DNPE: Department of Radiation Ecology

Head of department, Dr. Tech. Sciences, Senior Scientific Researcher

Talerko Nikolay Nikolaevich

Nikolai Nikolayevich Talerko in 1976 graduated from the Physics Faculty of Kiev Taras Shevchenko National University, in 2011 defended his doctoral thesis in the specialty of “environmental security”. In 2003 – 2018 he taught different courses at the Department of meteorology at the Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University.

He has about 100 published works.

Directions of the activity:

• Assessment of radioactive contamination of the environment caused by possible accidental releases from nuclear power plants based on the modeling of radionuclide transport in the atmosphere;
• development and implementation of computer support systems for decision-making in the event of emergency radioactive releases at nuclear power plants;
• development of atmospheric transport models for radionuclides;
• modeling of air pollution due to forest fires in radioactively contaminated areas.

The main scientific tasks of the department are:

• reduction of uncertainty in the assessment of the radiation situation in the event of an emergency, taking into account the ecological characteristics of the contaminated area;
• improving the efficiency of the radioactive contamination forecast based on the regional model for the transport of radioactivity in the atmosphere coupled with the WRF numerical weather prediction model;
• improvement of radioecological monitoring to make decisions on the necessary countermeasures to minimize radioactive exposure of the population.

Structure of the department:

Principal researcher, Dr. Phys.-Math. Sciences, Prof.

Garger Evgeny Konstantinovich

E.K. Garger graduated from the Odessa Meteorological Institute in 1960. He began his scientific work at the Institute of Experimental Meteorology in Obninsk, where he carried out numerous experimental works on the processes of turbulence in the atmospheric boundary layer. In 1988 he defended his doctoral thesis in geophysics. In the period from 1990 to 1999 he was the head of the Scientific Research Institute of Radioecology, whose tasks included studying the consequences of severe radiation accidents and the problems of reducing uncertainty in the assessment of the radiation situation, taking into account the ecological features of the territory. From 1999 to 2004 he headed the department of radioecology at the Institute of Agroecology and Biotechnology of the Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine, where he was engaged in solving problems of radiation monitoring of the environment, including studying the processes of transport and deposition of radioactive aerosols on the underlying surface.

The scientific achievements of EK Garger are reflected in more than 200 scientific publications, 2 monographs, 1 author’s certificate.

In 2006, for his many years of fruitful scientific activity and outstanding contribution to the development of science, by the Decree of the President of Ukraine E. K. Garger was awarded the Order of Merit of the third degree. In 2012, for outstanding work in the field of science and technology, he was awarded the title “Honored Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine”.

Directions of his scientific research:

• transport and diffusion of radioactive aerosol in the atmosphere,
• radioecology;
• improvement of radiation monitoring and emergency response systems in the NPPs areas in order to increase the level of radiation protection of the population and the environment;
• assessment of the consequences of transboundary radionuclide transfer in the event of accidents at Ukrainian NPPs, including extreme meteorological conditions.

Principal researcher, Dr. Biol. Sciences, Prof., Academician of the UAAS

Prister Boris Samuilovich

Directions of his scientific research:

• improvement of radiation monitoring and emergency response systems in the NPPs areas in order to increase the level of radiation protection of the population and the environment;
• the rationale for carrying out protective measures in radioactively contaminated areas using the model of long-term behavior of radionuclides in the soil-plant system;
• methodology for long-term radiation monitoring and dose assessment using radiological zoning and modeling of migration of radionuclides in the environment and food chains.

B.S. Prister is the author of the monograph “Nuclear Power Safety. Lessons of Chernobyl “, which took the first place at the 4th International competition of scientific monographs on radioecology at the All-Russian Research Institute of Radiology and Agroecology, as well as the monograph” Radiophysical and medical-hygienic consequences of the Chernobyl disaster: ways of cognition and overcoming. A practical guide for a family doctor. “

Sector for studies of radioactive aerosol transport in the atmosphere

Head of Sector, Cand. of Phys.–Math. Sciences, Senior Scientific Researcher

V. K. Shinkarenko

Directions of the sector activity:

• autoradiography of “hot” particles; determination of beta-activity of particles by parameters of autoradiographic spots, study of distribution of “hot” particles activity;
• study of kinetics of “hot” particles dissolution in simulators of biological fluids in static and dynamic modes;
• creation of models of aerosols from luminescent-stained or particle-labeled particles, study of the dispersion of model aerosols in the surface layer of the atmosphere and their interaction with the underlying surface;
• physical modeling of aerosol flows; study of the territory’s contamination with aerosol particles, the behavior of aerosol particles in ecosystems;
• analysis of radioactive fallout and calculation of deposition velocity in the zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and some areas in the Kyiv region, construction of empirical dependences of the deposition density on the volume concentration from observational data.

Sector for Complex Analysis and Database Management

Head of Sector, Cand. of Geogr. Sciences, Senior Scientific Researcher

Т. D. Lev

Directions of the sector:

• Comprehensive assessment of the radiation situation (calculation and presentation of results on thematic maps) using atmospheric transport modeling and redistribution of radioactive and chemical pollutants from selected pollution sources in the environment by means of geoinformation systems (GIS) and databases;
• Preventive assessment of the degree of radioecological criticality of the territories affected by NPPs and the consequences of emergencies using the methods of assessment by ecological parameters and the regionalization of the territory by basin principle on different spatial scales using GIS tools;
• provision of operational forecast aerosynoptic information using the model of numerical weather forecast WRF V 3.1 established in the Institute for Safety Problems of Nuclear Power Plants;
• Analysis and description of typical and most unfavorable weather conditions for the environment in the event of possible radiation accidents at Ukrainian NPPs;
• definition of a set of synoptic situations for the assessment of radioactive contamination of the territory of Ukraine;
• mapping and geospatial databases, GIS analysis;
• development of software procedures for data processing and analysis using MapBasic, MapInfo GIS, Access DBMS;
• Development of a complex of research programs for the structural identification of statistical models based on heuristic criteria.

Sector for Nature Management and Rehabilitation

Activities of the sector:

• the rationale for carrying out protective measures in radioactively contaminated areas using the model of long-term behavior of radionuclides in the soil-plant system;
• methodology for long-term radiation monitoring and dose assessment using radiological zoning and modeling of migration of radionuclides in the environment and food chains;
• scientific substantiation of the preventive assessment of the territory of possible radiation accidents impact for improving methods for assessing the impact of radiation objects on the environment, the radiation monitoring system and improving the effectiveness of emergency response based on modern radioecological, physical, mathematical and geoinformation methods;
• creation of a cartographic data bank; processing and analysis of satellite information;
• development and support of a data bank for the characteristics of the environment of nuclear power plants;
• behavior of heavy metals and radionuclides in the soil-plant system. Determination of metals and radionuclides in environmental objects.

Results of activities in the scientific areas:

1. Study of the transport of radioactive contaminants in the atmosphere and its deposition on the underlying surface after the Chernobyl accident at a local scale of 10-10 000 m

Radioactive aerosol of the Shelter object and in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Obtained: release intensity, resuspension intensity, volumetric activity, radionuclide composition, particle size distribution function, counted concentration of fuel particles and their contribution to total activity, dissolution rate of fuel particles in pulmonary fluid in vitro.

Data on the coefficients of resuspension and its intensity are summarized, and the calculation methods for the integral parameters of resuspension are verified. A method for the long-term forecast of volume activity based on the theory of random processes is developed.

                Conducting research                                                                                    Data processing

            The excitation of luminescence                          Photograph of aerosol particles deposited on  
            by ultraviolet illumination                                   a substrate and stained with rhodamine-6G

Together with the group “Investigation of hot particles in the surface layer of the atmosphere” (headed by V. Shinkarenko) the studies were carried out on the topic “Investigation of radioactive aerosol in the surface layer at the industrial and construction sites of the “Shelter” object, creation of a mobile aerosol complex for investigation in the monitoring and the sanitary protection zones of the nuclear power plant “.

Observations of the luminescing particles of the model aerosol are carried out.

2. Creation of atmospheric transport models of the radioactive contamination and its deposition on the underlying surface for a scale of 10-1000 km

A Lagrangian-Eulerian model LEDI of pollutant transport (gases, including iodine in various chemical forms, aerosols) in the atmosphere was developed to calculate contamination dispersion at distances up to 1000 km from gas-aerosol sources with an effective release height from 0 to 1500 m, taking into account the release period (instantaneous, finite time, continuous). The model is intended for estimating and forecasting the consequences of accidental emissions from a nuclear power plant on a regional scale and transboundary transport (by N. N. Talerko, E. K. Garger).

With the help of this model, the contamination of the territory of Ukraine and neighboring countries by radioactive iodine in the initial period of the Chernobyl accident was reconstructed. Expected estimates of transboundary radionuclide transfer as a result of possible radiation accidents at Ukrainian NPPs were made, as well as possible pollution of the environment of Ukraine due to radiation accidents at nuclear power plants of neighboring countries.

Map of the reconstructed ¹³¹I deposition density on the territory of Ukraine and Belarus as a result of the Chernobyl accident

A US numerical model of the weather forecast WRF-ARW Ver 3.1.1 was installed and adapted for the territory of Ukraine. Current aerosynoptic information for western and eastern Europe is available on the US NCDC server (http://nomads.ncdc.noaa.gov) – The National Operational Model Archive and Distribution System (NOMADS) with using the open packages of server software and OPENDAP and DODS methodologies. Using queries from the archive or in real time through the existing Internet infrastructure, we get access to the model data and observations. A number of programs are being implemented that provide a mathematical model for the transport and deposition of radioactive aerosols with input prognostic data on the state of the atmospheric boundary layer. (Executive: TD Lev).

Information databases have been created for radioecological monitoring in areas of increased risk of nuclear power plants impact and of an emergency response, including modern digital cartographic material (topographic maps, monitoring maps, basin maps, soil maps, landscape maps and land use structures, surface roughness, assessment of potential radioecological criticality of the territory Ukraine), reference-normative data, aerosynoptic data, scenario results (Executives: TD Lev, VD Vinogradskaya, V. N. Piskun, A. G. Tishchenko).

Interaction of databases for the presentation of results and spatial analysis of calculation data with mathematical models using different emission scenarios and land use patterns is organized: atmospheric transport and deposition on the underlying surface with estimation of the external dose of irradiation and soil contamination, aerial and root contamination of plants in acute and late phases of accidents.

The final results are presented in the form of forecast maps of pollution of environmental objects (soil, plants, public exposure, etc.) and assessment of transboundary transport to the territory of Ukraine.

An information and analytical support system for decision-making in the Chernobyl exclusion zone has been created to protect the personnel of the zone and the population around it. The system enables in the operational mode to predict and assess the consequences of the deterioration of the radiological situation in the Chernobyl exclusion zone in the event of: radiation accidents at industrial sites, forest fires in a radioactively contaminated area, or natural wind or technogenic radionuclides resuspension. The system was put into operation in the “Ecocenter” of the State Agency of Ukraine for the management of the exclusion zone. (Executive: NN Talerko).

Together with the Institute of Radiation Protection of the Academy of Technological Sciences of Ukraine, a compute system KADO to support the decision-making on protecting the population within the zone of responsibility of nuclear power plants in the event of a communal radiation accident was developed. The KADO system was put into operation at all operating NPPs of Ukraine within the framework of the creation of a modern integrated decision support system for NAEK Energoatom. (Executives: NN Talerko, GG Kuzmenko).

3. Migration of radionuclides in food chains

Study of the migration of ¹³⁷Cs and ⁹⁰Sr in the soil-plant system in the remote period after the Chernobyl accident in radioactively contaminated territories. The values of the ¹³⁷Cs and ⁹⁰Sr transfer factors from the main soil types of the Ukrainian Polissya and Forest-steppe to 16 species of crops in the remote period after the Chernobyl accident were obtained.

Development of models for ¹³⁷Cs and ⁹⁰Sr migration in food chains. A model for aerial contamination of vegetation as a result of radioactive fallout has been developed. The model was verified according to data obtained after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant in Japan.

A kinetic model of the migration of cesium and strontium in the soil-plant-animal production system has been developed. The verification of the developed models was carried out according to the control data of agricultural products contaminated as a result of the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant in Japan. (Executors: BS Prister, VD Vinogradskaya).

4. Rehabilitation of contaminated areas due to accidents at radiation facilities

Planning and implementation of protective measures in radioactively contaminated areas. Data on the effectiveness of protective measures, which were conducted after major accidents at radiation facilities, were summarized. The scientific substantiation of agrochemical protective measures on agricultural lands contaminated as a result of radiation accidents with the use of a kinetic model of radionuclide migration in the soil-plant system was given.

5. Improvement of emergency response, monitoring and environmental control systems in the area of impact of NPP emergency releases

Emergency response. It is shown that the main cause of severe accidents is the human factor, which determines the urgency of the problem of preparedness for responding to accidents. Methodical recommendations for emergency response in the impact zone of the accident at nuclear power plants, including iodine prophylaxis, have been developed.

Methodology of long-term monitoring of radioactively contaminated territories. The methodology of integrated preventive radioecological zoning of the territory on the basis of basin-landscape principles was developed to analyze the features of the territory and assess the potential criticality of environmental objects in the event of a radiation accident. (Executives: BS Priester, EK Garger, NN Talerko, VD Vinogradskaya, TD Lev, AG Tishchenko, VN Piskun).

On the basis of basin-landscape principles and analysis of the features of the territory using terrain maps, basins, soil types, underlying surface and land use structure, a preventive assessment of the radioecological characteristics of the territory is carried out at three levels: state, regional and local.

A methodology has been developed for the formation of a network for emergency monitoring of radioactively contaminated areas, taking into account the principles of optimization and priority, using preventive radioecological zoning and forecasting the radiation situation. (Executives: BS Prister, VD Vinogradskaya, TD Lev, AG Tishchenko).

Main recent publications:

• K. Garger. Resuspension of radioactive aerosol in the surface layer of the atmosphere.
• S. Prister. Problems of agricultural radioecology and radiobiology in the pollution of the environment by a young mixture of products of nuclear fission. – Chernobyl, 2008. – 318 p.
• Radiobiophysical and medical and hygienic consequences of the Chernobyl disaster: ways of knowing and overcoming. Practical manual for a family doctor / V.G. Bebeshko, B.S. Prister, M.I. Omelyanets. – Uzhgorod: TPV “Patent”, 2017. – 504 p.
• Prister B. S., Klyuchnikov O. O., Shestopalov V. M., Kuhar V. P. Problems of safety of atomic energy. Lessons from Chernobyl.
• Conducting agricultural production in the territories contaminated as a result of the Chornobyl catastrophe in the remote period (Recommendations) // Prister B. S. (Ed.) – K .: Atika, 2007. – 196 p.
• Prister, M. Talerko, E. Garger, V. Vinogradskaja, T. Lev «Methodology for long-term radiation monitoring to dose assessment using radiological zoning and modelling of radionuclides migration in environmental and food chains – Countermeasures of Cesium Uptake by Farm Crop sand Livestock», STCU Project 5953. Proceeding of the Final ISTC/STCU Technical Review Committee Meeting of Fukushima Initiative, November 5-6, 2015, Tokyo, Japan.
• B.S.Prister, V.D.Vinogradskaya, T.D.Lev, M.M.Talerko, E.K.Garger, Y.Onishi, O.G.Tischenko. Preventive radioecological assessment of territory for optimization of monitoring and countermeasures after radiation accidents // Journal of Environmental Radioactivity. – 2018. – Vol. 184-185. – P.140-151.

Possible areas of cooperation on such topics:

1) Development of a mesoscale model of transport and deposition on the underlying surface of radioactive contamination and other toxicants as a result of accidents (including fires) in radiation hazardous and chemical industrial facilities.

2) Conduct (upon request) geo-information analysis of the environmental situation, modeling and statistical processing of spatial data using cartographic information and attributive data.

3) Development of a structure and proposals for the creation of geospatial information databases on contamination with radionuclides or other toxicants of territories using cartographic software packages.

4) Carrying out cartographic works (on request) for radioecological or toxic-ecological zoning of the territory with the allocation of critical (ecologically dangerous) territories for making decisions on land use optimization.

5) Supply of a set of characteristic extreme and typical synoptic situations for the territory of Ukraine in the formats * .txt, * .nc, * .grd for the scenario calculations on the estimation of atmospheric transport and the deposition of pollutants from pollution sources.

6) Planning a radioecological monitoring (control) network for agrosphere in the territories contaminated by radioactive and hazardous chemicals.

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