The Chernobyl nuclear power plant is located just a few dozen kilometers from the borders of the Gomel region. This predetermined the extremely high contamination of the southern regions of Belarus with radioactive elements released from an emergency nuclear reactor. The Gomel Green Portal publishes maps of radioactive cesium-137 contamination of the lands of the Gomel region from 1986 to 2056.
Almost from the first day of the accident, the territory of the republic was subjected to radioactive fallout, which became especially intense on April 27. As a result of a change in wind direction, until April 29, it carried radioactive dust in the direction of Belarus and Russia.
Due to intense pollution of the territory, 24,725 people were evacuated from Belarusian villages, and three districts were officially declared the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Today, at 2100 sq. km of alienated Belarusian territories, where the evacuation of the population was carried out, the Polessky State Radiation and Ecological Reserve was organized.
To assess the contamination of the territory of the Gomel region, we publish maps of radioactive fallout. The maps show the levels of contamination of the territory with radioactive caesium-137.
The Gomel region is one of the most affected by the consequences of the Chernobyl accident. Contamination levels currently range from 1 to 40 or more Curie/km2 for caesium-137.
The pollution map of the territory of the Gomel region in 1986 shows that the maximum levels of pollution were in the southern and northern parts of the region. The central districts and the regional center had pollution up to 5 Curie/km2.
By 2016, 30 years after the catastrophe, the half-life of cesium-137 had passed and the levels of surface contamination of the Gomel region should not exceed 15 Curie / km2 for 137Cs (outside the territory of the Polessky state radiation-ecological reserve).
The Gomel Green Portal turned to an expert in the field of radiation pollution of the territory of Belarus, a physicist, for a comment Yuri Voronezhtsev.
- How much can you trust the official maps of radioactive contamination of our lands?
In principle, any maps that are published from some serious sources can be trusted. But here I would make a reservation - if it concerns a particular locality, suppose your parents live in a village and you would like to know where it is clean, where it is dirty, where products can be grown, and where not, then in such cases, these maps do not reflect a detailed picture of what is happening.
Therefore, I would advise you to go to the Department for the Elimination of the Consequences of the Catastrophe at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Belarus and ask for a clear and specific map of your locality. For most settlements, such maps already exist, and they can be used to determine the degree of pollution.
Considering that pollution is usually spotty in nature, then in the same garden or field, say 20 acres, which, according to the map issued to you, will be clean, we can find (God forbid), for example, two rather dirty spots. And we can grow food there, consider that it is clean, but in fact, out of forty sacks of potatoes, two will turn out to be unfit for consumption.
- Why was it not possible to make more accurate studies of the levels of radiation in contaminated lands, and is it possible to do it yourself with household dosimeters?
This is quite a difficult job and I'm not sure that it has been carried out everywhere. We did this back in 1991 with a high-traffic vehicle. A radiometer was installed on it - the Canberra spectrometer, and we drove around the field with gausses and scanned it. This is the most reliable method, because the same aerial surveys no longer give such a result.
Well, as for household dosimeters, although they do not give such accuracy, but if you have a field in a suspicious zone, say from 1-5 curies, then it is better to scan it yourself. You can spend several days on this, but this way you will have more accurate data. This must be done slowly, as determining the level of radiation takes some time.
- There is a stereotype that home dosimeters are twisted or spoiled. How much can they be trusted?
It's more of a confusion of units of measurement. If earlier they were produced with an indication in microroentgens / hour, now devices are already being created with other units of measurement. If earlier there was the concept of dose rate, now it is the effective dose. If earlier everything was measured in microroentgens/hour, then, not seeing them on new dosimeters, confusion often arises. There are units a hundred times smaller, that is, in order to convert to micro-roentgens, it is necessary to multiply by a hundred and other similar situations. That is why people say, “Oh, here I had 50 micro-roentgens, and now I have 0.50 of some incomprehensible units. So he's screwed up!" But everything can be sorted out.
Household appliances are quite objective, but it's another matter if you measure food with them, as they sometimes do - they put the device on mushrooms and they seem to be clean. But there is a completely different principle for measuring the content of radionuclides in products. If they are already glowing, then the device will detect something, but in all other situations - no.
Of course, one cannot say as official propaganda says that “everything is over, we are already clean and good and there is no radiation at all.” It happens that they catch some grandmother and she says, “Oh, dze taya gladiatsya? I don't care!" In fact, all this is and remains, but if you behave reasonably, if you use the simple recommendations that scientists give, then you can completely avoid the troubles that the consequences of Chernobyl radiation bring us.
- The maps we have provided are based on caesium-137. To what extent is it a good indicator of land pollution? Do we need maps for all radioactive trace elements to get a complete picture of what is happening?
Cesium is the most common radionuclide that has fallen out. In addition, it is very volatile, so it has spread over a territory much larger than the same strontium. There are maps for strontium, and they should also be consulted, because although it is less volatile, it managed to pollute a fair amount of land.
As for plutonium, it settled like a heavy radionuclide in a thirty-kilometer zone. But americium - an element that occurs during its decay - is an extremely unpleasant thing. This is an even greater evil, since it exists in a highly soluble form and is able to pass into other layers of the soil. But basically, these elements settled in a 30-kilometer zone where people do not live.
In the first days and weeks, iodine maps were relevant, but no one published them, everything was classified, and as a result, the population of our lands received an iodine strike. If a person was born, relatively speaking, in 1980 and he is now about 30 years old, then 80 percent of the dose that he received was acquired by him in the first weeks and days after the accident.
Therefore, if they ask me “whether it was necessary to leave?” I answer that it was necessary to leave on April 25, and now it is worth living, but following certain restrictions and precautions.
In addition, if we take the same Gomel, then certain areas in the center of Moscow were even higher in terms of radiation levels. Therefore, it is always worth considering other environmental factors of pollution in your locality.
Reference:
The author of the cartographic materials is the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Belarus and the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, which jointly published the Atlas of modern and predictive aspects of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident in the affected territories of Russia and Belarus.
The signing of an agreement on the construction of a nuclear power plant against the backdrop of the disaster in Japan made the nerves of Belarusians, which had not been strengthened after the Chernobyl tragedy, shudder once again. What is radiation? How and in what doses does it affect a person? Can exposure be avoided in everyday life? We decided it would be useful to remind once again what is what in terms of the effect of radiation on a person.
Most often, when people talk about radiation, they mean "ionizing" radiation associated with radioactive decay. Although a person is also exposed to a magnetic field or ultraviolet light (non-ionizing radiation), says the chairman of the National Commission for Radiation Protection under the Council of Ministers Yakov Koenigsberg.
Radioactivity units
The most common units for measuring soil and food radioactivity are Becquerel (Bq) and Curie (Ci). Typically, activity is indicated per 1 kg of food. The maps indicate activity per unit area, for example, km 2 . But the level of contamination of the territory 1Ci/km2 in itself does not say anything about what kind of exposure people living in this territory received. A measure of the harmful effects of radioactive radiation on a person is the radiation dose, which is measured in Sieverts (Sv).
Term | Units | Unit ratio | Definition |
|
In the SI system | In the old system |
|||
Activity | Becquerel,Bq | 1 Ki \u003d 3.7 × 10 10 Bq | number of radioactive decays per unit time |
|
Dose rate | sievert per hour, Sv/h | roentgen per hour, R/h | 1 µR/h=0.01 µSv/h | radiation level per unit time |
Absorbed dose | radian, rad | 1 rad=0.01 Gy | amount of ionizing radiation energy transferred to a particular object |
|
Effective dose | Sievert, Sv | 1 rem=0.01 Sv | radiation dose, taking into account the different sensitivity of organs to radiation |
|
So, in sieverts per unit of time, the level of background radiation is measured. The natural background radiation on the earth's surface averages 0.1-0.2 µSv/h. A level above 1.2 µSv/h is considered dangerous for humans. By the way, yesterday the level of radiation 20 km from the emergency Japanese nuclear power plant "Fukushima-1" - a radiation level of 161 μSv / h was recorded. For comparison: according to some reports, after the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the radiation level in places reached several thousand μSv / h.
As for the Becquerel, it serves as a unit for measuring the radioactivity of water, soil, etc. per unit in which this water, soil is measured ... So, according to the latest data in Tokyo, the level of radiation in tap water has been exceeded: the content of radioactive iodine in water is 210 becquerels per liter.
And Gray is needed to measure the absorbed dose of radiation by a particular object.
But back to the Sieverts:
In accordance with Belarusian legislation, the allowable radiation dose for the population is 1 mSv per year, and for professionals working with sources of ionizing radiation - 20 mSv per year.
In addition, the impact of radioactive radiation on a person was previously calculated in such a unit as rem (the biological equivalent of a roentgen). Today, Sieverts are used for this. In this unit, you can evaluate the influence of radiation sources in everyday life, for example. So, the annual dose from watching TV for 3 hours a day is 0.001 mSv. The annual dose from smoking one cigarette a day is 2.7 mSv. One fluorography - 0.6 mSv., One radiography - 1.3 mSv, one fluoroscopy - 5 mSv. Calculate and compare: 20 mSv is the average allowable level of exposure for workers in the nuclear industry per year.
Additionally, the radiation of concrete dwellings is also taken into account - up to 3 mSv per year and the natural dose of radiation from the environment - more than 2 mSv per year. An interesting comparison: natural exposure near monazite deposits in Brazil is 200 mSv per year. And people live with it!
The effect of radiation on the human body
Radiation in the usual human sense (i.e. ionizing radiation) has a certain effect on the human body. The effect of radiation on humans is called irradiation. The basis of this effect is the transfer of radiation energy to the cells of the body. So, one of the effects of exposure - deterministic - manifests itself from a certain threshold and depends on the dose of radiation.
"Its most striking manifestation when irradiating a part or the whole body is acute radiation sickness, which develops only from a certain threshold and has varying degrees of severity. Theoretically, radiation sickness can manifest itself when exposed to a dose of 1 sievert (this is the weakest degree of radiation sickness),” says Yakov Konigsberg. For comparison: according to our table, a dose of 0.2 sievert increases the risk of cancer, and 3 sievert threatens the life of the exposed .
Also referred to as a deterministic effect radiation burns, which occur both when a person is exposed to large doses of radiation, and in contact with the skin. Very large doses lead to the death of the skin, up to damage to muscles and bones. Such burns, by the way, are treated much worse than chemical or thermal ones.
On the other hand, radiation can manifest itself long after exposure, causing the so-called. stochastic effect. This effect is expressed in the fact that among exposed people the frequency of certain oncological diseases. Theoretically, genetic effects are also possible, but at the moment, experts attribute them to the theory, since they have never been identified in humans. According to scientists, even in the 78,000 Japanese children who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, no increase in the incidence of hereditary diseases was found.
Besides, various experts note that irradiation, in addition to burns and radiation sickness, can cause metabolic disorders, infectious complications, radiation infertility, and radiation cataracts.The consequences of irradiation have a stronger effect on dividing cells, so radiation exposure is much more dangerous for children than for adults.
"We can't say for sure which specific disease, even when receiving the same dose of radiation, may develop or not develop any oncological disease," notes J. Koenigsberg.
In a country with a large number of exposed people, an increase in the incidence of cancer is possible. At the same time, diseases can be caused both by radiation and chemical harmful substances, viruses, etc. For example, in the Japanese, irradiated after the bombing of Hiroshima, the first effects in the form of an increase in the incidence began to appear only after 10 years or more, and some - after 20 years.
To date, it is known which tumors can be associated with radiation. Among them - thyroid cancer, breast cancer, cancer of certain parts of the intestine.
***By the way, in addition to artificial radionuclides (iodine, cesium, strontium), which “hit” Belarusians after the Chernobyl tragedy, natural radionuclides. The most common among them are potassium-40, radium-226, polonium-210, radon-222, -220. For example, a person receives the bulk of the dose of exposure from radon while in a closed, unventilated room (radon is released from the earth's crust and concentrated in the indoor air only when they are sufficiently isolated from the external environment). Relatively little radon is emitted by building materials such as wood, brick and concrete. For example, granite and pumice, which are also used as building materials, have a higher specific radioactivity.
Penetration of radionuclides into foodRadionuclides enter the body with food, water and through polluted air. For example, as a result of nuclear tests, almost the entire globe was contaminated with long-lived radionuclides. From the soil they got into the plants, from the plants - into the organisms of animals. And to a person - with milk and meat of these animals, for example, says Yakov Konigsberg.
“Today, all products that are produced in Belarus in the public and private sectors are controlled,” he notes. “Besides, there are special maps in the leshozes, which indicate the places where you can and where you cannot pick mushrooms and berries.”
If a person can check the level of radiation in the air on his own by purchasing an appropriate device, then in order to check, for example, the content of radionuclides in "gifts of nature", you need to contact a special laboratory. There are such laboratories in every regional center - in the system of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Ministry of Health, Belkooperatsiya.
In addition, you can reduce the risk of radioactive contamination through food if you cook food in a certain way.
On the night of April 26, 1986, the duty shift of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant began a planned experiment that led to a great tragedy. NPP employees wanted to know if the energy of the turbine generator could be used for their own needs, in case of an accident. A favorable outcome would guarantee good bonuses, and perhaps even an order for the station director. But the whole world knew about what happened. You can see the full scale of the disaster on the map of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant contamination zone. As a result of a powerful explosion, a twenty-story building was destroyed.
Map of pollution from Chernobyl
The events that took place in Chernobyl changed the course of civilization and the thinking of many people. From the destroyed fourth nuclear reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, a huge amount of radioactive substances flew into the atmosphere with terrible force, which managed to spread over a vast territory in a short period of time. The following radionuclides can be included in the composition of long-lived radioactive elements that formed pollution:
- Plutonium-239 (half-life - 24110 years);
- Americium-241 (half-life - 432 years);
- Cesium-137 (half-life - 30 years);
- Strontium-90 (half-life - 29 years).
Other isotopes such as Iodine-131, Cobalt-60, Cesium-134 have now practically disappeared due to the short half-life.
The map of infection has a 30-kilometer exclusion zone. The territory of the zone is divided into three controlled areas: a special zone (the ChNPP industrial site), a 10-kilometer zone, and a 30-kilometer zone. Scientists who have studied this area for many years claim that most of the radiation remains on the territory of a 10-kilometer section. The rest have already recovered little by little.
Hundreds of thousands of people who were near the epicenter of events were evacuated from these zones. It is worth noting that twice as many people, on the contrary, were sent to help eliminate the consequences of the accident, that is, to eliminate radioactive contamination.
After the accident, during the movement of radioactive clouds, soil contamination turned out to be uneven. There were three sources of contamination:
- Central (where the nuclear power plant is directly located, the cities of Pripyat and Chernobyl);
- Bryansk-Belarusian hearth;
- Hearth in the region of Tula, Kaluga and Orel.
It is worth noting that the tragedy in Chernobyl left its mark on the entire map of the world. The radioactive cloud managed to visit many corners of the planet, and rain down on the territory of Asia, North America, Ireland, and Japan. This is not a complete list of places where she managed to visit.
Russia pollution maps
The radiation released from the fourth reactor unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant covered an area of more than 60,000 square kilometers on the map of Russia. 16 regions and the Republic of Moldova, whose population at that time was about 3 million people, were exposed to radioactive contamination. The regions located to the north of the border of Ukraine, at a distance of 100-550 km from the source, received the greatest amount of radiation. On the map you can see red and orange spots that have painted such territories of Russia as: Bryansk, Oryol, Tula, Kaluga regions. According to scientists, the element Cesium-137 is most widespread in these areas.
Bryansk region
The Bryansk region is considered the most affected in the Russian Federation. The area of pollution here extends over 12.1 thousand square kilometers. The content of radioisotopes in the soil is 15-40 Ci/km. sq., while in the exclusion zone more than 40 Ci / km. sq.
According to Roshydrometer forecasts, the level of radioactive contamination of the area with Cesium-137 isotopes will decrease to an acceptable value of 5 Ci/km. sq. no earlier than 2029. And the value is 1 Ci / km. sq. To be achieved no earlier than 2098.
It should also be noted that in the western part of the Bryansk region there is a maximum level of contamination with Strontium-90 and Plutonium-239, 240.
Oryol Region
Due to the destruction of the reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, a huge territory of the Soviet Union, including the Oryol region, suffered. An increased level of background radiation was recorded on April 30, 1986 in the Bolkhovsky and Dmitrovsky districts, including the city of Orel. 1243 people from the Orel region took part in the liquidation of the Chernobyl accident. Of these, 43% became invalids of groups 1, 2, 3, and 9% died within 14 years after these events, to be more precise, 115 people. The Oryol region ranks third in terms of contamination with radioactive isotopes due to the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Tula region
According to research by scientists, the soil layer of the Tula region will be cleared of harmful substances no earlier than 2050. The content of Cesium-137 here, even after more than 30 years, remains at a high level, and reaches from 1 to 5 kg/km. sq. The most infected cities in the Tula region are as follows: Uzlovaya, Belev, Novomoskovsk, Plovsk, Bogoroditsk and Chern. The total area of radioactive contamination of the entire region is 14.5 thousand square kilometers, and the condition of about a third of the soil is catastrophic.
Despite the difficult environmental situation in the whole region, the Tula region remains a leader among the ecological settlements created on its territory.
Kaluga region
From April 28 to April 29, 1986, two days after the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, heavy rains took place in the southwestern territory of the Kaluga region, which brought dangerous radionuclides with them. Ten districts of the Kaluga region fell under the Chernobyl radiation cloud, which contained several basic radioactive elements: Cesium-137, Cesium-134, Iodine-131 and Strontium-90. The area of cesium pollution reaches 11.7 km. sq. About 5 thousand people took part in the liquidation of the consequences of the accident, today 3 thousand of them survived, and 500 became disabled.
Thanks to the natural processes of self-purification, at this time, the radiation situation has already improved significantly. The average annual doses of radiation for most of the contaminated settlements in the territory of the Kaluga region has decreased.
The catastrophe that occurred in Chernobyl in the spring of 1986 turned people's minds upside down, affecting the history of mankind as a whole. On the territory of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, a picture of a large-scale environmental disaster is captured, the consequences of which will leave their mark for many years to come.
The Chernobyl exclusion zone is a place of events that, by its example, reminds the whole world of how dire the consequences can be if safety precautions are neglected.
Every ten minutes - updated information. Experts see any change in radiation indicators immediately. In case of danger, the system will give an alarm signal.
Where are they watching?
Despite the fact that according to the law not all regions of Belarus are considered “Chernobyl”, experts monitor the background radiation in all parts of the country. After all, firstly, the consequences of the accident affected all regions of Belarus, and its traces are visible throughout Europe. And, secondly, in neighboring countries near the borders of Belarus there are four nuclear power plants that can affect the radiation situation in our country.
Specialists monitor the radiation situation in Belarus 24 hours a day, seven days a week
The main organization that monitors the radiation background in Belarus is the Republican Center for Hydrometeorology, Radioactive Contamination Control and Environmental Monitoring of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus (Hydromet). The service of radiation and environmental monitoring operates here, whose specialists monitor the radiation situation in Belarus 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Observations include control of natural background radiation in clean and contaminated zones due to the Chernobyl accident, as well as in territories located in the zones of influence of nuclear power plants of neighboring countries: Smolensk - in Russia, Chernobyl and Rovno - in Ukraine, Ignalina - in Lithuania. The main indicator monitored by specialists is the dose rate of gamma radiation.
- We receive operational control data using automated radiation monitoring systems in which Geiger-Muller sensors are installed. There are four of them, they work in the zones of influence of all nuclear power plants, which are located near the borders of Belarus. Another 45 stationary points are evenly located throughout Belarus, where people with dosimeters work, - said the head of the emergency response department of the Republican Center for Hydrometeorology, Radioactive Pollution Control and Environmental Monitoring of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Alla Shaybak.
In the territories contaminated after the Chernobyl accident, specialists also control the atmospheric air, surface water and soil.
The air is examined in two ways: samples of radioactive fallout from the atmosphere are taken and samples of radioactive aerosols are taken. For the first method, there are 27 observation points. They measure how many radionuclides per day fall on a horizontal tablet in a cubic meter. The gauze from the tablet is changed every day and examined in laboratories: the content of radionuclides and the total beta activity are measured.
To measure radioactive aerosols, filter-ventilation installations are used at seven observation points: Mstislavl, Mogilev, Minsk, Gomel, Pinsk, Braslav and Mozyr. To do this, large volumes of air are pumped onto Petryanov's tissue, then it is removed and the content of radionuclides is measured in laboratories.
The content of radionuclides is controlled in the rivers Dnieper, Pripyat, Sozh, Besed, Iput, Nizhnyaya Braginka and in Lake Drysvyaty. As the head of the department of scientific research and radiation and environmental monitoring of the Republican Center for Hydrometeorology, Radioactive Contamination Control and Environmental Monitoring of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection said Olga Zhukova, there are problems only in Nizhnyaya Braginka, where an increased content of strontium-90 is noted.
In the "Chernobyl" territories, samples are taken for four radionuclides: cesium-137, strontium-90, americium-241 and plutonium-238, 239, 240. These are the elements that entered the environment after the Chernobyl accident. During the incident, iodine-131 was also released, but its half-life is 8 days, so there are no traces of it for a long time.
Threats seen
- Five years ago, after the explosion at Fukushima, radionuclides reached us. This is evidenced by the data of the devices that accurately captured the non-Chernobyl elements at that time,” says Olga Zhukova. - This was the only case after the Chernobyl accident, when short-lived radionuclides, including iodine-131, were recorded in Belarus. Their presence helps to understand that the release of elements has occurred recently. In Belarus, the content of such radionuclides is measured every day in areas close to the operating stations.
– After the Chernobyl accident, we have never seen short-lived radionuclides recorded. Our monitoring network worked well, and iodine-131, as well as cesium-134 and cesium-137 of non-Chernobyl origin, were recorded at all seven observation points. The ratio of the last two elements was not the same as in 1986. This immediately made it clear that the source of radionuclides is different, - said Olga Zhukova.
– There were no dangerous consequences of the explosion at Fukushima for Belarusians, because only distant echoes of radioactive elements have reached us. Only thanks to modern highly sensitive semiconductor gamma spectrometers, Belarusian specialists recorded this radiation. If we were now using the equipment that was before the Chernobyl accident, we would not be able to record such low levels of radioactive contamination,” Olga Zhukova admits.
The devices detected an increase in the background in the Chernobyl territory.
– During forest fires in a 10-kilometer zone in Ukraine and in a 30-kilometer zone of the Polessky State Radiation and Ecological Reserve in Belarus, we recorded an increased content of cesium-137 of Chernobyl origin in the air. Aerosol samples were taken using a mobile filter-ventilation unit. It helps to quickly assess the level of pollution in a place close to the epicenter of the fire. It also came in handy at the end of August 2015, when the Olmas swamps in the Brest region were on fire. In Pinsk, the average monthly value of the volumetric activity of caesium-137 was 3.0 10-5 Bq/m 3, which exceeded the background values for this observation point by six times,” Olga Zhukova said.
Hydromet has not only stationary, but also mobile stations.
This is what mobile stations look like from the inside. Photo by Olga Astapovich
Such mobile laboratories can go anywhere in Belarus to carry out all the necessary measurements.
Do foreign nuclear power plants influence us?
On different sides of Belarus, not far from the border, there are four nuclear power plants that in one way or another affect the radiation situation in our country. Specialists control a 100-kilometer zone around each of them. These are the so-called NPP impact zones. Now, two nuclear power plants are operating in the immediate vicinity of Belarus - in Rovno and Smolensk. The Ignalina NPP has not been producing energy since 2009, and is now being decommissioned. However, this does not mean that she is no longer a danger.
- Near the Ignalina nuclear power plant, an intermediate storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, a storage facility for low-level and medium-level radioactive waste, and several more hazardous waste storage facilities are being built. God forbid, a terrorist attack or another incident ... From the nuclear power plant to the Belarusian border - three and a half kilometers along the water table. They are going to build a new Lithuanian nuclear power plant even closer,” Olga Zhukova said.
Another problem is that radionuclides end up in Lake Drisvyaty, which is located on the border of the two countries. Most of the radionuclides are heavy, so they immediately settle to the bottom. However, with an active layer of bottom sediments, they can migrate to the Belarusian part of the lake.
In the area of the Ostrovets nuclear power plant under construction, Hydromet is already conducting radiation monitoring of atmospheric air, surface water and soil. A program of radiation monitoring has been prepared, observation points have been selected, their frequency has been determined, measurements of radionuclides in environmental objects are being carried out. Data on the radiation background around the Belarusian nuclear power plant will also be collected in Hydromet.
What happens in an emergency?
Information from checkpoints all over Belarus comes to the screen of an engineer of the emergency response department every 10 minutes. Here, online on the map, you can see the indicators from all measurement points of automated control systems. This department employs seven people whose main task is to quickly control the radiation situation on the territory of Belarus.
Photo by Nadezhda Dubovskaya
As Alla Shaibak said, in the event of an incident, the engineer on duty will be the first to see information about the change in the background, and light and sound signals will work at automatic control points. The data will be checked, and not only with the help of automation. At stationary control points, specialists with devices can clarify the information. They will do this in the Ministry of Emergency Situations. This ministry is Hydromet's main colleague in the event of an emergency. Further, all systems go into an enhanced mode of operation, and specialists from the Ministry of Emergency Situations and Hydromet promptly leave for the area where such a situation has occurred. Experts can also predict the possible area of distribution of pollution, based on real meteorological data. All information about the level of radiation and the meteorological situation is transmitted to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and it already makes a decision to alert the population.
Many people want to protect themselves and try to measure the background radiation on their own. Alla Shaibak says that this does not make sense, because the reliability of the measurement depends on the quality of the device, which household dosimeters often cannot boast of.
– Household dosimeters often lead to panic. They can either overestimate the values of the gamma background or underestimate them. There are elementary failures: if the battery is discharged, the dosimeter is already off scale. All instruments used by Hydromet are checked once a year and work accurately. No one can promise the quality of work of a household dosimeter, - the specialist notes. - Data on the radiation background is not secret. In places of automated stations there is a scoreboard where the local population can see up-to-date information. We regularly publish them on our website, this information is available on the website of the Ministry of Natural Resources, and is also sent to the media.
It is located ten kilometers from the borders with the Republic of Belarus, which determined the extremely high contamination of the southern parts of the state with radioactive elements released from an emergency nuclear reactor.
Almost from the first day of the accident, the territory of the republic was subjected to radioactive fallout, which became especially intense on April 27. The direction of the wind changed and until April 29 the wind carried radioactive dust in the direction of the Republic of Belarus and.
Due to the intense pollution of the territory, 24,725 people were evacuated from Belarusian villages, and three regions of the Republic of Belarus were declared the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Today, at 2100 sq. km of the alienated Belarusian territories, where the evacuation of the population was carried out, was organized. To characterize the contamination of the territory of the Republic of Belarus, we publish maps of radioactive fallout. The maps show the levels of contamination of the territory of the Republic of Belarus with 137 Cs.
The author of the cartographic materials is the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia and the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic, which jointly published the Atlas of modern and predictive aspects of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident in the affected territories of Russia and Belarus.
Map of 137 Cs pollution in the Gomel region
The Gomel region is one of the most affected by the accident on. Contamination levels range from 1 to 40 or more Curie/km 2 for 137 Cs. As can be seen from the pollution map of the territory of the Gomel region in 1986, the maximum levels of pollution were in the southern and northern parts of the region. Central districts of the region and the city Gomel had pollution up to 5 Curie / km 2 .
1986 year with cesium-137
Pollution map of the Gomel region in 1996 year (cesium-137)
Pollution map of the Gomel region in 2006 year (cesium-137)
By 2016, 30 years after pollution, the half-life of cesium-137 will pass and the levels of surface pollution in the Gomel region will not exceed 15 Curie / km 2 for 137 Cs (outside the territory of the Polessky state radiation-ecological reserve).
Pollution map of the Gomel region in 2016 year (cesium-137)
Map of predicted values of pollution in the Gomel region in 2056 year
137 Cs contamination map of the Minsk region
Pollution map of the Minsk region in 1986
Levels of contamination of the Minsk region with a radionuclide cesium-137 in 2046 will not exceed 1 Curie 137 Cs. For details, see the map of predictive estimates of pollution in the Minsk region.
Forecast values of contamination of the Minsk region in 2046 for cesium-137
137 Cs contamination map of Brest region
The Brest region of the Republic of Belarus was exposed to radionuclide contamination in the eastern part. The maximum levels of surface pollution in the Brest region after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (in 1986) were about 5–10 Curie/km 2 for 137 Cs.
1986
Map of pollution of the Brest region after the Chernobyl accident in 1996
Map of contamination with radionuclide cesium-137 in the Brest region in 2006 year
2016 year
Prediction map of cesium-137 radionuclide contamination in the Brest region 2056 year
Map of contamination of the Mogilev region with 137 Cs radionuclide
Map of pollution of the Mogilev region after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (1986)
Map of pollution of the Mogilev region after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant ( 1996 year)
Map of contamination of the Mogilev region with cesium-137 radionuclide ( 2006 year)
Predicted contamination of the Mogilev region with cesium-137 radionuclide in 2016
Predicted contamination of the Mogilev region with cesium-137 radionuclide in 2056
- The material was prepared according to the data of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia and the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Belarus " Atlas of modern and predictive aspects of the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the affected territories of Russia and Belarus. «