Migration of 137Cs and 90Sr radionuclides in the rural area of the Central Forest Steppe of Ukraine after the Chernobyl accident

Abstract

The territories of Bila Tserkva district, located in the north-eastern part of the right-bank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine, have been studied. This area is dominated by chernozems that are typically low-humus. In vegetable crops grown in Yosypivka and Tarasivka of Bila Tserkva district, which was exposed to radioactive contamination and is located in the southern part of Kyiv region, Central Forest-Steppe Ukraine, contamination of 137Cs and 90Sr were determined. The content of 137Cs and 90Sr in soils was studied, and the density of pollution of privately-owned vegetable plots in these villages was calculated. The transition coefficients of 137Cs and 90Sr radionuclides from the soil of typical chernozem into plants, in particular cucumbers, potatoes, onions, beets, carrots, tomatoes, and white cabbage, have been calculated and established, which makes it possible to calculate the transfer coefficients to vegetable crops to be grown in radioactively contaminated areas of the Central Forest-Steppe of Ukraine. Reducing 137Cs and 90Sr radionuclides from soil to vegetable crops is one of the leading agricultural production tasks on lands contaminated with radionuclides. These studies make it possible to elucidate the current state of migration of these radionuclides in the "soil-plant" link of agroecosystems of the Central Forest-Steppe of Ukraine for further forecasting.