Ядерна фізика та енергетика Nuclear Physics and Atomic Energy   ISSN: 1818-331X (Print), 2074-0565 (Online)   Publisher: Institute for Nuclear Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine   Languages: Ukrainian, English, Russian   Periodicity: 4 times per year   Open access peer reviewed journal

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O. V. Kashparova^1,2,*, H.-C. Teien², S. E. Levchuk¹, V. P. Protsak¹, K. D. Korepanova^1,3, B. Salbu², I. I. Ibatullin¹, V. O. Kashparov<sup>1,2

1</sup>Ukrainian Institute of Agricultural Radiology, National University of Life and Environment Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
²Center for Environmental Radioactivity, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
³State Specialized Enterprise “Ecocenter”, Chornobyl, Ukraine

^*Corresponding author. E-mail address: elena.kashparova@gmail.com

Abstract: The rate constants of ¹³⁷Cs uptake in Prussian carp (Carassius gibelio) from the water with a potassium content of 2 mg·L^-1 at T = 5 °C without feeding (k_w = 0.045 ± 0.001 day^-1), at T = 12 °C with «clean» feeding (0.046 ± 0.002 day^-1) and at T = 22 °C with «clean» feeding (0.062 ± 0.006 day^-1) were obtained in a series of aquarium experiments. The results showed that rates of ¹³⁷Cs uptake in fish from water without and with feeding did not significantly differ at different temperatures of water (T = 5 - 22 °C) and were two orders of magnitude lower than the rate constants of ¹³⁷Cs uptake in Prussian carp with feed in Chornobyl exclusion zone (11.4 ± 2.6 day^-1). This makes it possible to obtain products with ¹³⁷Cs content below the permissible level (150 Bq·kg^-1) while providing fish with clean feeds even in the most radioactively contaminated reservoirs of the exclusion zone. A decrease in the potassium content in water from 2 to 0.2 mg·L^-1 (no feeding, T = 5 ± 1 °C) resulted in an increase in the rate of ¹³⁷Cs uptake into the fish from the water by 1.6 times. An increase in the potassium content in water by 10 times up to 20 mg L^-1 resulted just in a decrease of 20 % in the rate. The levels of ¹³⁷Cs activity concentration in fish in contaminated water at temperatures below 10 °C will be two orders of magnitude lower compared to radioactive contamination of water in the summer season (T = 22 °C). This is extremely important for the correct prediction of fish contamination in the autumn-winter-spring period at a water temperature of less than 10 °C when some fish stop feeding.

Keywords: ¹³⁷Cs, radioecology, Carassius gibelio, the Chornobyl accident, water ecosystems, radioactive contamination, permissible levels, concentration factor, rate constant of uptake, rate constant of excretion.

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