Radiological impact of the long-lived Chernobyl fallout isotopes in Greece

1242 soil samples of 1cm thick surface soil were collected over Greece during the period May- November 1986. The samples were counted and analysed which led to tdetailed mappings of the depositions of Cs-137, Cs-134, Sb-125, Ag-110m, Zr-95, Ce-141, Ce-144, Ru-103, Ru-106 and Mn-54. The deposition mappings of the fission products Cs-137, Cs-134, Sb-125, Ce-144 and Ru-106 allowed the localization of the three most contaminated areas of the country, near the city fo Karditsa (lat 39.556, long. 21.918), about the city of Trikala (lat. 39.553, long. 21.808) and that about the city of Naoussa (lat. 46.634, long. 22.091). The Cs-137 deposition in those areas ranges between 65-150 kBq m^-2. The geographical mean of Cs-137 deposition all over Greece was estimated to 8 ± 9 kBq m^-2. Furthermore, these deposition mappings can be used for the investigation of the accident's radiological impact on the Greek population. For this reason a computer code was developed to calculate the dose due to exeternal irradiation ought to field deposition and the dose due to the ingestion of contaminated food. Teh present work communicates the radiological impact on the Greek population due to the accumulated effect of long-lived fallout isotopes. The dosimetric calculations are reported for a variety of radionuclides and exposure pathways. Accorfing to the results obtained, the commited effective dose due to ingestion, over a period of 50 years, of the average exposed 20 year old adult in Greece, who had been consuming contaminated food during the first year after the accident is estmated to about 548 μSv. The committed effective dose of the average exposed 20 year old adult tue to exeternal irradiation is estimated to 67 μSv for the first year after the accident ant to 917 μSv for a period of 50 years. The committed effective dose due to ingestion, over a period of 50 years, of the maxmimum exposed 20 year old adult in the most contaminated areas of central and northern Greece, who had been consuming highly contaminated food during the first year after the accident is estimated to about 5.4 μSv. The commited effective dose of the maximum exposed 20 year old adult, due to external irradiation is estimated to 0.7 μSv for the first year after the accident, and to 10.3 μSv over a period of 50 years.