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Diversity in Coastal Marine Sciences pp 203–220Cite as

Pre and Post-Chernobyl Environmental Radioactivity in Romania: a Review

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Part of the book series: Coastal Research Library ((COASTALRL,volume 23))

Abstract

The influence of the Chernobyl accident on environmental radioactivity in Romania (period 1986–1994) was analysed mainly on the basis of gamma spectrometric measurements of environmental samples (atmospheric aerosol and deposition, soil, surface water, Danube and Black Sea water, sediment and biota).

As part of the Romanian environmental radioactivity monitoring programme, environmental samples were systematically collected at the sampling stations of the National Environmental Radioactivity Surveillance Network (NERSN) and analysed for gamma emitting radionuclides at the Environmental Radioactivity Laboratory, Bucharest-Afumati, for gamma spectrometric analyses.

All stations followed a unitary programme and methodology to collect and prepare samples, performing prompt gross beta measurements.

Chernobyl fallout space-time patterns, radionuclide concentration ratios and deposition velocities were determined. The resuspension process was studied and a time dependence model of resuspension factors for 137Cs was proposed. Hot particles were identified in some of the deposition samples. The dynamics of 137Cs in Romanian rivers, Danube and the Black Sea is presented.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the relentless work of NERSN staff, who for over five decades have been ensuring the quality of samples at each of the network stations. The excellent long-term collaboration with Dr Alexandru Bologa and his team for the Black Sea monitoring programme coordinated by the Romanian Marine Research Institute is highly appreciated. The good collaboration with the researchers from the Institute of Atomic Physics in Bucharest and Institutes belonging to Health Ministry (Bucharest, Iasi, Cluj-Napoca and Timisoara) is acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Radioactivity Laboratory, Bucharest-Afumati, Institute of Environmental Research and Engineering, Bucharest-Afumaţi, Romania

    Constantin Dovlete, Iolanda Osvath & Sandu Sonoc

  2. Private Consultant, Eze-sur-Mer, France

    Constantin Dovlete

  3. Environment Laboratories, International Atomic Energy Agency, Monaco, Monaco

    Iolanda Osvath

  4. University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Sandu Sonoc

Authors
  1. Constantin Dovlete
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  2. Iolanda Osvath
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  3. Sandu Sonoc
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Correspondence to Constantin Dovlete .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Coastal Education & Research Foundation (CERF), Fletcher, North Carolina, USA

    Charles W. Finkl

  2. Coastal Education & Research Foundation (CERF), Coconut Creek, Florida, USA

    Christopher Makowski

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Dovlete, C., Osvath, I., Sonoc, S. (2018). Pre and Post-Chernobyl Environmental Radioactivity in Romania: a Review. In: Finkl, C., Makowski, C. (eds) Diversity in Coastal Marine Sciences. Coastal Research Library, vol 23. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57577-3_12

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