Review of historical monitoring data on Techa River contamination

Journal Article · Tue Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1999 · Health Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1097/00004032-199906000-00003· OSTI ID:6352950

Vorobiova, M I; Degteva, M O; Burmistrov, D S; Safronova, N G; Kozheurov, V P ^[1]; Anspaugh, L R ^[2]; Napier, B A ^[3]

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1. Urals Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Chelyabinsk (Russian Federation)
2. Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)
3. Pacific Northwest National Lab., Richland, WA (United States)

The Mayak Production Association was the first Russian site for the production and separation of plutonium. The extensive increase in plutonium production during 1948--1955, as well as the absence of reliable waste-management technology, resulted in significant releases of liquid radioactive effluent into the rather small Techa River. This resulted in chronic external and internal exposure of about 30,000 residents of riverside communities; these residents from the cohort of an epidemiologic investigation. Analysis of the available historical monitoring data indicates that the following reliable data sets can be used for reconstruction of doses received during the early periods of operation of the Mayak Production Association: temporal pattern of specific beta activity of river water for several sites in the upper Techa region since July 1951; average annual values of specific beta activity of river water and bottom sediments as a function of downstream distance for the whole river since 1951; external gamma-exposure rates near the shoreline as a function of downstream distance for the whole Techa River since 1952; and external gamma-exposure rate as a function of distance from the shoreline for several sites in the upper and middle Techa since 1951.

• OSTI ID: 6352950
• Journal Information: Health Physics, Journal Name: Health Physics Vol. 76:6; ISSN HLTPAO; ISSN 0017-9078
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY
ACTINIDES
ARMENIA
ASIA
AZERBAIJAN
BELARUS
CONTAMINATION
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
DOSES
EASTERN EUROPE
ELEMENTS
ESTONIA
EUROPE
KAZAKHSTAN
KYRGYZSTAN
LATVIA
LITHUANIA
METALS
MOLDOVA
MONITORING
PLUTONIUM
RADIATION DOSES
RADIATION MONITORING
REPUBLIC OF GEORGIA
RIVERS
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
SURFACE WATERS
TAJIKISTAN
TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS
TURKMENISTAN
UKRAINE
UZBEKISTAN