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

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.

Latent variable modeling of gamma-ray background in repeated measurements.

We propose a novel approach for background subtraction in repeated gamma-ray spectrometric measurements. This entirely data-driven method eliminates the need for Monte Carlo detector simulation. To accomplish this, we utilized the framework of Latent Variable Modeling, incorporating various matrix factorization techniques and artificial neural networks. Subsequently, we applied this method to estimate radionuclide activity through spectrum unmixing. Significant improvements in sensitivity, surpassing traditional methods, were observed for the test case scenario of aerosol filter measurements.

Low Radon Cleanroom for Underground Laboratories.

Aim of a low radon cleanroom technology is to minimize at the same time radon, radon decay products concentration and aerosol concentration and to minimize deposition of radon decay products on the surfaces. The technology placed in a deep underground laboratory such as LSM Modane with suppressed muon flux and shielded against external gamma radiation and neutrons provides "Zero dose" space for basic research in radiobiology (validity of the LNT hypothesis for very low doses) and for the fabrication of nanoelectronic circuits to avoid undesirable "single event effects." Two prototypes of a low radon cleanroom were built with the aim to achieve radon concentration lower than 100 mBq·m3 in an interior space where only radon-free air is delivered into the cleanroom technology from a radon trapping facility. The first prototype, built in the laboratory of SÚRO Prague, is equipped with a standard filter-ventilation system on the top of the cleanroom with improved leakproofness. In an experiment, radon concentration of some 50 mBq·m-3 was achieved with the filter-ventilation system switched out. However, it was not possible to seal the system of pipes and fans against negative-pressure air leakage into the cleanroom during a high volume ventilation with the rate of 3,500 m3·h-1. From that reason more sophisticated second prototype of the cleanroom designed in the LSM Modane uses the filter-ventilation system which is completely covered in a further improved leakproof sealed metal box placed on the top of the cleanroom. Preliminary experiments carried out in the SÚRO cleanroom with a high radon activity injection and intensive filter-ventilation (corresponding to room filtration rate every 13 s) showed extremely low radon decay products equilibrium factor of 0.002, the majority of activity being in the form of an "unattached fraction" (nanoparticles) of 218Po and a surface deposition rate of some 0.05 mBq·m-2·s-1 per Bq·m-3. Radon exhalation from persons may affect the radon concentration in a low radon interior space. Balance and time course of the radon exhalation from the human body is therefore discussed for persons that are about to enter the cleanroom.

Development of an autonomous station for measurements of artificial gamma activity in surface water bodies.

This paper reports on the structure of the autonomous station for monitoring artificial gamma activity in surface water bodies for the purposes of emergency preparedness of the Czech Republic. A simple design based on the NaI(Tl) submersible detector powered by a combined solar and wind source has been employed. Data transfer is provided by a satellite connection. The detection capabilities of the device have been tested for various unfavourable conditions, and the detection limits have been lowered by using the noise adjustment singular value decomposition (NASVD) method. The detection capabilities of the device fulfil the legal requirements for emergency monitoring, and are almost equal to the detection capabilities of other available devices with a more complicated and less versatile structure.

OPTIMIZATION OF THE RADIOACTIVE AEROSOL SAMPLING AND MEASURING PROCEDURE WITH RESPECT TO RADON CONCENTRATION IN THE AIR.

High-volume aerosol samplers combined with laboratory analysis using high-resolution gamma ray spectrometry allow determining artificial radionuclides in the atmosphere at sub µBq/m3 levels. A major drawback of this procedure is a significant delay of the analysis result after any potential radioactive contamination deposition on the aerosol filter. Within the scope of the HAMRAD project, an autonomous device was developed in order to increase the sampling and measuring frequency. This approach yields higher detection limits (minimum detectable activity concentration [MDAC]) due to the deposited activity of radon decay products on the filter. In order to quantify the radon effect, a simple mathematical model was developed to predict MDAC for the particular radionuclide of interest for the given background conditions. It was found that MDAC can vary by a factor of ~2 for typical 'radon' conditions (~10 Bq/m3) at SÚRO Prague and by a factor up to 5 for high radon concentration (100 Bq/m3).

Low-level atmospheric radioactivity measurement using a NaI(Tl) spectrometer during aerosol sampling.

In order to increase the early warning ability of the radiation monitoring network of the Czech republic, a high-volume aerosol sampler was upgraded with a NaI(Tl) probe placed directly above the aerosol filter. The paper demonstrates the possibility of using a method based on principal component regression to accurately subtract the complicated natural background caused by radon decay products. This approach yielded minimum detectable activities of 8mBq/m3, 3mBq/m3 and 7mBq/m3 for 131I, 134Cs and 137Cs, respectively, after 24h of sampling.

Monitoring radionuclides in the atmosphere over the Czech Republic after the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident.

This paper presents the results of atmospheric radioactivity monitoring over the Czech Republic, as obtained by the Radiation Monitoring Network, following the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. Maximum values for (131)I were 5.6 mBq m(-3) in aerosol form and 13 mBq m(-3) in gaseous form. The maximum values for (134)Cs and (137)Cs were 0.64 and 0.72 mBq m(-3), respectively. The estimated effective half-time for removing the activity from the atmosphere was 6-7 d and 3.5 d for caesium and iodine, respectively. The gaseous-to-total activity ratios of (131)I ranged between 0.3 and 0.9, with an arithmetic mean value of 0.77. The mean value for the (134)Cs/(137)Cs ratios was close to 1.0. The effective inhalation dose due to the accident for an adult living in the Czech Republic was estimated at <4 × 10(-5) mSv, out of which the proportion of (131)I was 88%.