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Activity concentration of 137Cs and natural radionuclides in soil around the Belarusian nuclear power plant in the pre-commissioning period

Bernhardsson, Christian LU orcid ; Ramzaev, Valery ; Dvornik, Alex LU orcid ; Jönsson, Mattias LU ; Pédehontaa-Hiaa, Guillaume LU orcid ; Vodovatov, Aleksandr ; Nekrasov, Vladislav ; Nilsson, Charlotta LU and Eriksson Stenström, Kristina LU (2026) In Radiation Protection Dosimetry p.1-15
Abstract
In this study, soil cores (0–20 cm) were collected at 45 sites located within a 30-km radius zone around the Belarusian nuclear power plant (BelNPP) in 2019 before its commissioning. Activity of gamma-emitting radionuclides was measured in the samples using HPGe detectors. The study revealed low levels of 137Cs in the soil: the weighted average dry weight (d.w.) activity concentration (ACw) varied from 1.13 to 8.71 Bq/kg (d.w.). The ACw of natural radionuclides ranged: for 226Ra from 7.8 to 30.8 Bq/kg (d.w.), for 232Th from 10.9 to 33.0 Bq/kg (d.w.), and for 40K from 376 to 789 Bq/kg (d.w.). A good agreement between the ambient dose equivalent rate (ADER) values calculated with the soil samples and the ADER values previously measured in... (More)
In this study, soil cores (0–20 cm) were collected at 45 sites located within a 30-km radius zone around the Belarusian nuclear power plant (BelNPP) in 2019 before its commissioning. Activity of gamma-emitting radionuclides was measured in the samples using HPGe detectors. The study revealed low levels of 137Cs in the soil: the weighted average dry weight (d.w.) activity concentration (ACw) varied from 1.13 to 8.71 Bq/kg (d.w.). The ACw of natural radionuclides ranged: for 226Ra from 7.8 to 30.8 Bq/kg (d.w.), for 232Th from 10.9 to 33.0 Bq/kg (d.w.), and for 40K from 376 to 789 Bq/kg (d.w.). A good agreement between the ambient dose equivalent rate (ADER) values calculated with the soil samples and the ADER values previously measured in situ at the same sites is observed. The sites characterized here now have established pre-operational levels of 137Cs, 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K in soil thus can be surveyed again in future environmental studies. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
keywords
Nuclear power plant, 14C, preoperational assessment, Ostrovets, BelNPP, Nuclear Power Plant, Environmental Monitoring, cesium-137, Gamma spectrometry
in
Radiation Protection Dosimetry
article number
ncag063
pages
1 - 15
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • pmid:42372184
ISSN
1742-3406
DOI
10.1093/rpd/ncag063
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
45dfb5a1-f4ad-4d45-ad92-62cdbad4a4bd
date added to LUP
2026-06-30 13:43:42
date last changed
2026-07-01 08:15:24
@article{45dfb5a1-f4ad-4d45-ad92-62cdbad4a4bd,
  abstract     = {{In this study, soil cores (0–20 cm) were collected at 45 sites located within a 30-km radius zone around the Belarusian nuclear power plant (BelNPP) in 2019 before its commissioning. Activity of gamma-emitting radionuclides was measured in the samples using HPGe detectors. The study revealed low levels of 137Cs in the soil: the weighted average dry weight (d.w.) activity concentration (ACw) varied from 1.13 to 8.71 Bq/kg (d.w.). The ACw of natural radionuclides ranged: for 226Ra from 7.8 to 30.8 Bq/kg (d.w.), for 232Th from 10.9 to 33.0 Bq/kg (d.w.), and for 40K from 376 to 789 Bq/kg (d.w.). A good agreement between the ambient dose equivalent rate (ADER) values calculated with the soil samples and the ADER values previously measured in situ at the same sites is observed. The sites characterized here now have established pre-operational levels of 137Cs, 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K in soil thus can be surveyed again in future environmental studies.}},
  author       = {{Bernhardsson, Christian and Ramzaev, Valery and Dvornik, Alex and Jönsson, Mattias and Pédehontaa-Hiaa, Guillaume and Vodovatov, Aleksandr and Nekrasov, Vladislav and Nilsson, Charlotta and Eriksson Stenström, Kristina}},
  issn         = {{1742-3406}},
  keywords     = {{Nuclear power plant, 14C, preoperational assessment, Ostrovets, BelNPP; Nuclear Power Plant; Environmental Monitoring; cesium-137; Gamma spectrometry}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  pages        = {{1--15}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{Radiation Protection Dosimetry}},
  title        = {{Activity concentration of 137Cs and natural radionuclides in soil around the Belarusian nuclear power plant in the pre-commissioning period}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/254338605/ncag063.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/rpd/ncag063}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}