12.4 Conclusions
Monitoring by the NERSN and Environmental Radioactivity Laboratory (ERL) -
Bucharest, Afumati of the environmental radioactivity of Romanian territory was
presented for the period 1977–1994. Monitoring radioactivity in the environment is
of utmost importance in the emergency situations. NERSN was created to measure,
to alert and to inform the competent authorities regarding an eventual radioactive
pollution. This Romanian network contributed to obtain important information
regarding the dynamics of levels of gamma emitting radionuclides in environmental samples such as aerosol, deposition, soil, surface water and Black Sea water,
following the contamination of the environment by nuclear tests and by the
Chernobyl accident. Data time series obtained as results of monitoring programmes
can serve sometimes to extract information or parameters useful for environmental
modelling and dose assessment. The quality of primary data is important for all
these applications.
The results obtained for the time dependence of the resuspension factor, based
on a large dataset resulting from measurements done in ERL on samples collected
by the NERSN Romanian national network, were compared with those from other
European countries. They show, in a first approximation, are remarcably uniform,
independent of the distance from Chernobyl, soil characteristics, climatological
conditions etc.
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.
References
Aarkrog A, Lippert I (1967) Europium-155 in debris from nuclear weapons. Science 157:3787
Balashazy I, Szabadyne-Szendre G, Lorinc M, Zombori P (1987) Gamma spectrometric examination of hot particles emitted during the Chernobyl accident. Central Research Institute for
Physics, KFKI report, Budapest 1987-24K
Bologa A, Osvath I, Dovlete C (1991) Gamma radioactivity along the Romanian Coast of the
Black Sea during 1983–1988. St Cerc Fiz 43(1–2):53–66
Clauset A, Shalizi CR, Newman MEJ (2009) Power law distributions in empirical data – 2009.
SIAM Rev 51(4):661–703. doi:10.1137/07071011
Cuculeanu V, Dovlete C, Sonoc S, Alexandrescu M (1983) Study on the radioactivity of atmospheric deposition during 1980–1981. Rev Roum Phys 27(2):167–174
Devell L (1987) Nuclide composition of hot particles. Hot particles from Chernobyl fallout. In:
von Philipsborn H, Steinhausler F (eds) Proceedings of an international workshop held in
12 Pre and Post-Chernobyl Environmental Radioactivity in Romania: a Review
217
Monitoring by the NERSN and Environmental Radioactivity Laboratory (ERL) -
Bucharest, Afumati of the environmental radioactivity of Romanian territory was
presented for the period 1977–1994. Monitoring radioactivity in the environment is
of utmost importance in the emergency situations. NERSN was created to measure,
to alert and to inform the competent authorities regarding an eventual radioactive
pollution. This Romanian network contributed to obtain important information
regarding the dynamics of levels of gamma emitting radionuclides in environmental samples such as aerosol, deposition, soil, surface water and Black Sea water,
following the contamination of the environment by nuclear tests and by the
Chernobyl accident. Data time series obtained as results of monitoring programmes
can serve sometimes to extract information or parameters useful for environmental
modelling and dose assessment. The quality of primary data is important for all
these applications.
The results obtained for the time dependence of the resuspension factor, based
on a large dataset resulting from measurements done in ERL on samples collected
by the NERSN Romanian national network, were compared with those from other
European countries. They show, in a first approximation, are remarcably uniform,
independent of the distance from Chernobyl, soil characteristics, climatological
conditions etc.
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.
References
Aarkrog A, Lippert I (1967) Europium-155 in debris from nuclear weapons. Science 157:3787
Balashazy I, Szabadyne-Szendre G, Lorinc M, Zombori P (1987) Gamma spectrometric examination of hot particles emitted during the Chernobyl accident. Central Research Institute for
Physics, KFKI report, Budapest 1987-24K
Bologa A, Osvath I, Dovlete C (1991) Gamma radioactivity along the Romanian Coast of the
Black Sea during 1983–1988. St Cerc Fiz 43(1–2):53–66
Clauset A, Shalizi CR, Newman MEJ (2009) Power law distributions in empirical data – 2009.
SIAM Rev 51(4):661–703. doi:10.1137/07071011
Cuculeanu V, Dovlete C, Sonoc S, Alexandrescu M (1983) Study on the radioactivity of atmospheric deposition during 1980–1981. Rev Roum Phys 27(2):167–174
Devell L (1987) Nuclide composition of hot particles. Hot particles from Chernobyl fallout. In:
von Philipsborn H, Steinhausler F (eds) Proceedings of an international workshop held in
12 Pre and Post-Chernobyl Environmental Radioactivity in Romania: a Review
217