Radioactivity of the atmospheric aerosols measured in Poland following the accident in the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in 2011

The data were collected by the network of the ASS-500 stations, aimed at the detection and monitoring of the presence and activity concentration of radionuclides in the ground-level air in both normal and emergency situation. Results of the monitoring of radionuclide content in the ground-level atmosphere in Poland during the accident in Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant (FD-NPP) in 2011 are presented. In particular, the results of the measurements cover the period of March–May 2011 focusing on the activity concentration of Cs-137, Cs-136, Cs-134, I-131, I-132 and Te-132. The elevated concentration of radionuclides in the atmosphere was initially detected on 23rd March. The maximum activity concentrations of I-131 – 5.40 mBq/m3 and Cs-137 – 0.73 mBq/m3 were measured on 30th March in Łódź. The ratio of the Cs-134/Cs-137 – 0.82 in Warsaw was calculated for the period 28–30 March. The Fukushima data are compared with the data obtained during the Chernobyl accident and the subsequent period. After the accident in Chernobyl, the maximum measured activity concentration of I-131 reached 180 Bq/m3 on 29th April and Cs-137 – 18 Bq/m3 on 30th April 1986 in Warsaw, however the Cs-134/Cs-137 ratio amounted to 0.49 indicating the presence of the spent fuel of different origin than that of the Fukushima accident. The deposition of the radionuclides from the Fukushima accident does not affect neither Polish people health nor the environment in Poland.