The assessment of the April 2020 chernobyl wildfires and their impact on Cs-137 levels in Belgium and The Netherlands

• Published in: Journal of environmental radioactivity Vol. 237; p. 106688
• Main Authors: De Meutter, Pieter, Gueibe, Christophe, Tomas, Jasper, Outer, Peter den, Apituley, Arnoud, Bruggeman, Michel, Camps, Johan, Delcloo, Andy, Knetsch, Gert-Jan, Roobol, Lars, Verheyen, Leen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2021
• Subjects: ATM; Chernobyl wildfires; Cs-137; Resuspension; Chernobyl wildfires; ATM; Resuspension; Cs-137
• ISSN: 0265-931X; 1879-1700
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2021.106688

In April 2020, several wildfires took place in and around the Chernobyl exclusion zone. These fires reintroduced radioactive particles deposited during the 1986 Chernobyl disaster into the atmosphere, causing concern about a possible radiation hazard. Several countries and several stations of the International Monitoring System measured increased Cs137 levels. This study presents the analyses made by RIVM and SCK CEN/RMI during the April 2020 wildfires. Furthermore, more in-depth research was performed after the wildfires. A statistical analysis of Cs137 detections is presented, comparing the April 2020 detections with historical detections. Inverse atmospheric transport modelling is applied to infer the total released Cs137 during the wildfires. Finally, it is assessed whether the Cs137 detections in Belgium and the Netherlands can be attributed to the wildfires. •Analyses of the April 2020 Chernobyl wildfires by RIVM and SCK CEN/RMI.•Distinction between analyses during and after the event.•Cs137 detections are compared with their detection history.•Top-down Bayesian source reconstruction in agreement with other methods.