Accumulation of ⁶⁰Co, ⁹⁰Sr, ¹³⁷Cs, ²³⁸U and transuranic elements by berry shrubs in forest ecosystems of the Yenisei river basin

Institute of Biophysics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia

e-mail: dementyev@gmail.com

Abstract

The study investigates accumulation of radionuclides in 5 species of berry shrubs in forests of the Yenisei River basin (the Krasnoyarskii Krai, Russia). Activity concentrations of ⁶⁰Co, ⁹⁰Sr, ¹³⁷Cs, ²³⁸U and transuranic elements in aboveground organs of the shrubs have been determined and their transfer factors calculated. Analysis of the calculated TFs shows that shrubs concentrate ⁹⁰Sr more effectively than other study elements (TF = 0.25–1.9). The highest concentration of ¹³⁷Cs is recorded in the berries and leaves of Ribes nigrumand Rubus idaeus. For these species, the range of ¹³⁷Cs TFs (0.006–0.027) overlaps with the range of ²³⁸U TFs (0.004-0.018). For the aboveground parts of Ribes nigrum, TFs for transuranic radionuclides (0.01–0.056) are similar to or higher than the TFs for ²³⁸U and ¹³⁷Cs.