Distributions of 137Cs and 90Sr activity concentrations in trunk of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in the Chernobyl zone

Abstract

Possibility of the economical utilization of forests in the radioactive contaminated areas depends on compliance of the radionuclide activity concentrations in wood with the hygiene norms or national standards that are established by the governments or regulators. Since such regulations consider wood as a whole, development of the sampling methods for assessment of compliance of wood to the norms or standards requires the adequate addressing the issues related to heterogeneity of the radionuclide distributions within the tree trunks. In this paper we present spatial distributions of the ⁹⁰Sr and ¹³⁷Cs activity concentrations in the trunk wood of mature Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) trees in the Chernobyl exclusion zone in the late stage (30 years) after the deposition. Four 52-53 year old model trees were sampled in the forest stand located in approximately 5 km from the accidental nuclear reactor. The radionuclide concentrations were measured in 156 wood samples collected from the wood disks cut off the tree trunks at the set of heights. To address variability of the tree sizes and radionuclide concentrations between the individual trees, we applied the corresponding relative indices enabling identification of the general patterns of the spatial distributions of ⁹⁰Sr and ¹³⁷Cs. We demonstrated significant differences in bioavailability and distribution trends between the studied radionuclides. ¹³⁷Cs is translocated to the younger parts of the tree trunk, while the ⁹⁰Sr concentrations are higher in heartwood and in senescing tissues, which is explained by the different chemical properties of Cs and Sr and by different physiological roles played in plant development by their chemical analogs and major plant nutrition elements, Ca and K respectively. In this reason, the principal distribution patterns of the studied radionuclides in the trunk wood do not significantly change with time, and the results of our study generally are in good agreement with those obtained in the earlier stage after the deposition. The above trends are clearly expressed in both radial and longitudinal directions and result in systematic deviation of the concentrations estimated based on core sampling from the average concentrations in the whole tree trunk.

Keywords: (137)Cs; (90)Sr; Chernobyl; Forest ecosystems; Radionuclide distribution; Wood.