Radioactive contamination as a type of soil degradation |
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| Authors: | R M Aleksakhin |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Environment Sciences, National University "Kyiv Mogila Academy", Kyiv, Ukraine;(2) Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New Yor, USA |
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| Abstract: | Radioactive contamination of soils is considered as a separate type of degradation decreasing their fertility. Natural soil
radioactivity is described. The main sources of technogenic radionuclides for the soil cover (global radionuclide fallout
after nuclear weapons tests, the operation of nuclear facilities, radioactive waste) were shown. The phytomelioration of soils
containing radionuclides was assessed. Issues were analyzed related to the remediation of agricultural soils after radiation
accidents associated with the release of radionuclides into the environment: the discharge of radionuclides into the Techa
River (1949–1953) and the Kyshtym (Southern Urals, 1957), Windscale (United Kingdom, 1957), and Chernobyl (Ukraine, 1986)
accidents. The hazard of radioactive contamination of the soil-plant cover was assessed from two viewpoints: the anthropocentric
(sanitary-hygienic) principle, when the degree of radioactive contamination of agricultural crops and the conformity of their
radionuclide content to radiological standards are taken into account (maximum permissible concentrations of radionuclides),
on the one hand, and the ecocentric (biospheric, environmental) approach, when the consequences of the irradiation of soil
biota and living terrestrial organisms caused by radionuclides present in the soils are taken into account (conformity to
the radiation standards and permissible radiation doses), on the other hand. For some technogenic radionuclides, the use of
these principles for assessing the hazard of radioactive contamination of the soil was exemplified, which is of importance
for determining the rehabilitation strategy of agricultural lands contaminated with radionuclides. |
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