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Measurements of long-term external and internal radiation exposure of inhabitants of some villages of the Bryansk region of Russia after the Chernobyl accident

Bernhardsson, Christian LU orcid ; Zvonova, Irina ; Rääf, Christopher LU and Mattsson, Sören LU (2011) In Science of the Total Environment 409(22). p.4811-4817
Abstract
A Nordic-Soviet programme was initiated in 1990 to evaluate the external and internal radiation exposure of the inhabitants of several villages in the Bryansk region of Russia. This area was one of the number of areas particularly affected by the nuclear accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986. Measurements were carried out yearly until 1998 and after that more irregularly; in 2000, 2006 and 2008 respectively. The effective dose estimates were based on individual thermoluminescent dosemeters and on in vivo measurements of the whole body content of (137)Cs (and (134)Cs during the first years of the programme). The decrease in total effective dose during the almost 2 decade follow-up was due to a continuous decrease in the... (More)
A Nordic-Soviet programme was initiated in 1990 to evaluate the external and internal radiation exposure of the inhabitants of several villages in the Bryansk region of Russia. This area was one of the number of areas particularly affected by the nuclear accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986. Measurements were carried out yearly until 1998 and after that more irregularly; in 2000, 2006 and 2008 respectively. The effective dose estimates were based on individual thermoluminescent dosemeters and on in vivo measurements of the whole body content of (137)Cs (and (134)Cs during the first years of the programme). The decrease in total effective dose during the almost 2 decade follow-up was due to a continuous decrease in the dominating external exposure and a less decreasing but highly variable exposure from internal irradiation. In 2008, the observed average effective dose (i.e. the sum of external and internal exposure) from Chernobyl (137)Cs to the residents was estimated to be 0.3mSvy(-1). This corresponds to 8% of the estimated annual dose in 1990 and to 1% of the estimated annual dose in 1986. As a mean for the population group and for the period of the present study (2006-2008), the average yearly effective dose from Chernobyl cesium was comparable to the absorbed dose obtained annually from external exposure to cosmic radiation plus internal exposure to naturally occurring radionuclides in the human body. Our data indicate that the effective dose from internal exposure is becoming increasingly important as the body burdens of Chernobyl (137)Cs are decreasing more slowly than the external exposure. However, over the years there have been large individual variations in both the external and internal effective doses, as well as differences between the villages investigated. These variations and differences are presented and discussed in this paper. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Science of the Total Environment
volume
409
issue
22
pages
4811 - 4817
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000296306900021
  • pmid:21906781
  • scopus:80053315423
ISSN
1879-1026
DOI
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.07.066
project
Radiation protection in Eastern Europe
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
8581bc49-5a7f-453b-ae78-909d53efd195 (old id 2168172)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 10:54:42
date last changed
2022-05-28 17:15:50
@article{8581bc49-5a7f-453b-ae78-909d53efd195,
  abstract     = {{A Nordic-Soviet programme was initiated in 1990 to evaluate the external and internal radiation exposure of the inhabitants of several villages in the Bryansk region of Russia. This area was one of the number of areas particularly affected by the nuclear accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986. Measurements were carried out yearly until 1998 and after that more irregularly; in 2000, 2006 and 2008 respectively. The effective dose estimates were based on individual thermoluminescent dosemeters and on in vivo measurements of the whole body content of (137)Cs (and (134)Cs during the first years of the programme). The decrease in total effective dose during the almost 2 decade follow-up was due to a continuous decrease in the dominating external exposure and a less decreasing but highly variable exposure from internal irradiation. In 2008, the observed average effective dose (i.e. the sum of external and internal exposure) from Chernobyl (137)Cs to the residents was estimated to be 0.3mSvy(-1). This corresponds to 8% of the estimated annual dose in 1990 and to 1% of the estimated annual dose in 1986. As a mean for the population group and for the period of the present study (2006-2008), the average yearly effective dose from Chernobyl cesium was comparable to the absorbed dose obtained annually from external exposure to cosmic radiation plus internal exposure to naturally occurring radionuclides in the human body. Our data indicate that the effective dose from internal exposure is becoming increasingly important as the body burdens of Chernobyl (137)Cs are decreasing more slowly than the external exposure. However, over the years there have been large individual variations in both the external and internal effective doses, as well as differences between the villages investigated. These variations and differences are presented and discussed in this paper.}},
  author       = {{Bernhardsson, Christian and Zvonova, Irina and Rääf, Christopher and Mattsson, Sören}},
  issn         = {{1879-1026}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{22}},
  pages        = {{4811--4817}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Science of the Total Environment}},
  title        = {{Measurements of long-term external and internal radiation exposure of inhabitants of some villages of the Bryansk region of Russia after the Chernobyl accident}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.07.066}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.07.066}},
  volume       = {{409}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}