Chernobyl nuclear accident hydrologic analysis and emergency evaluation of radionuclide distributions in the Dnieper River, Ukraine, during the 1993 summer flood

Technical Report · Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10168428· OSTI ID:10168428

Voitsekhovitch, O V ^[1]; Zheleznyak, M J ^[2]; Onishi, Y ^[3]

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1. Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Inst., Kiev (Ukraine)
2. Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kiev (Ukraine). Cybernetics Center
3. Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States)

This report describes joint activities of Program 7.1.F, ``Radionuclide Transport in Water and Soil Systems,`` of the USA/Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Joint Coordinating Committee of Civilian Nuclear Reactor Safety to study the hydrogeochemical behavior of radionuclides released to the Pripyat and Dnieper rivers from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. These joint activities included rapid evaluation of radionuclide distributions in the Pripyat and Dnieper river system and field data evaluation and modeling for the 1993 summer flood to assist the Ukrainian government in their emergency response during the flood. In July-August 1993, heavy rainfall over the Pripyat River Catchment in Belarus and Ukraine caused severe flooding, significantly raising {sup 90}Sr concentrations in the river. Near the Chernobyl area, the maximum {sup 90}Sr concentration in the Pripyat River reached 20--25 PCi/L in early August; near the Pripyat River mouth, the concentration rose to 35 pCi/L. The peak {sup 90}Sr concentration in the Kiev Reservoir (a major source of drinking water for Kiev) was 12 pCi/L. Based on these measured radionuclide levels, additional modeling results and the assumption of water purification in a water treatment station, {sup 90}Sr concentrations in Kiev`s drinking water were estimated to be less than 8 pCi/L. Unlike {sup 90}Sr, {sup 137}Cs concentrations in the Pripyat River during the flood did not rise significantly to the pre-flood levels. Estimated {sup 137}Cs concentrations for the Kiev drinking water were two orders of magnitude lower than the drinking water standard of 500 pCi/L for {sup 137}Cs.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 10168428
• Report Number(s): PNL-9980; ON: DE94015596; TRN: 94:014723
• Resource Relation: Other Information: PBD: Jun 1994
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CHERNOBYLSK-4 REACTOR
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
UKRAINE
FALLOUT
DNIEPER RIVER
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
PRIPET RIVER
STRONTIUM 90
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
CESIUM 137
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
220502
210300
570100
540330
RADIOACTIVE EFFLUENTS
POWER REACTORS
NONBREEDING
GRAPHITE MODERATED
REAL ACCIDENTS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS MONITORING AND TRANSPORT