Concentration levels of technetium-99 in forest soils collected within the30-km zone around the Chernobyl reactor

Technetium-99 (Tc-99) concentrations in surface soil samples collected from three forest sites within the 30-km zone around the Chernobyl reactor were determined. A simple and rapid analytical method, which consists of volati lizing and trapping Tc in a combustion apparatus, purifying the Te with an extraction chromatographic resin and measuring it by ICP-MS, was used for t he determination. The concentrations of Te-99 in the samples ranged from 1. 1 to 14.1 Bq kg(-1) on an air-dried soil basis. The activities of the nucli de in the soils around the Chernobyl reactor were one or two orders of magn itude higher than in other areas which were less affected by the accident. The activity ratios of (TC)-T-99/Cs-137 ratios in the soils were calculated as on the order of 3.7 x 10(-5) to 1.3 x 10(-4). (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.