl NPP: inclusion of the elements in trophic chains and radiation doses forming. Cand. Biol. Sci. diss.]. Gomel, 1998. 166 p.

7. Makhon'ko K.P. Vetrovoi pod"em radioaktivnoi pyli s podstilaiushchei poverkhnosti [Wind uplift of radioac-tive dust from the ground]. Atomnaia energiia – Atomic Energy, 1992, vol. 72, no. 5, pp. 523-530.

8. Makhon'ko K.P. Effekty defliatsii radionuklidov na zagriaznennom uchastke mestnosti pri razovom i statsionarnom vybrosakh v atmosferu [Radionuclide deflation effects at contaminated environmental area in case of single and steady discharges to the atmosphere]. Atomnaia energiia – Atomic Energy, 1984, vol. 56, no. 1, pp. 47-50.

9. Method for measuring specific activity of 238Pu, 239+240Pu, 241Am in biological objects by alpha-spectrometry using ion-exchange and extraction chromatographic materials, as well as obtaining counting sample by sedimentation. Approved: Belarussian State Institute of Metrology, Minsk, 2012. (In Russian).

10. Normy radiatsionnoi bezopasnosti (NRB-2000) [Radiation Safety Standards NRB-2000]. Minsk, Respu-blikanskii tsentr gigieny i epidemiologii – Republican Centre for Hygiene and Epidemiology, 2000. 116 p.

11. Generic procedures for assessment and response during a radiological emergency. IAEA-Tecdoc-1162. Vienna, International Atomic Energy Agency, 2004. 196 p.

12. Radiation safety regulations: sanitary standards and norms. Registered at the National register of legal acts of the Republic of Belarus, registration number 2/26850, 2013. (In Russian).

13. Radiation protection and safety of radiation sources: international basic safety standards: general safety requirements. Interim edition. Vienna, International Atomic Energy Agency, 2011. 303 p.

Full-text article (in Russian)