Europe-Wide Atmospheric Radionuclide Dispersion by Unprecedented Wildfires in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, April 2020

Olivier Masson; Olexander Romanenko; Olivier Saunier; Serhii Kirieiev; Valentin Protsak; Gennady Laptev; Oleg Voitsekhovych; Vanessa Durand; Frédéric Coppin; Georg Steinhauser; Aanne de Vismes Ott; Philippe Renaud; Damien Didier; Béatrice Boulet; Maxime Morin; Johan Camps; Olga Belyaeva; Axel Dalheimer; Konstantinos Eleftheriadis; Catalina Gascó Leonarte; Alexandra Loannidou; Krzysztof Isajenko; Tero Karhunen; Johan Kastlander; Cristian Katzlberger; Renata Kierepko; Gert Jan Knetsch; Julia Kövendiné-Kónyi; Herzy Wojciech Mieteslki; Michael Mirsch; Bredo Møller; Jelena Krneta Nikolic; Pavel Peter Povinec; Rosella Rusconi; Vladimir Samsonov; Ivan Sýkora; Elena Simion; Philipp Steinmann; Stylianos Stoulos; José Antonio Suarez-Navarro; Herbert Wershofen; Daniel Zapata-Garcia; Benjamin Zorko

doi:10.1021/acs.est.1c03314

Europe-Wide Atmospheric Radionuclide Dispersion by Unprecedented Wildfires in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, April 2020

Olivier Masson, Olexander Romanenko, Olivier Saunier, Serhii Kirieiev, Valentin Protsak, Gennady Laptev, Oleg Voitsekhovych, Vanessa Durand, Frédéric Coppin, Georg Steinhauser, Aanne de Vismes Ott, Philippe Renaud, Damien Didier, Béatrice Boulet, Maxime Morin, Johan Camps, Olga Belyaeva, Axel Dalheimer, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Catalina Gascó LeonarteAlexandra Loannidou, Krzysztof Isajenko, Tero Karhunen, Johan Kastlander, Cristian Katzlberger, Renata Kierepko, Gert Jan Knetsch, Julia Kövendiné-Kónyi, Herzy Wojciech Mieteslki, Michael Mirsch, Bredo Møller, Jelena Krneta Nikolic, Pavel Peter Povinec, Rosella Rusconi, Vladimir Samsonov, Ivan Sýkora, Elena Simion, Philipp Steinmann, Stylianos Stoulos, José Antonio Suarez-Navarro, Herbert Wershofen, Daniel Zapata-Garcia, Benjamin Zorko

Research output › peer-review

Abstract

From early April 2020, wildfires raged in the highly contaminated areas around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (CNPP), Ukraine. For about 4 weeks, the fires spread around and into the Chernobyl exclusion zone (CEZ) and came within a few kilometers of both the CNPP and radioactive waste storage facilities. Wildfires occurred on several occasions throughout the month of April. They were extinguished, but weather conditions and the spread of fires by airborne embers and smoldering fires led to new fires starting at different locations of the CEZ. The forest fires were only completely under control at the beginning of May, thanks to the tireless and incessant work of the firefighters and a period of sustained precipitation. In total, 0.7–1.2 TBq 137Cs were released into the atmosphere. Smoke plumes partly spread south and west and contributed to the detection of airborne 137Cs over the Ukrainian territory and as far away as Western Europe. The increase in airborne 137Cs ranged from several hundred μBq·m–3 in northern Ukraine to trace levels of a few μBq·m–3 or even within the usual background level in other European countries. Dispersion modeling determined the plume arrival time and was helpful in the assessment of the possible increase in airborne 137Cs concentrations in Europe. Detections of airborne 90Sr (emission estimate 345–612 GBq) and Pu (up to 75 GBq, mostly 241Pu) were reported from the CEZ. Americium-241 represented only 1.4% of the total source term corresponding to the studied anthropogenic radionuclides but would have contributed up to 80% of the inhalation dose.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	13834-13848
Number of pages	15
Journal	Environmental Science & Technology
Volume	55
Issue number	20
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c03314
State	Published - 29 Sep 2021

Access to Document

10.1021/acs.est.1c03314License: Unspecified

Cite this

Masson, O., Romanenko, O., Saunier, O., Kirieiev, S., Protsak, V., Laptev, G., Voitsekhovych, O., Durand, V., Coppin, F., Steinhauser, G., de Vismes Ott, A., Renaud, P., Didier, D., Boulet, B., Morin, M., Camps, J., Belyaeva, O., Dalheimer, A., Eleftheriadis, K., ... Zorko, B. (2021). Europe-Wide Atmospheric Radionuclide Dispersion by Unprecedented Wildfires in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, April 2020. Environmental Science & Technology, 55(20), 13834-13848. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c03314

@article{b7f4a1b5e5e14ce79371e5069bdbe1a3,

title = "Europe-Wide Atmospheric Radionuclide Dispersion by Unprecedented Wildfires in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, April 2020",

abstract = "From early April 2020, wildfires raged in the highly contaminated areas around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (CNPP), Ukraine. For about 4 weeks, the fires spread around and into the Chernobyl exclusion zone (CEZ) and came within a few kilometers of both the CNPP and radioactive waste storage facilities. Wildfires occurred on several occasions throughout the month of April. They were extinguished, but weather conditions and the spread of fires by airborne embers and smoldering fires led to new fires starting at different locations of the CEZ. The forest fires were only completely under control at the beginning of May, thanks to the tireless and incessant work of the firefighters and a period of sustained precipitation. In total, 0.7–1.2 TBq 137Cs were released into the atmosphere. Smoke plumes partly spread south and west and contributed to the detection of airborne 137Cs over the Ukrainian territory and as far away as Western Europe. The increase in airborne 137Cs ranged from several hundred μBq·m–3 in northern Ukraine to trace levels of a few μBq·m–3 or even within the usual background level in other European countries. Dispersion modeling determined the plume arrival time and was helpful in the assessment of the possible increase in airborne 137Cs concentrations in Europe. Detections of airborne 90Sr (emission estimate 345–612 GBq) and Pu (up to 75 GBq, mostly 241Pu) were reported from the CEZ. Americium-241 represented only 1.4% of the total source term corresponding to the studied anthropogenic radionuclides but would have contributed up to 80% of the inhalation dose.",

keywords = "Wildfire, Radionuclides, Chernobyl, Firefighters, Dose assessment",

author = "Olivier Masson and Olexander Romanenko and Olivier Saunier and Serhii Kirieiev and Valentin Protsak and Gennady Laptev and Oleg Voitsekhovych and Vanessa Durand and Fr{\'e}d{\'e}ric Coppin and Georg Steinhauser and {de Vismes Ott}, Aanne and Philippe Renaud and Damien Didier and B{\'e}atrice Boulet and Maxime Morin and Johan Camps and Olga Belyaeva and Axel Dalheimer and Konstantinos Eleftheriadis and {Gasc{\'o} Leonarte}, Catalina and Alexandra Loannidou and Krzysztof Isajenko and Tero Karhunen and Johan Kastlander and Cristian Katzlberger and Renata Kierepko and Knetsch, {Gert Jan} and Julia K{\"o}vendin{\'e}-K{\'o}nyi and {Wojciech Mieteslki}, Herzy and Michael Mirsch and Bredo M{\o}ller and {Krneta Nikolic}, Jelena and Povinec, {Pavel Peter} and Rosella Rusconi and Vladimir Samsonov and Ivan S{\'y}kora and Elena Simion and Philipp Steinmann and Stylianos Stoulos and Suarez-Navarro, {Jos{\'e} Antonio} and Herbert Wershofen and Daniel Zapata-Garcia and Benjamin Zorko",

note = "Score=10",

year = "2021",

month = sep,

day = "29",

doi = "10.1021/acs.est.1c03314",

language = "English",

volume = "55",

pages = "13834--13848",

journal = "Environmental Science & Technology",

issn = "0013-936X",

publisher = "ACS - American Chemical Society",

number = "20",

}

Masson, O, Romanenko, O, Saunier, O, Kirieiev, S, Protsak, V, Laptev, G, Voitsekhovych, O, Durand, V, Coppin, F, Steinhauser, G, de Vismes Ott, A, Renaud, P, Didier, D, Boulet, B, Morin, M, Camps, J, Belyaeva, O, Dalheimer, A, Eleftheriadis, K, Gascó Leonarte, C, Loannidou, A, Isajenko, K, Karhunen, T, Kastlander, J, Katzlberger, C, Kierepko, R, Knetsch, GJ, Kövendiné-Kónyi, J, Wojciech Mieteslki, H, Mirsch, M, Møller, B, Krneta Nikolic, J, Povinec, PP, Rusconi, R, Samsonov, V, Sýkora, I, Simion, E, Steinmann, P, Stoulos, S, Suarez-Navarro, JA, Wershofen, H, Zapata-Garcia, D & Zorko, B 2021, 'Europe-Wide Atmospheric Radionuclide Dispersion by Unprecedented Wildfires in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, April 2020', Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 55, no. 20, pp. 13834-13848. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c03314

TY - JOUR

T1 - Europe-Wide Atmospheric Radionuclide Dispersion by Unprecedented Wildfires in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, April 2020

AU - Masson, Olivier

AU - Romanenko, Olexander

AU - Saunier, Olivier

AU - Kirieiev, Serhii

AU - Protsak, Valentin

AU - Laptev, Gennady

AU - Voitsekhovych, Oleg

AU - Durand, Vanessa

AU - Coppin, Frédéric

AU - Steinhauser, Georg

AU - de Vismes Ott, Aanne

AU - Renaud, Philippe

AU - Didier, Damien

AU - Boulet, Béatrice

AU - Morin, Maxime

AU - Camps, Johan

AU - Belyaeva, Olga

AU - Dalheimer, Axel

AU - Eleftheriadis, Konstantinos

AU - Gascó Leonarte, Catalina

AU - Loannidou, Alexandra

AU - Isajenko, Krzysztof

AU - Karhunen, Tero

AU - Kastlander, Johan

AU - Katzlberger, Cristian

AU - Kierepko, Renata

AU - Knetsch, Gert Jan

AU - Kövendiné-Kónyi, Julia

AU - Wojciech Mieteslki, Herzy

AU - Mirsch, Michael

AU - Møller, Bredo

AU - Krneta Nikolic, Jelena

AU - Povinec, Pavel Peter

AU - Rusconi, Rosella

AU - Samsonov, Vladimir

AU - Sýkora, Ivan

AU - Simion, Elena

AU - Steinmann, Philipp

AU - Stoulos, Stylianos

AU - Suarez-Navarro, José Antonio

AU - Wershofen, Herbert

AU - Zapata-Garcia, Daniel

AU - Zorko, Benjamin

N1 - Score=10

PY - 2021/9/29

Y1 - 2021/9/29

N2 - From early April 2020, wildfires raged in the highly contaminated areas around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (CNPP), Ukraine. For about 4 weeks, the fires spread around and into the Chernobyl exclusion zone (CEZ) and came within a few kilometers of both the CNPP and radioactive waste storage facilities. Wildfires occurred on several occasions throughout the month of April. They were extinguished, but weather conditions and the spread of fires by airborne embers and smoldering fires led to new fires starting at different locations of the CEZ. The forest fires were only completely under control at the beginning of May, thanks to the tireless and incessant work of the firefighters and a period of sustained precipitation. In total, 0.7–1.2 TBq 137Cs were released into the atmosphere. Smoke plumes partly spread south and west and contributed to the detection of airborne 137Cs over the Ukrainian territory and as far away as Western Europe. The increase in airborne 137Cs ranged from several hundred μBq·m–3 in northern Ukraine to trace levels of a few μBq·m–3 or even within the usual background level in other European countries. Dispersion modeling determined the plume arrival time and was helpful in the assessment of the possible increase in airborne 137Cs concentrations in Europe. Detections of airborne 90Sr (emission estimate 345–612 GBq) and Pu (up to 75 GBq, mostly 241Pu) were reported from the CEZ. Americium-241 represented only 1.4% of the total source term corresponding to the studied anthropogenic radionuclides but would have contributed up to 80% of the inhalation dose.

AB - From early April 2020, wildfires raged in the highly contaminated areas around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (CNPP), Ukraine. For about 4 weeks, the fires spread around and into the Chernobyl exclusion zone (CEZ) and came within a few kilometers of both the CNPP and radioactive waste storage facilities. Wildfires occurred on several occasions throughout the month of April. They were extinguished, but weather conditions and the spread of fires by airborne embers and smoldering fires led to new fires starting at different locations of the CEZ. The forest fires were only completely under control at the beginning of May, thanks to the tireless and incessant work of the firefighters and a period of sustained precipitation. In total, 0.7–1.2 TBq 137Cs were released into the atmosphere. Smoke plumes partly spread south and west and contributed to the detection of airborne 137Cs over the Ukrainian territory and as far away as Western Europe. The increase in airborne 137Cs ranged from several hundred μBq·m–3 in northern Ukraine to trace levels of a few μBq·m–3 or even within the usual background level in other European countries. Dispersion modeling determined the plume arrival time and was helpful in the assessment of the possible increase in airborne 137Cs concentrations in Europe. Detections of airborne 90Sr (emission estimate 345–612 GBq) and Pu (up to 75 GBq, mostly 241Pu) were reported from the CEZ. Americium-241 represented only 1.4% of the total source term corresponding to the studied anthropogenic radionuclides but would have contributed up to 80% of the inhalation dose.

KW - Wildfire

KW - Radionuclides

KW - Chernobyl

KW - Firefighters

KW - Dose assessment

UR - https://ecm.sckcen.be/OTCS/llisapi.dll/open/46066748

U2 - 10.1021/acs.est.1c03314

DO - 10.1021/acs.est.1c03314

M3 - Article

SN - 0013-936X

VL - 55

SP - 13834

EP - 13848

JO - Environmental Science & Technology

JF - Environmental Science & Technology

IS - 20

ER -