10.24411/1728-323X-2018-16088

Geoecology

HEAVY NATURAL RADIONUCLIDES IN THE SOILS OF TECHNOGENIC LANDSCAPES OF SOUTHERN YAKUTIA

1. P. I. Sobakin, Ph. D. (Biology), Dr. Habil, Leading Researcher, Institute of Biological Problems of Cryolithozone,
2. Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IBPC SB RAS), This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Yakutsk, Russia

Radiometric and gamma-spectrometric measurements were performed on the surface of the dumps of radioactive rocks and ores stored near the geological exploration workings (tunnels, mines) in the territory of the uranium deposits of the Elkon Plateau and Kurung. On the basis of the data obtained, dumps as sources of radioactive contamination of the environment are ranked onthe appropriate classes of industrial radioactive waste. The data on the levels and distribution features of ²³⁸U and ²²⁶Ra in soils under technogenic pollution are presented. It is shown that at present the contamination of soils with radionuclides in some areas of the mountaintaiga landscape remains high and exceeds the levels of sanitary and hygienic standards for solid radioactivewaste. Due to the obtained regularities of the profile distribution of ²³⁸U and ²²⁶Ra, it was found that the vertical distribution of radionuclides in the soil profile mainly depends on the time and the way they enter the soil cover and the chemical properties of the elements and, to some extent, soil-forming processes.

South Yakutia, the Elkon uranium ore region, soil, pollution, ²³⁸U, ²²⁶Ra, migration, distribution.

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