The nuclear accident occurred at Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) (March 11, 2011) similarly to the accident at the Chernobyl NPP (April 26, 1986) is related to the level 7 of the INES. It is of interest to make an analysis of the radionuclide composition of the fallout following the both accidents. The results of the spectrometric measurements were used in that comparative analysis...

The accumulation of radionuclides by plants acting as a monitoring system in the environment may occur by two modes; foliar absorption by the leaves and shoot of the plant, or by root uptake from the soil. Data on plant accumulation of radionuclides may be obtained from studies of fission product radionuclides deposited as worldwide fallout, and from tracer studies of plant physiology. The epid...

The application of fallout radionuclides in soil erosion and sedimentation investigations has provided a valuable tool for improving the understanding of erosion and sediment transfer processes. However, most studies using fallout radionuclides have focussed on small areas. Increasing acceptance of the important role of fine sediment in degrading aquatic habitats and in the transfer and fat...

Depth profiles and cumulative deposition of four fallout radionuclides (7Be, 137Cs, 210Pb and 239,240Pu) were determined in presumably undisturbed soils in Taiwan. Inventories of these radionuclides in different areas correlate significantly with each other (except 7Be) and with mean annual rainfall, providing a necessary condition for the development of soil erosion studies in Taiwan. However,...

The impact of the radioactive fallout caused by the accident at the Chernobyl NPP on the Baltic Sea is discussed in this paper. The fallout from Chernobyl was very unevenly distributed in the drainage area of the Baltic Sea; the Bothnian Sea and the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland received most of the deposition. This was reflected in the activity concentrations of the main fallout nuclides...

Radiometric investigation in a rainforest of the Golfo Dulce region of southern Costa Rica has shown the presence of the anthropogenic radionuclides caesium-137, strontium-90 and the plutonium isotopes 238, 239 and 240 along with the naturally occurring radionuclides 7Be, 40K, 238U and 232Th, and respective progenies. 137Cs, 90Sr and Pu can be attributed to global fallout; no other sources coul...

Of the natural processes that concentrate dispersed environmental contaminants, landscape fire stands out as having potential to rapidly concentrate contaminants and accelerate their redistribution. This study used rainfall simulation methods to quantify changes in concentration of a widely dispersed environmental contaminant (global fallout 137Cs) in soils and surface water runoff following a ...

background: an amount of artificial radionuclide has been released into the environment as fallout, resulting from atmospheric nuclear weapon tests, nuclear accidents such as chernobyl and together with air currents have polluted the world. materials and methods: 37 surface soil samples of tehran province were collected in the period between june and september 2008, by implementing methods and ...

Background: An amount of artificial radionuclide has been released into the environment as fallout, resulting from atmospheric nuclear weapon tests, nuclear accidents such as Chernobyl and together with air currents have polluted the world. Materials and Methods: 37 surface soil samples of Tehran province were collected in the period between June and September 2008, by implementing met...

Environmental biomonitoring has demonstrated that organisms such as crustaceans, fish and mushrooms are useful to evaluate and monitor both ecosystem contamination and quality. Particularly, some mushroom species have a high capacity to retain radionuclides and some toxic elements from the soil and the air. The potential of mushrooms to accumulate radionuclides in their fruit-bodies has been we...