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Sedimentological study of the Chernobyl NPP site to schematise radionuclide migration conditions

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Environmental Geology

Abstract

The approach, methods and results of a sedimentological study of a near-surface stratum of Late Pleistocene-Holocene deposits in the near-zone (5–10 km radius) of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant are presented. Sedimentological analyses are carried out at three levels of detail: regional-, local- and object-scale. The unsaturated zone and unconfined aquifer at the site are composed of two main genetic types of deposits, aeolian and alluvial, including several dynamic facies. Consideration of lithological properties leads to following ranking of the main genetic sediments facies with respect to radionuclide migration retardation potential: aeolian <alluvial channel <alluvial overbank <alluvial abandoned channel. Based on sedimentological interpretations, the geological environment is schematised into a set of typical geological sections possessing different radionuclide retardation potential.

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Acknowledgements

The presented studies were supported by funding through the Chernobyl Pilot Site Project, a collaborative French-Ukrainian program of the Institute for Radioprotection and Safety (IRSN, France), as well as by research contracts no.4/6–95 and no.13/132–155H-98 from the Ministry of Emergency Situations and Chernobyl Affairs (Ukraine). We gratefully acknowledge laboratory particle-size distribution analyses by Nikolai Partsevskyi, laboratory sorption studies by Sergey Zvarich, and field hydrogeology works by Svyatoslav Kurilo and Danyl Olegov. Comments and English editing work on this manuscript by an anonymous reviewer is much appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geography, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 44 Volodymyrskaya Str., 01034, Kiev, Ukraine

    Andrei Matoshko

  2. Institute of Geological Sciences, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 55-b Gonchara Str., 01054, Kiev, Ukraine

    Dmitry Bugai

  3. Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety, B.P. 17, 92262, Fontenay aux Roses Cedex, France

    Lionel Dewiere

  4. Institute of Geological Sciences, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 55-b Gonchara Str., 01054, Kiev, Ukraine

    Alexander Skalskyy

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  1. Andrei Matoshko
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  2. Dmitry Bugai
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  3. Lionel Dewiere
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  4. Alexander Skalskyy
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Correspondence to Dmitry Bugai.

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Matoshko, A., Bugai, D., Dewiere, L. et al. Sedimentological study of the Chernobyl NPP site to schematise radionuclide migration conditions. Env Geol 46, 820–830 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-004-1067-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-004-1067-3

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