View of THE STATE AND PROSPECTS FOR VITAL ACTIVITIES IN THE RADIOCONTAMINATED AREAS OF ZHYTOMYR POLISSYA

Oeconomia 5 (2) 2006,

55-62

THE STATE AND

PROSPECTS FOR VITALACTIVITIES

IN THE RADIOCONTAMINATED AREAS OF ZHYTOMYR

POLISSYA

Anton

S.

State Agroecological University in Zhytomyr, Ukraine

Abstract. The paper deals with the after-effccts or the radioactivc conta111ina1ion or Zhy-tomyr province. In 1986, Ukrainian government decided 10 divide the arca inio 4 zoncs: the restricted access zone, the zone or obligatory reselllemcnl, the zonc or the guarantccd voluntary resettlement and the zone of the strict radiological control. The papcr also anal y-ses the ecological and socio-economic situation in the region 20 ycars al"tcr the Tchcrnobyl disaster. Not all citizens agreed to be displaced and many or them come back. Nowadays. about 4.5 thousand people live in the province. The long-term lrends in the devclopmcnt of the economy and improvemenl of vital activitics conditions in Zhytomyr Polissya havc been determined.

Key words: Tchernobyl, radioactive conlamination, agriculturc, irradiation

PROBLEM FORMULATION

More than two decades have passed since the acciclent at the Tchcrnobyl nuci ·ar ro -wer plant which brought about one of the largest ecological disaster in the human history. The radionuclides releasecl from the reactor's unit 4 into the atmosphcrc covcrcd vast territories of Ukraine, Byelorussia, Russia and reachecl many European countries. The Tchernobyl accident has radically changecl the environment for a large segment or the population, essentially affected the clevelopment of many branches of the economy, resul -ted in the demographic situation change and clisrupted the lilcstylc ol"millions orpcoplc which had been formed for clecacles.

Ukraine became the epicenter of the clisaster. About 42 OOO sq. km of its territory was radiocontaminatecl. Zhytomyr provincc provecl to be one or the most afTcctecl ones, with 15.3 thousancl sq. km or 50.9% or its territory being contaminatecl lands. Over 700 human

Adres do korespondencji - Corrcsponding author: Anton S. Malynovsky. State Agroccological Univcrsity. Starij Boulevard 7. Zhytomyr. 10008 Ukrainc. c-mail: l.pavlo\skayal(1111ail.ru

56 A.S. Malynovskv

scttlcmcnts comprising one third or towns, 3 7% of urban type localities and 47. I% of

villagcs arc situated in the contaminated area.

Bcfore the accident the above areas of Zhytomyr Polissya played an important part in the provincc's cconomy. They accounted for 21.5% of the region's industrial production,

spccifically 40. 7% or lum ber, 46.1 % of chemical equipment, 57. 7% of china and glazed pottcry, 60.8% of farm machines and 93.0% of broken stone. Their share in agricultural production was as follows: grain 23.8%, potatoes 50.2%, fiber flax 58.6%, hops 68.0%, mcat 33.8%, milk 36.6%.

The radioactive contamination caused a severe ecological damage to the Polissya

en-vironment, resulted in the destruction of many biocenoses, restricted agricultural pro-duction, all this having long-term undesirable ecological and socio-psychological

effe-cts.

RESEARCH AIM AND METl-IODS

The aim has bcen to analyse the ecological and socio-economic state in the radiocon-tam inatcd areas of Zhytomyr Pol i ·sya and outline prospects for their development.

The mcthods of the resenrch envisaged have been: taking advantage of regulatory acts, statistical reports and monographs; a study and assessment of the situation directly in the enterpriscs in the province; sampling of substances and their laboratory ana lysis; measurcments takcn in the objects under study.

RESEARCl-ł RESULTS

The legislative dctermination or the !egal regime in the radioeontaminated area and 111c:1sures lor its assurancc are specifled in the law of Ukraine "On the !egal regime of the tcrritory contaminatcd as a result or the Tchernobyl accident" [On the lega I. .. 1991 ].

lt rcgulates the iss11cs rclatcd to the territory division into zones depending on the rate

or cxceeding the natura I pre-acciclcnt radionuclide level in the environment, landscape, gcochcmical characteristics or oils as well as their usage and protection regimes, living

:111cl ll'orking conditions or the population. economic and other activities. The boundaries

or spccif\c zones were formed by govcrnmental resolutions in 1991-1995, the rad ioeonta-111inatcd arcas or Zhytomyr province wcrc divided in to 4 zones:

I. Thc 30 km rcstricted access zonc (30 km average radiu· zone). The population was 1\:scttlcd l"rom it i11 1986.

11. The /OllC orobligatory rcsettlcmcnt (with contamination density of 137Cs > 15 Ci·knr'. ' 5:'\5 kl3q·m ':'"'Sr' 3 Ci·km '· > 111 kl3q-m ')1

•

Ili. rhc 1011c ol'thc g11ar:111tec I voluntary rcscttlement (the contamination density is ircs ·:'i I :'i Ci·km 2

• 185: 55_:- kl3q·111 2: '"1 r > 0.15-o-3 Ci·km '. 5.55-o-J J I kBq-m ').

nq ,1;111ds t"lir 131.:cqucn:I. u11i1 ut" r:1dio11uclidc dccay ra1e (per second). Ci s1ands for Curie cqual

IO;- (IJ3q. i.c . ."U· i ()111 _J1q.

The siale and prospecls for vital ac1ivi1ies.„ 57

IV. The zone of the strict radiological control (the contaminated densiry is 137_{Cs > J-c-5} Ci·km-2

, 37-c-185 kBq·m-2; 90Sr> 0.02-c-0.15 Ci·km-2, 0.74-c-5.55 kBq·m 2).

The restricted access zone covers 7 settlements (4 in Narodychy district and 3 in Ov-ruch district). In 2005, the population ofzones II, III, and IV amounted to 352 500. which is by 45000 person less than in 1986. The resettlement of the zone 11 has not bcen co m-plete. Sorne of inhabitants returned to their places shortly afrer the resettlement. othcrs are stili coming back. The zone comprises 63 settlements, ofwhich 36 are located in the Ovruch district, 4 in the Lugyny district, 2 in the Olevsk district, I in the Korosten district, and I in the Malyn district. The average num bers of the population in zone 11 in 2005 arc presented in table I.

Table I. The population numbers in the obligatory resellłement zonc, person Tabela I. Liczba ludności w streAe przymusowego wysiedlenia. osoby

Total in the In clistricts

Age groups

zone Korostcn Lugyny Malyn Naroclycl1i

Total population 4388 71 190 16 3740

of'which:

Chi I dren u n der 14 835 5 36 745

Teenagers ( 15-1 7) 115 2 5 102

Old-aged persons 1375 90 90 IO 1075

Source: author's calculation.

Żródlo: opracowanie wlasnc.

Ovruch ntl1~r 210 I (il

24 5

I 5

109 I

As the table I shows most people live in the Narodychi, Ovruch and Lugyny cłistricts, 3740 (2508 in the town ofNarodychi itselt), 21 O and 190 persons respectively. Somc or them receive neither ex terna I food supply nor mecłical service. Thesc pcoplc 's f'uturc wi 11

cłepend 011 the extent to which socio-psychological, medical, ecological and economic

aspects oftheir vital activities will be taken into account in the stratcgy of the rcvival and

cłeveloprnent of the racłio-contaminatecł areas.

lt is a wicłely known fact that resettling inevitably causes social and psychological tension which would be more harmful for human health than racłiological allcr-clTccts. According to many researchers the reselllement 5 to 15 years aflcr the accicłcnt is a mi

-stake. This policy must be thoroughly elaboratecł, for "the mcchanical" resettlement or people, especially nowacłays, is not effective. First, ecologically clean arcas may not be

consicłerecł fully safe. Annually, the province enterprises pollutc the environment wilh thousands tons of tox ie and chem ica I wastes, wh ich arc very hazarcłous to hu man hca I th. Second, migrants cło not make themselves at home in new placcs: thcy a1·c cłcprivccł or their native homes, usual Aora and fauna, their customs and habits cli ffcr from loca I oncs.

In acłcłition, the state is not always able to rencłer them an acłcquate financial support. Taking into consicłeration the fact !hat the racłioactivc contaminati n was not cłistri­ butecł evenly but in a spotty way, it might be rcasonablc to rcscttlc pcoplc at thcir will to

neighboring villages. some 3---4 km away f"rom thcir native placcs. if the cont<.11nination levels in new villages are permissiblc. This will help to evacłe the abovc-mcntionccl prob

-lems. There exists another peculiarity ofthis zone. i.e. selllements inhabitccl by I, 2 or 3.

58 A.S. Malvnovsky

somelimes by I O families. They are mainly people of advanced age. The best way out for them is thcir resettlement to zone's nearest and more populated localities (Narodychi, for example), with more families inhabiting, with developed social infrastructure and avai-lable housing. But in order to fulfill the above certain alterations to the present legislation should be made. The I egal status of some settlements should be changed from zone l l to zonc 111.

To our mind [Malynovsky et al. 2005] the rura! population would agree on the above provided the social benefits and guarantees mandatory for the population of zone l 1 are preserved in the reclassified areas. Relevant changes in the legislation should also allow to allocalc funds for the improvement of the people's life standard in Narodychi, Bazar, Siltsi etc, which belong to zone Il and these financial subsidies for the above purpose are not permittcd there. Undoubtedly all these changes ought to be processed with an active participation of the public, !ocal and central authorities and with an involvement of cor-responding rcsearch institutions.

The cxamination of houses and barns in the most contaminated resettled villages has shown thal ~-radiation levels do not exceed permissible values (see table 2).

Tabk 2. The va lues of" ~-flow in the buildings of sorne settlernents

Tabela 2. Wielkość promieniowania ~w budynkach w niektórych wsiach

l1111cr porch Kitchcn Living-room Store rooms

Sc11k111c111 particlcs· panicles· particlcs· particles·

·cm :!·min 1 _{·cm z.min} 1 _{·cm z.min} 1 _{cm z·min 1} l'oliskc -1-20 3-7 3-6 4-8 V. Klishchi 3-11 3-11 3-8 4-7 Shyshclivka ·>-7 10-5 10-5 12-5 1\I. 1vli11ky 5-10 9-8 9-5 13-7 So,;nj, ka 3-6 3--1 4 6-3 Stm 11) clrnc 3 3 -I 4 S)dOr) 3 -I 3 3-5 5-6 ~lakni' ka 5 6 6 4 Vystuptwychi 3 5 \-7 :1-5 3-8

Suurcc: authur"s c:ilcul:11io11. i.n.ldło: opr:1t:O\\ anie.: ,,·iasnt.:.

Barn particles· ·cm z.min 1 15-35 8-17 16-10 28-17 8-3 3 8-6 8 4-7

The di m.:rcncc bclwccn y-radiation of the bui ldings and ~-radiation flow from them arc 111i11or and arc within the limits of mea uring apparatus errors. The greatest difference bct\\'ccn y-and ~-radiation has been obscrved in thin wooclen barns for keeping livestock and storing hay and i· causcd by fluctuations in y-racliation rather than by radionuclide contctll in barn walls. Bcsidcs. ii has bccn c tablished that in particular construction ma-tcri:tls (brick. plaster. lloor and wali boards. farmyard fences) the 137_{Cs specific activity} range~ !"ro1n I O to JO Bq-kg 1. Hencc. one can conclucle that bu rial of abancloned struct u-rc~ i~ not urgcnt toda as the abovc objccts have much !ower surface contamination than the nonn~ sti1 ul:11cd for~-and y-racliation sources. Thus. they cannot be referred to as r:1dil1acti' c '' astcs. !"ór the surlacc flow or ~-paniclcs does not exceecl the value of 150 p:1rticlc~·mi11 1.rnt"2 _{(5· I O' Bq-111} 2_).

The siale and prospects for vital activities .. 59

The life quality of people in the radio-eontaminated areas is largely determined by the level of interna! and ex terna! radioaetive exposure. In 20 years si nec the Tehcrnobyl

aecident it has markedly deereased as a result of:

- natura! proeesses (radionuelide deeay, theirfixation and realloeation in environmcn

-tal objeets);

- eounter-measures aimed at lowering irradiation doses.

However, the irradiation is stili high. We have eondueted studies with the aim of"dctc r-mining the amount of the annual equivalent dose received by the population of" Polissya. The results of the investigations have shown that it was at the level of 1-5 mSv2 _{per ycar;}

75 % of the dose is due to the eonsumption of food produets and water, i.e. d11c to inter

-na! radioaetive exposure. Table 3 presents the data on the annual dose ealeulation for the

people living in the northern distriets of Zhytomyr provinee on the bas is of the eonsumer basket and the determed speeial radioaetivity of food produets.

As it is seen in the table 3, the dose of interna! irradiation exeeed the permissible

level (I mSv·year-1

) and makes 2.12 mSv·year-1, with 2/3 due to 137Cs and I /3 to ')(\Sr. Mushrooms and forest berries aeeount for 82.8 % of 137_{Cs burden and dairy produets for} I O. 7%. The intake of90_{Sr with dairy produets is 50%. with potatoes 20.6% and with breacl}

Table 3. Radioactivity ofconsumer goods basket and doses of137

Cs and '"'Sr interna I irradiation for residents of Zhytomyr province northern districts

Tabela 3. Radioaktywność koszyka konsumpcji żywności i dawki wewnętrznego napromieniowania

izotopami 137Cs i 90Sr mieszkailców pólnocnych powiatów obwodu żytomierskiego

Daily Radionuclide conccn- _{Daily intakc. Bq} 1\11nual irradiation dnsc.

FoodslufTs con su mp- tration, Bąkg 1

mSv·ycar 1

tion, kg _{137Cs 90Sr 137Cs 90Sr 137Cs 90Sr}

Bread 0.41 15.9 9.4 6.5 3.85 0.033 0.110

Milk and dairy

proclucts I.O 29.3 12.6 29.3 12.60 0.150 0.359

Meat 0.2 19.6 3.9 0.020

Fish 0.05 23.6 I. 0.06

Eggs 0.14 2.1 0.3 0.002

Pola I oes 0.5 9.3 I 0.4 4.6 5.20 0.024 0.148

Root vegetables 0.05 16.0 14.0 0.8 0.70 0.004 0.20

Lear vegetables 0.05 13.8 10.6 0.7 0.53 0.004 0.015

Fru il 0.4 3.9 1.6 0.008

Forest berries O.Ol I 2391.6 60.5 26.3

o

Mushrooms O.Ol 19774 165.5 197.7 1.66 l.(JI

o

Total 2.821 272.9 25.21 1.4 0.71 X

Annual dosc of irradiation. mSv·year ' 1.4 0.72

Source: au1hor's calculation.

Żródlo: opracowanie własne.

'm v stands for micro Sieverts. Sievert is a unit of"rcccivcd cquivalcnt of the dosc of"1·adiatio11,

equal to .Joule per squared second.

60 A.S. lvfa~vnovshy

15.3%. The total contribution of mushrooms and Forest berries to the annual dose of

in-terna! exposure makes 57%, so the exclusion ofthese products from the diet can decrease

the dose to the level less than I mSv·year 1 •

The control over the radionuclide contamination level of agricultural produce,

fo-odstu ffs, wa ter, Forest products is of great importance, as more than 90% of 137_{Cs and} •msr deposit is contained in the upper 20-cm layer and in rangelands in 5-cm layer of the

ground.

The farmlands of the region are located on meadow-boggy, peat-boggy and light soi Is

which are characlerized by a high coefficient of radionuclide transfer to plants, which

results in agricultural produce contamination. lt is with crops that the radionuclides are

rcmovcd from the soi! and that is why the interna! exposure, which in turn is created due

to foodstufTs and ani111al feeds, should rnainly be lowered through carrying out complex

countermeasures in far111ing. The use of feed additives such as sorbents and "clean" feeds

should be givcn a priority.

CONCLUSIONS

Taking into account a large contribution of dairy products to the interna! exposure dose

(about 24%), surlacc and basie cultivation of natura! forage lands which produce the most

contaminatcd fceds, cspecially when used as pastures, is ofgreat importance. This rneas

u-rc rcsults in a sharp increase in livestock productivity, thus reducing radiation in milk and

meat. lt should be notcd that fundarnental i111provement ofmeadows and pastures requires

sowing large amounts orcereal type grass and leguminous seeds; the production ofwhich

is being low-cost and profitable and in steady demand in Foreign markets.

The soi!· in Zhytomyr province northcrn districts are characterized by a high

acidi-ty k:vcl, so the most cllicient measure for reducing radionuclide accumulation in crops

harvestecl is liming the soil, which gives an increase in grass yields and allows to grow the legu1ninous planls. The province's total of farmlancls which urgently require liming

a1nounts to 156.5 thousand hectares and 609 thousand tonnes ofCaC0₃ is needed in order

to concluct the abovc mcasure. Bilokorovychi lime deposits located in the Polissya zone

or the pro ince contain aboul 50 mi Ilion tonnes, which fully meets the requirements in lime. Taking into account liming effects lasting for 5 years the annual area limed would

becorne J I thousancl hectares. it lota! cost being I 8 mi Ilion Ukrainian crowns.

In crop production prelcrcncc shoulcl be given to such traditional branches as:

- llax growing. sincc flax (fibrc :rnd scecl ) does not exceed the permissible Jevel of

r:1dio11uclicle accumulation when proper agri-technical measures are taken:

potato growing. as potato is considercd ··the second bread··: the branch no. I priori ty must be the solution ol"thc problem related to the rotation and renewal ofvarieties

ll'ith the governmcntal support. particularly on individual farms where the bulk of

the crop has bcen groll'n in the last ycars: the above said requires a well-organized

S) stelll o!' seed procłuclion:

hop grnll'i11g ll'ith its gcnerous Financial support li·om the state. which covers nearly all tccl111ological operations in ho1 production with the exception of harvesting:

The stale and prospects for vital activities .. 61

Ukrainian hop produce is increasingly becoming competitive both on the domestic

and foreign markets.

In order to optimally utilize lands of zone Ili the following rehabilitation dircctions can be suggested:

- artificial afforestation (on territories which are not sui table for ot her economic ncti -vities);

- introduction of small-size fruit growing; - establishment ofnurseries for forest plants.

The production of beef and water-fowl meat. goose in particular. should mnke up quite a substantial part of anima! husbandry because of relatively low cost or p;1sturc keeping. Horse breeding should be given a further development: both dra Il horscs to be used in forming and warm blood breeds for sale.

In the last 20 years since the Tchernobyl accident the radiological situation in the Zh y-tomyr province radio-contaminated areas has markedly improved. But there stili exists a great number of problems which urge the state and I ocal authorities. as well as enterprise

management bodies, to work out purpose-oriented programmes and organizational m ea-sures. Two significant aspects related to the a fter-ellects o I' the Tchernobyl dis<L ter should be singled out. These are radiological and socio-economic. The present-day govcrnmen -tal policy should be aimed at protecting the population from radiation as well as compcn

-sating morał, social and economic losses caused by the accident itselfand its alier-cffccts. The revival of production, activation of some organisational and biologica I measures as

to rninirnize the Tchernobyl after-effects, considerable social protection will enablc p

co-ple to live a Fuller life and work in radio-contaminated areas ol'Zhytomyr province.

REFERENCES

Farming on the Ukrainian territories contaminated as a result of the Tchernobyl accich.:nt (Rccnm -mendations for the period of 1999-2002). 1998. Kiev.

Malynovsky A.S., Didukh M.I., Romanchuk L.D. et al.. 2005. The radioecological assessmcnt or the restriction zone in Zhytomyr province (20 ycars aflcr the Tchcrnohyl ;iccicknt ). State Agroecological University, Zhytomyr.

On the lega I regime of the territories that suffered as a result of the Tchernobyl accidcnt: the l:1w or Ukraine. 1991, Bulletin of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada. no. 16.

Sources ofradionuclide intake in the people inhabiting zones li. Ili. IV (Olevsk and Ycmilchyno

districts): the report on the researeh conducted, 2005. State Agroecological Univcrsi1y.

Zhytomyr.

Tsyganok V.M., Tsyganok M.K., Tsyganok Yu.V.. 2006. The demographic situation, cco110111ic ;111d social development of the agro-industrial complcx of the radioeo111aminatccl region. 20

years after the Tchernobyl accidcnt (Studies). State /\groecological Univcrsi1y, i'.hytn -myr.

Twenty years after the Tchernobyl accidcnt. The outlook: krainc·s national report, 2006. /\tika.

Kiev.

62 A.S. Malynovsky

STA I PERSPEKTYWY DZIAŁAŃ REWITALIZACYJNYCH W SKAŻONYM

RADIOAKTYWNIE REGIONIE CZARNOBYLU

Streszczenie. W wyniku katastrofy w Czarnobylu w 1986 roku prawo ukrait1skie

wpro-wadzilo wokól miejsca wybuchu 4 strefy, z których pierwsza jest strefą ograniczonego

do-stępu, druga strefą przymusowego wysiedlenia, trzecia strefą dobrowolnego przesiedlenia i czwarta strefąścislej kontroli radiologicznej. Nie wszyscy mieszka1\cy dali się jednak

wy-siedlić ze strefy drugiej, a wiciu tam powraca. Obecnie żyje w niej okolo 4,5 tysiąca ludzi. Autor proponuje zmienić status części tej strefy na status strefy trzeciej, ale z zachowaniem

przywilejów obowiązujących w strefie drugiej i zwiększeniem rządowej pomocy dla tych okolic. Wewnętrzne napromieniowanie mieszka1\ców tej strefy pochodzi głównie z kon-sumpcji grzybów i jagód; gdyby wyeliminować te skladniki żywności, wewnętrzne dawki napromieniowania zeszlyby poniżej dopuszczalnej granicy. Wysuwa się także propozycje kierunków rozwoju produkcji rolniczej w strefach skażonych.

Słowa kluczowe: Czarnobyl, skażenie radioaktywne, rolnictwo, napromieniowanie

Accepted for print - Zaakceptowano do druku: I 0.12.2006