CURRENT RADIOLOGICAL STATUS OF CONTAMINATED MEADOWS AND PASTURES AND ASSESSMENT OF THE POSSIBILITY OF THEIR RETURN TO USE
Authors: Khomutinin Y. V. , Kosarchuk O. V. , Levchuk S. Ye. , Pavlyuchenko V. V. , Kashparov V. O. 
Published: May 2024

Meadows and pastures are the fodder base for milk and meat production. The rehabilitation and return to economic use of the radionuclide-contaminated meadows and pastures is an important and urgent national economic task.

The criterion of returning radionuclide-contaminated meadows and pastures to economic use may be individual doses to residents who consume milk and meat produced on these lands. Values that determine the doses are the terrestrial density of soil contamination and permissible levels of radionuclides in food products (PL-2006).

Considering abandoned agricultural lands, it is necessary to note the time that passed after the accident. The contamination of the territory by 137Cs and 90Sr decreased in more than 2 times due to radioactive decay only. The decreasing due to radioactive decay and self-remediation processes (fixation of radionuclides by soil, their redistribution in the root layer of the soil, etc.) resulted in declining of radioactive contamination of products. This allows us to consider the issue of returning reclaimed lands to use in accordance with the current radiological criteria and existing legal acts. Agricultural lands are a territorial resource and the main means of agricultural production, therefore the rehabilitation of the lands will contribute to the development of both individual producers and settlements as a whole.

After the Chornobyl accident, in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On the Legal Regime of the Territory Exposed to Radioactive Contamination Due the Chornobyl Catastrophe", the territory exposed to radioactive contamination had been divided into zones.

However, the belonging of the lands to a zone does not guarantee that the products produced there will meet the requirements of PL-2006. Therefore, in 1998, taking into account the type of soil, the UIAR assessed the maximum permissible levels of soil contamination which ensure the fulfillment of the requirements of PL-2006 in terms of the content of 137Cs in produced products. However, in the 25 years that have passed since the establishment of these levels and the cesium transfer factors into plants have decreased significantly. Therefore, the values of the maximum permissible levels of soil contamination are conservative and their use leads to conservative conclusions.

The current radiological state of meadows and pastures contaminated with radionuclides and the possibility of returning them to use were assessed. It is shown that most of the considered abandoned lands actually belong to the third zone of radioactive contamination. Some of the lands belong to the second zone of radioactive contamination - radiation-hazardous lands. It was found that the restrictions set in the recommendations for conducting agriculture in the conditions of radioactive contamination for the production of milk and meat are very conservative. Assessment of the possibility of using contaminated meadows and pastures for milk and meat production requires more precise and targeted forecasting methods.