scholarly journals Changes in the underlying surface and vegetation in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone during 1986−2017

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 75-84
Author(s):  
O. G. Tyshchenko ◽  
◽  
V. P. Landin ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Ground Surface ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Underlying Surface ◽  
Woody Vegetation ◽  
Exclusion Zone ◽  
Burned Areas ◽  
Vector Maps

The analysis results of the type surface and vegetation changes in the Exclusion Zone of Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, for the period after accident in 1986 until 2017 are presented. In the article it is shown that after the Chornobyl accident in 1986, the largest changes occurred with vegetation on agricultural lands. Analysis of the current state of vegetation showed that the area of restored forest plantations on uncultivated lands amounted to –31% of the Chornobyl NPP Exclusion Zone. Studies have shown that fires cause great damage to the forest ecosystems. Forests and woody vegetation of natural regeneration damaged by the fire in the Chornobyl NPP Exclusion Zone as of 2017 amounted to 41.3 km2, which is about 4% of the area of forest vegetation. It is noted that the movement of certain volumes of radioactive waste from temporary storage points affect changes in the levels of pollution of environmental components in the Chornobyl NPP Exclusion Zone. Cartographic calculations showed that the areas allocated for the enterprises of the main and auxiliary cycle in the Chornobyl NPP Exclusion Zone occupy an area of about 56 km2 , of which 42% is covered with woody vegetation. The condition of such forested areas affects fire safety on stationary and temporary areas intended for localization of radioactive waste. It is stated about the expediency of organizing mineralized strips, conducting timely measures to care for plantations around such areas. Such measures are — felling of damaged stands, clearing the area of dead parts of trees, planting forests on burned areas. Maps obtained after the analysis and assessment of spatial heterogeneity of the territory are presented in the article. The maps show the location of areas of enterprises that may be sources of radioactive contamination and natural complexes that was changed. It created a set of digital raster and vector maps which reflect the structure of the study area for different periods. Vector maps were developed based on remote sensing data and fairly accurately reflect the modern structure of the territory, capture processes occurring within the territory. It concluded that the cartographic classification of objects on the ground surface and types of vegetation may be used for analyzing changes in the Exclusion Zone and unconditional resettlement of Chornobyl NPP, as well as parameterization of the type of underlying surface for assessment of environmental pollution. It is noted that the combination of the created cartographic material with the data of actual surveys of forest ecosystems makes it possible to more accurately determine the amount of bioresources of the Exclusion Zone in areas with high levels of pollution. The obtained cartographic materials make it possible to determine and display the modern spatial structure and characteristics on the Earth’s underlying surface and to calculate the areas in the changed territory.

Problems of Radioactive Waste Management at Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP)

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Borys Ya. Oskolkov ◽  
Yuri A. Neretin ◽  
Valeryi P. Saliy ◽  
Valeryi A. Seyda ◽  
Vyascheslav V. Fomin
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power Plant ◽  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
Liquid Radioactive Waste ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Building Structures ◽  
Exclusion Zone ◽  
Management Problems

According to the assessments the overall amount of radioactive waste (RAW) to be reprocessed and buried at the Chornobyl NPP site amounts to 1,696,738 m3 (without regard for reactor metal structures, dismantling of building structures and plan constructions, and the Unit Shelter building). The overall activity of radioactive waste are evaluated at 1,640,504.64 ΤBq. The RAW management activities are implemented at the Chornoby1 NPP within the frame of several programs of different hierarchy including the State Comprehensive Program for RAW Management in Ukraine, Integrated Program of RAW Management at the Chornoby1 NPP Shutdown Stage and Transformation of the Unit Shelter into an Ecologically Safe System. At the present time a number of key RAW management facilities are being constructed within the frame of the international aid to Ukraine. They are the Liquid Radioactive Waste Plant and Solid Radioactive Waste Reprocessing Complex. As of now, the issues concerning RAW utilization at the Unit Shelter are resolved at a conceptual level. There has not practical decision in relation to a geologic facility. The complexity and scale of ChNPP RAW management problems will require significant efforts of both Ukraine and the whole world community to solve these issues. The task related to removal and final burial of accumulated and generating radioactive waste is one of the main aspects of decommissioning activities at any nuclear power plant. RAW management work is the most important and complicated work performed at the Chornoby1 NPP. The specific features of ChNPP RAW management are as follows: • Variety of RAW generation sources, their types, physical and chemical properties. • Large amount of radioactive wastes which already exist and those generated in the decommissioning process. • Presence of disorganized RAW characterized by wide spatial distribution within the Unit Shelter and at the plant site. • Need to apply a very wide spectrum of various RAW management techniques depending on their location and type. • Need in developing unique techniques to manage special types of RAW located at the site (fuel containing masses of the Unit Shelter). • Large amount and variety of facilities required for RAW final storage. • Absence of reliable and serviceable instrumental procedures and necessary equipment to define RAW properties for RAW separation and classification. • Ecological peculiarities of RAW management within the Chornoby1 zone. • Multiphase decontamination and restoration processes resulting in RAW formation. • Need in integrating RAW management problems at the ChNPP and within the Chornoby1 Exclusion Zone taken as whole. • Long time period required for implementing the whole program of RAW management at the ChNPP. • Large quantity of people involved in RAW management process (local and foreign participants, different organization operated by various departments).

scholarly journals Estimation of the Contribution of Dust Storm on April 16, 2020 to Radioactive Contamination of the Atmosphere During Forest Fires in the Exclusion Zone

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 81-95
Author(s):  
M. M. Таlerko ◽  
◽  
Т. D. Lev ◽  
V. O. Кashpur ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Dust Storm ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Activity Concentration ◽  
Total Activity ◽  
137Cs Activity ◽  
Wildland Fires ◽  
Exclusion Zone ◽  
137Cs Activity Concentration ◽  
Burned Areas

On April 16, 2020, a strong dust storm was observed in the northern regions of Ukraine, which coincided with the period of intense wildland fires in the Chornobyl exclusion zone. The activity of 137Cs in aerosol particles released into the atmosphere as a result of resuspension from burned areas in the meadow biocenoses in the exclusion zone is evaluated in the article. Resuspension of radioactively contaminated particles from burned areas formed after fires in meadow biocenoses of the exclusion zone can be a powerful source of air contamination in the zone itself, as well as increase of the radionuclides transport outside it. The total 137Cs activity that entered the atmosphere during the dust storm was estimated to be about 162 GBq, i. e. up to 20% of the total activity emitted in the air during the entire period of forest fires on April 3–20, 2020. The 137Cs emission from burned areas during the dust storm on April 16 and 17 amounted to 0.24% of the total stock of 137Cs activity in this territory. According to the results of modeling, the relative contribution of wildland fires and resuspension due to the dust storm on April 16 and 17 significantly depends on the distance to the emission sources. It was found that the resuspension of radioactive particles from burned areas during the dust storm determined 80–95% of the 137Cs activity concentration in the surface air near Chornobyl nuclear power plant and in Chornobyl city and the rest was due to the continuing forest fires in neighboring territories. The maximum 3-hour averaged value of the 137Cs activity concentration in the air due to resuspension from the burned areas was obtained for the location of the monitoring post VRP-750 of SSE “Ecocenter” to be about 28 mBq/m3 for the period 9–12 hours on April 16. In Kyiv, the 3-hour averaged 137Cs activity concentration due to the dust storm in the Exclusion Zone was calculated as 44 μBq/m3 in the period from 9 to 12 hours on April 17, 2020. This value was only about 4% of the total 137Cs activity in the air in this period.

scholarly journals UAV-BASED DETECTION OF UNKNOWN RADIOACTIVE BIOMASS DEPOSITS IN CHERNOBYL’S EXCLUSION ZONE

2018 ◽  
Vol XLII-2 ◽  
pp. 163-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Briechle ◽  
A. Sizov ◽  
O. Tretyak ◽  
V. Antropov ◽  
N. Molitor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Lidar Data ◽  
Exclusion Zone ◽  
Machine Learning Methods ◽  
First Results ◽  
Vegetation Maps ◽  
Decimeter Range ◽  
The Impact

Shortly after the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (ChNPP) in 1986, radioactive fall-out and contaminated trees (socalled Red Forest) were buried in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (ChEZ). These days, exact locations of the buried contaminated material are needed. Moreover, 3D vegetation maps are necessary to simulate the impact of tornados and forest fire. After 30 years, some of the so-called trenches and clamps are visible. However, some of them are overgrown and have slightly settled in the centimeter and decimeter range. This paper presents a pipeline that comprises 3D vegetation mapping and machine learning methods to precisely map trenches and clamps from remote sensing data. The dataset for our experiments consists of UAV-based LiDAR data, multi-spectral data, and aerial gamma-spectrometry data. Depending on the study areas overall accuracies ranging from 95.6 % to 99.0 % were reached for the classification of radioactive deposits. Our first results demonstrate an accurate and reliable UAV-based detection of unknown radioactive biomass deposits in the ChEZ.

scholarly journals RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT IN THE CHERNOBYL EXCLUSION ZONE: 25 YEARS SINCE THE CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER PLANT ACCIDENT

2011 ◽  
Vol 101 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boris Y. Oskolkov ◽  
Mikhail D. Bondarkov ◽  
Lubov I. Zinkevich ◽  
Nikolai I. Proskura ◽  
Eduardo B. Farfán ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power Plant ◽  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant ◽  
Exclusion Zone ◽  
Radioactive Waste Management ◽  
Nuclear Power Plant Accident

scholarly journals The Environmental Effects of the April 2020 Wildfires and the Cs-137 Re-Suspension in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone: A Multi-Hazard Threat

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 467
Author(s):  
Rocío Baró ◽  
Christian Maurer ◽  
Jerome Brioude ◽  
Delia Arnold ◽  
Marcus Hirtl
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Atmospheric Transport ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Plume Dispersion ◽  
Exclusion Zone ◽  
Fire Plume ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
The Impact

This paper demonstrates the environmental impacts of the wildfires occurring at the beginning of April 2020 in and around the highly contaminated Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ). Due to the critical fire location, concerns arose about secondary radioactive contamination potentially spreading over Europe. The impact of the fire was assessed through the evaluation of fire plume dispersion and re-suspension of the radionuclide Cs-137, whereas, to assess the smoke plume effect, a WRF-Chem simulation was performed and compared to Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) satellite columns. The results show agreement of the simulated black carbon and carbon monoxide plumes with the plumes as observed by TROPOMI, where pollutants were also transported to Belarus. From an air quality and health perspective, the wildfires caused extremely bad air quality over Kiev, where the WRF-Chem model simulated mean values of PM2.5 up to 300 µg/m3 (during the first fire outbreak) over CEZ. The re-suspension of Cs-137 was assessed by a Bayesian inverse modelling approach using FLEXPART as the atmospheric transport model and Ukraine observations, yielding a total release of 600 ± 200 GBq. The increase in both smoke and Cs-137 emissions was only well correlated on the 9 April, likely related to a shift of the focus area of the fires. From a radiological point of view even the highest Cs-137 values (average measured or modelled air concentrations and modelled deposition) at the measurement site closest to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, i.e., Kiev, posed no health risk.

scholarly journals Large Carnivores of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Exclusion Zone

2012 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. e-21-e-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Shkvyria ◽  
D. Vishnevskiy
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power Plant ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant ◽  
Large Carnivores ◽  
Exclusion Zone ◽  
Animal Group ◽  
Large Predators

Large Carnivores of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Exclusion Zone During nine years observations on large carnivores of Exclusion Zone have been carried out. Species composition and the number of large predators in the Exclusion Zone correspond to the regional conditions. The presence of bears and permanent stay of the lynx in the Exclusion Zone was confirmed. Six wolf packs were counted. The use of an anthropogenically transformed areas, the shift of the daily regime of activity and characteristics of the diet are the most specific features of this animal group.

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