Monitoring of radioactive contamination in Polish surface waters in 2012-2013

M Suplińska; M Kardaś; B Rubel; A Fulara; A Adamczyk

doi:10.1007/s10967-014-3728-3

Monitoring of radioactive contamination in Polish surface waters in 2012-2013

J Radioanal Nucl Chem. 2015;304(1):81-87. doi: 10.1007/s10967-014-3728-3. Epub 2014 Nov 2.

Authors

M Suplińska¹, M Kardaś¹, B Rubel¹, A Fulara¹, A Adamczyk¹

Affiliation

¹ Central Laboratory for Radiological Protection, 03-194 Warsaw, Poland.

Abstract

The ⁹⁰Sr and ¹³⁷Cs contamination in Polish surface waters has been monitoring since 1994. Surface water samples from six lakes and the Vistula and Oder Rivers were collected in spring and autumn 2012 and 2013. The mean ⁹⁰Sr and ¹³⁷Cs concentrations were 3.92 ± 0.40 and 4.49 ± 2.00 mBq L^-1, respectively. Correlations were identified between the radionuclide concentrations and meteorological conditions and the original fallout distribution from the Chernobyl disaster. The annual average radionuclide concentrations were not significantly different from the concentrations found between 1994 and 2011. The ¹³⁷Cs and ⁹⁰Sr concentrations have been decreasing only slowly.

Keywords: 137Cs; 90Sr; Contamination; Surface water.