Environmental Risk of the Radiological Accidents at Chernobyl and Fukushima (Japan) NPP

Resumo

A comparative analysis of the levels of radioactive contamination of the environment on territories exposed to the accidental emissions from the Chernobyl and Fukushima (Japan) NPP is presented. An integral evaluation of the post-accident radio-ecological conditions based on evaluation of the irradiation dose rate to biota organisms and subsequent environmental risk calculations is presented. It is shown that with the exception of the Red Forest territory near the Chernobyl NPP the highest dose loads on biota in the exclusion zones of both plants are approximately the same taking account of the uncertainty of their evaluations in the first post-accident period. The ecosystems in the exclusion zones remain viable and have retained their species diversity. On most of the radioactive track of the Chernobyl NPP and outside the Fukushima NPP exclusion zone, the radiation risk levels are significantly below environmentally safe values.